---
title: "Overview"
canonical: "https://admiral.io/docs/get-started/overview"
description: "Run a real deployment and a dev-to-prod promotion in about 20 minutes: connect a cluster, deploy a workload, wire an infrastructure component, and promote it."
---

# Overview

{/*
  OUTLINE / DRAFT - skeleton for review. This page frames the whole walkthrough and
  lists prerequisites. Goal = the aha ladder from docs/backlog/plg-onboarding.md:
  Aha 0 = a real deploy happened through Admiral and it is live (first-deploy)
  Aha 1 = two components wired together + promoted dev->prod (wire-infrastructure + promote)
  Phase 1 audience = tool-fluent early adopter, bring-your-own-target with local kind.
  Every step page has CLI + Web tabs.
  */}

By the end of this walkthrough you will have connected a cluster to Admiral, deployed a real workload, wired an infrastructure component to it, and promoted the whole thing from a dev environment to a production environment. All on your own machine, using a local Kubernetes cluster.

## What you'll build [#what-youll-build]

{/* TODO: a small diagram of the end state - app "demo" with dev + prod envs,
   each holding a workload component that consumes an output from an infra component. */}

* An **Application** with two **Environments**: `dev` and `prod`.
* A **workload** component deployed from a public Helm chart.
* An **infrastructure** component whose output feeds the workload (the dependency graph).
* A **promotion** that ships the same, tested setup from `dev` to `prod`.

## The path [#the-path]

- [1. Connect a cluster](https://admiral.io/docs/get-started/connect-a-cluster.md): Sign up, install the CLI, run an agent in a local kind cluster

- [2. Applications & environments](https://admiral.io/docs/get-started/applications-and-environments.md): Create a source, an app, and dev + prod environments

- [3. Your first deploy](https://admiral.io/docs/get-started/first-deploy.md): Deploy a workload through a changeset and watch it go live

- [4. Wire infrastructure](https://admiral.io/docs/get-started/wire-infrastructure.md): Add an infra component and pass its output to the workload

- [5. Promote to production](https://admiral.io/docs/get-started/promote-to-production.md): Copy the tested changeset from dev to prod

## Prerequisites [#prerequisites]

Admiral is hosted, so there is no server to install. You need an account and a target to deploy into. For this walkthrough the target is a throwaway local cluster.

* **An Admiral account.** {/* TODO: link to signup once the hosted signup flow / URL exists */}
* **The `admiral` CLI.** {/* TODO: install instructions / link to CLI reference install section */}
* **A local Kubernetes target**, for the Kubernetes agent:

| Tool                                                                 | Minimum version | Purpose                    |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- | -------------------------- |
| [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/)                        | 20.10+          | Container runtime for kind |
| [kind](https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/docs/user/quick-start/#installation) | 0.20+           | Local Kubernetes cluster   |
| [kubectl](https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/tools/)                   | 1.28+           | Inspect the cluster        |

{/* TODO: note Docker resource floor (~2 CPU / 4 GB) carried over from the old prerequisites page. */}

> **Note:** The agent is **outbound-only** - it dials `api.admiral.io` and pulls its work, so a local kind cluster with plain internet access is enough. No inbound networking, no port mapping. See [Architecture](https://admiral.io/docs/architecture.md).

## A note on the two ways to drive Admiral [#a-note-on-the-two-ways-to-drive-admiral]

Every step below is shown in two tabs: the **CLI** and the **Web**, in the spirit of how a cloud provider lets you click through a UI or script the same thing. Pick whichever you prefer; they produce the same resources.

{/* TODO: once written, cross-link each concept the walkthrough touches back to /docs/concepts/* for readers who want depth. */}