kurtosis-tech/engine-manage
skills/engine-manage/SKILL.md
Manage the Kurtosis engine server. Start, stop, restart the engine, check status, and view engine logs. Covers both Docker and Kubernetes engine backends. Use when the engine won't start, needs restarting, or you need to check engine health.
$ install --global
skillsauthnpx skillsauth add kurtosis-tech/kurtosis engine-manageInstall this skill globally with one command. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf.
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Clean
TrivyContainer and dependency vulnerability scanner
95%
Clean
SemgrepStatic code analysis for vulnerabilities
95%
Clean
mcp-scan (Snyk)Model Context Protocol security validation
95%
Skipped
Snyk (dep)Open source security scanning
50%
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Socket.devSupply chain security analysis
50%
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VirusTotalMulti-engine malware detection
50%
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CrowdStrikeAdvanced threat intelligence
50%
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OSV-ScannerOpen Source Vulnerability database check
50%
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OWASP Dep-Check
50%
Last scanned: Apr 15, 2026, 1:20 PM6.9s1 file scanned
SKILL.md
- name:
- engine-manage
- description:
- Manage the Kurtosis engine server. Start, stop, restart the engine, check status, and view engine logs. Covers both Docker and Kubernetes engine backends. Use when the engine won't start, needs restarting, or you need to check engine health.
- compatibility:
- Requires kurtosis CLI. Docker or Kubernetes cluster access depending on backend.
- author:
- ethpandaops
- version:
- 1.0
Engine Manage
Manage the Kurtosis engine server lifecycle.
Status
kurtosis engine status
Shows whether the engine is running and its version.
Start
# Start with default settings
kurtosis engine start
# Start with debug images
kurtosis --debug-mode engine start
On Kubernetes, the engine runs as a pod in a kurtosis-engine-* namespace. You also need to run kurtosis gateway to access it from your local machine.
Stop
kurtosis engine stop
Restart
kurtosis engine restart
Equivalent to stop + start. Useful after changing cluster settings or upgrading.
View logs
kurtosis engine logs
Dumps engine server logs. Useful for diagnosing startup failures or API errors.
Docker vs Kubernetes
# Check which backend is active
kurtosis cluster get
# Switch to Docker
kurtosis cluster set docker
kurtosis engine restart
# Switch to Kubernetes
kurtosis cluster set kubernetes
kurtosis engine restart
kurtosis gateway # Required for k8s
Engine on Kubernetes
When running on Kubernetes:
# The engine runs in its own namespace
kubectl get ns | grep kurtosis-engine
# Check engine pod
kubectl get pods -n <engine-namespace>
# View engine logs directly
kubectl logs <engine-pod> -n <engine-namespace>
# Start the gateway (required for local CLI to reach k8s engine)
kurtosis gateway &
Common issues
| Symptom | Fix |
|---------|-----|
| No Kurtosis engine is running | Run kurtosis engine start |
| Engine starts but engine status shows nothing (k8s) | Start the gateway: kurtosis gateway |
| Version mismatch warning | kurtosis engine restart to match CLI version |
| Engine start hangs (k8s) | Check pods: kubectl get pods -A \| grep kurtosis |
| Old engine blocking new start | kurtosis engine stop then clean namespaces |
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