ArenaDevSession CRD

Enterprise

The ArenaDevSession custom resource represents an ephemeral interactive testing session for an Arena project. When created, the controller deploys a dev console pod that allows real-time chat testing with your agent configuration.

API version

apiVersion: omnia.altairalabs.ai/v1alpha1
kind: ArenaDevSession

Short name: ads (e.g. kubectl get ads).

Overview

ArenaDevSession provides:

Ephemeral dev consoles: Per-session pods for isolated testing
Hot reload: Update agent configuration without reconnecting
Provider integration: Uses workspace Provider CRDs for credentials
Automatic cleanup: Sessions are deleted after idle timeout

How it works

sequenceDiagram
    participant PE as Project Editor
    participant DS as ArenaDevSession
    participant Pod as Dev Console Pod
    PE->>DS: Click "Test Agent"
    DS->>Pod: Create Pod + Service
    Pod-->>DS: Status: Ready
    DS-->>PE: WebSocket URL
    PE-)Pod: WebSocket connection
    Note over PE,Pod: Idle timeout expires
    DS->>Pod: Delete session (cleanup)

Spec fields

`projectId`

The ID of the Arena project being tested. This corresponds to the project directory in the workspace filesystem.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`projectId`	string	Yes	Arena project identifier

spec:
  projectId: "my-chatbot-project"

`workspace`

The workspace name for reference and labeling.

spec:
  workspace: "my-workspace"

`idleTimeout`

How long the session can be idle before automatic cleanup. Default: 30m.

spec:
  idleTimeout: 1h

`image`

Override the default dev console image. Typically not needed.

spec:
  image: ghcr.io/altairalabs/omnia-arena-dev-console:custom

`resources`

Override the default resource requests/limits for the dev console pod.

spec:
  resources:
    requests:
      cpu: 100m
      memory: 128Mi
    limits:
      cpu: 500m
      memory: 512Mi

Status fields

`phase`

Value	Description
`Pending`	Session is waiting to be processed
`Starting`	Dev console pod is being created
`Ready`	Dev console is ready for connections
`Stopping`	Session is being cleaned up
`Stopped`	Session has been cleaned up
`Failed`	Session failed to start

`endpoint`

The WebSocket URL to connect to the dev console.

Format: ws://arena-dev-console-{name}.{namespace}.svc:8080/ws

`serviceName`

The name of the Kubernetes Service created for the dev console.

`lastActivityAt`

Timestamp of the last client activity. Used for idle timeout cleanup.

`startedAt`

When the dev console became ready.

`conditions`

Type	Description
`Ready`	Overall readiness of the session
`PodReady`	Dev console pod is running
`ServiceReady`	Service is created

WebSocket protocol

The dev console uses a WebSocket protocol for real-time communication. Connect to the endpoint from status.endpoint.

Connection URL

ws://arena-dev-console-{session-name}.{namespace}.svc:8080/ws

From the dashboard, connections are proxied through the WebSocket proxy service.

Client messages

Chat message

Send a message to the agent:

{
  "type": "chat",
  "content": "Hello, how can you help me?",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-16T10:00:00Z"
}

Chat with attachments

Send a message with file attachments:

{
  "type": "chat",
  "content": "What's in this image?",
  "parts": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "What's in this image?"
    },
    {
      "type": "image",
      "media": {
        "data": "base64-encoded-image-data",
        "mime_type": "image/jpeg"
      }
    }
  ],
  "timestamp": "2025-01-16T10:00:00Z"
}

Reload configuration

Hot reload the agent configuration after making changes:

{
  "type": "chat",
  "content": "/path/to/arena.config.yaml",
  "metadata": {
    "reload": "true"
  },
  "timestamp": "2025-01-16T10:00:00Z"
}

Reset conversation

Clear the conversation history:

{
  "type": "chat",
  "content": "",
  "metadata": {
    "reset": "true"
  },
  "timestamp": "2025-01-16T10:00:00Z"
}

Switch provider

Change the active provider:

{
  "type": "chat",
  "content": "",
  "metadata": {
    "provider": "my-openai-provider"
  },
  "timestamp": "2025-01-16T10:00:00Z"
}

Server messages

Connected

Sent when connection is established:

{
  "type": "connected",
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-16T10:00:00Z"
}

Streaming chunk

Partial response content (streaming):

{
  "type": "chunk",
  "content": "Hello! I'm here to ",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-16T10:00:00Z"
}

Message complete

Full response with all parts:

{
  "type": "done",
  "content": "Hello! I'm here to help you.",
  "parts": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "Hello! I'm here to help you."
    }
  ],
  "timestamp": "2025-01-16T10:00:00Z"
}

Tool call

When the agent calls a tool:

{
  "type": "tool_call",
  "tool_call": {
    "id": "call_123",
    "name": "get_weather",
    "arguments": "{\"city\": \"San Francisco\"}"
  },
  "timestamp": "2025-01-16T10:00:00Z"
}

Tool result

Result of a tool execution:

{
  "type": "tool_result",
  "tool_result": {
    "id": "call_123",
    "result": "{\"temperature\": 72, \"conditions\": \"sunny\"}",
    "error": null
  },
  "timestamp": "2025-01-16T10:00:00Z"
}

Reloaded

Confirmation that configuration was reloaded:

{
  "type": "reloaded",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-16T10:00:00Z"
}

Error

Error message:

{
  "type": "error",
  "error": {
    "message": "Provider connection failed",
    "code": "PROVIDER_ERROR"
  },
  "timestamp": "2025-01-16T10:00:00Z"
}

Provider integration

The dev console automatically resolves Provider CRDs from the workspace namespace. Provider credentials are mounted as environment variables in the dev console pod.

Supported provider types:

OpenAI
Anthropic
Google (Gemini)
Azure OpenAI
Ollama
Custom HTTP providers

See Provider CRD for configuration details.

Example session lifecycle

# Created by dashboard when user clicks "Test Agent"
apiVersion: omnia.altairalabs.ai/v1alpha1
kind: ArenaDevSession
metadata:
  name: dev-session-abc123
  namespace: workspace-ns
  labels:
    app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: omnia-dashboard
    arena.omnia.altairalabs.ai/project-id: my-chatbot
spec:
  projectId: my-chatbot
  workspace: my-workspace
  idleTimeout: 30m

status:
  phase: Ready
  endpoint: ws://arena-dev-console-dev-session-abc123.workspace-ns.svc:8080/ws
  serviceName: arena-dev-console-dev-session-abc123
  startedAt: "2025-01-16T10:00:00Z"
  lastActivityAt: "2025-01-16T10:30:00Z"

Cleanup

Sessions are automatically cleaned up when:

Idle timeout expires - No WebSocket activity for the configured duration
User closes the session - Dashboard deletes the resource
Workspace is deleted - Owner references cascade deletion

Helm configuration

Configure the dev console image in your Helm values:

enterprise:
  arena:
    devConsole:
      image:
        repository: ghcr.io/altairalabs/omnia-arena-dev-console
        tag: ""  # Defaults to Chart appVersion
        pullPolicy: IfNotPresent

Project Editor: Where dev sessions are started
Provider: LLM provider configuration
WebSocket Protocol: Base WebSocket message types
PromptKit Documentation: Agent configuration format