managing-vultr

name	managing-vultr
description	Use when working with Vultr — vultr cloud infrastructure management via the vultr-cli and Vultr API. Covers instances, bare metal, block storage, load balancers, Kubernetes, databases, and billing. Use when managing Vultr resources or checking server health.
connection_type	vultr
preload	false

Managing Vultr

Manage Vultr infrastructure using the vultr-cli or Vultr API.

MANDATORY: Discovery-First Pattern

Always discover available resources before performing analysis.

Phase 1: Discovery

#!/bin/bash

echo "=== Account Info ==="
vultr-cli account 2>/dev/null || curl -s "https://api.vultr.com/v2/account" -H "Authorization: Bearer $VULTR_API_KEY" | jq '{name, email, balance, pending_charges}'

echo ""
echo "=== Instances ==="
vultr-cli instance list 2>/dev/null || curl -s "https://api.vultr.com/v2/instances" -H "Authorization: Bearer $VULTR_API_KEY" | jq -r '.instances[] | "\(.id)\t\(.label)\t\(.region)\t\(.plan)\t\(.status)\t\(.main_ip)"' | head -30

echo ""
echo "=== Bare Metal ==="
vultr-cli bare-metal list 2>/dev/null || curl -s "https://api.vultr.com/v2/bare-metals" -H "Authorization: Bearer $VULTR_API_KEY" | jq -r '.bare_metals[] | "\(.id)\t\(.label)\t\(.region)\t\(.plan)\t\(.status)\t\(.main_ip)"' | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Block Storage ==="
vultr-cli block-storage list 2>/dev/null || curl -s "https://api.vultr.com/v2/blocks" -H "Authorization: Bearer $VULTR_API_KEY" | jq -r '.blocks[] | "\(.id)\t\(.label)\t\(.size_gb)GB\t\(.region)\t\(.status)\t\(.attached_to_instance)"' | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Kubernetes Clusters ==="
vultr-cli kubernetes list 2>/dev/null || curl -s "https://api.vultr.com/v2/kubernetes/clusters" -H "Authorization: Bearer $VULTR_API_KEY" | jq -r '.vke_clusters[] | "\(.id)\t\(.label)\t\(.region)\t\(.version)\t\(.status)"' | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Load Balancers ==="
vultr-cli load-balancer list 2>/dev/null || curl -s "https://api.vultr.com/v2/load-balancers" -H "Authorization: Bearer $VULTR_API_KEY" | jq -r '.load_balancers[] | "\(.id)\t\(.label)\t\(.region)\t\(.status)\t\(.ipv4)"' | head -10

Phase 2: Analysis

#!/bin/bash

INSTANCE_ID="${1:?Instance ID required}"

echo "=== Instance Details ==="
curl -s "https://api.vultr.com/v2/instances/$INSTANCE_ID" -H "Authorization: Bearer $VULTR_API_KEY" | jq '{
    id, label, status, power_status, region, plan,
    vcpu_count, ram, disk, os, main_ip,
    date_created, allowed_bandwidth, current_bandwidth_gb
}'

echo ""
echo "=== Instance Bandwidth ==="
curl -s "https://api.vultr.com/v2/instances/$INSTANCE_ID/bandwidth" -H "Authorization: Bearer $VULTR_API_KEY" | jq '[.bandwidth | to_entries | sort_by(.key) | .[-7:][] | {date: .key, incoming_bytes: .value.incoming_bytes, outgoing_bytes: .value.outgoing_bytes}]'

echo ""
echo "=== Databases ==="
curl -s "https://api.vultr.com/v2/databases" -H "Authorization: Bearer $VULTR_API_KEY" | jq -r '.dbs[] | "\(.id)\t\(.label)\t\(.database_engine)\t\(.database_engine_version)\t\(.region)\t\(.status)\t\(.plan)"' | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Billing ==="
curl -s "https://api.vultr.com/v2/billing/invoices?per_page=5" -H "Authorization: Bearer $VULTR_API_KEY" | jq -r '.billing_invoices[] | "\(.id)\t\(.date)\t\(.amount)\t\(.description)"' | head -5

Output Format

ID                                    LABEL    REGION  PLAN           STATUS  IP
abc123-def456-ghi789                  web-01   ewr     vc2-1c-1gb     active  1.2.3.4

Safety Rules

• Use read-only commands: list, GET API calls
• Never run delete, destroy, DELETE calls without explicit user confirmation
• Use jq for structured output parsing
• Limit output with | head -N to stay under 50 lines

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Shortcut	Counter	Why
"I'll skip discovery and check known resources"	Always run Phase 1 discovery first	Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors
"The user only asked for a quick check"	Follow the full discovery → analysis flow	Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures
"Default configuration is probably fine"	Audit configuration explicitly	Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled
"Metrics aren't needed for this"	Always check relevant metrics when available	API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues
"I don't have access to that"	Try the command and report the actual error	Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative