kurtosis-tech Context Manage
Manage Kurtosis contexts for connecting to different Kurtosis instances.
What are contexts?
Contexts define which Kurtosis instance the CLI talks to. The default context is default which connects to the local engine (Docker or Kubernetes).
List contexts
kurtosis context ls
Shows all configured contexts and which one is active.
Add a context
kurtosis context add <context-name>
Switch context
kurtosis context set <context-name>
After switching, restart the engine or portal as needed.
Remove a context
kurtosis context rm <context-name>
Common workflow
# Check which context is active
kurtosis context ls
# Switch to a different environment
kurtosis context set staging
# Verify the switch succeeded
kurtosis context ls
# Start portal if using a remote context
kurtosis portal start
# Switch back to local
kurtosis context set default
Error handling
| Scenario | Behavior | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| Switch to non-existent context | Command fails with error | Run kurtosis context ls to see available contexts |
| Remove active context | Command fails — cannot remove active | Switch to another context first with kurtosis context set |
| Engine running after switch | Engine still connected to old context | Run kurtosis engine restart after switching contexts |