Install zbctl with Homebrew, Nix

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository

Commands and aliases

• zbctl

Project history

zbctl came out of the Zeebe era of Camunda's process orchestration stack, when Zeebe exposed a gRPC API and needed a small CLI for testing gateways, creating workflow resources, and performing day-to-day broker operations. Camunda release notes already referenced a zbctl update alongside Zeebe 0.10.1 in June 2018, which places the CLI in the early public Zeebe toolchain.

The current Zeebe Go client README presents zbctl as a companion command-line interface for Camunda 8. In 2024 Camunda announced that zbctl and the Go client would stop receiving new official features from Camunda 8.6 onward and move to community-maintained status as Camunda focused on REST APIs.

Adoption history

zbctl's adoption was mostly tied to Zeebe and Camunda users rather than general cloud operators. It appeared in tutorials, cloud getting-started flows, npm packaging, downloadable release binaries, Snap packaging, asdf plugins, Docker images, and Kubernetes job examples because it was a convenient way to script Zeebe deployments and inspect cluster status before the newer REST API direction took over.

How it is used

Users point zbctl at a Zeebe or Camunda 8 gateway with environment variables or flags, then run commands such as status, deploy, create, activate, complete, fail, publish, cancel, and update. The CLI is especially suited to smoke tests, CI/CD deployment steps, local development, and administrative maintenance jobs against a workflow cluster.

Why package nerds care

zbctl is a useful package-catalog artifact because it captures a specific moment in Camunda's API evolution: a standalone CLI wrapped around the Zeebe gRPC client, later preserved as a community-maintained tool after the vendor's center of gravity moved toward REST APIs.

Timeline

• 2018-06: Camunda release notes mention a zbctl update alongside Zeebe 0.10.1.
• 2019: Camunda Cloud getting-started material used zbctl to test a cluster connection.
• 2024-09: Camunda announced deprecation of new official zbctl and Go client features from Camunda 8.6 onward.

Related projects

• Zeebe: the workflow engine and gateway that zbctl talks to.
• Zeebe Go client: the Go client library that houses zbctl.
• Camunda 8 REST API: the newer API direction Camunda recommends for many zbctl-style automation workflows.

Sources

• https://camunda.com/blog/2018/06/announcing-zeebe-0-10-0-release/ - Camunda release note mentions a zbctl update with Zeebe 0.10.1.
• https://camunda.com/blog/2019/09/getting-started-camunda-cloud/ - Camunda Cloud tutorial uses zbctl to test cluster connectivity.
• https://camunda.com/blog/2024/09/deprecating-zbctl-and-go-clients/ - Camunda explains the shift from officially supported zbctl/Go client work toward REST APIs.
• https://github.com/camunda-community-hub/zeebe-client-go - README describes the Go client and states that it also provides zbctl for Camunda 8.
• https://github.com/camunda-community-hub/zeebe-client-go/blob/main/cmd/zbctl/zbctl.md - zbctl documentation covers installation, connection settings, commands, and package/distribution channels.