[feature] CRW-11940: Add CLI Activity Tracker configuration to CheCluster CRD by vrubezhny · Pull Request #2170 · eclipse-che/che-operator

vrubezhny · 2026-07-29T16:40:15Z

This PR adds spec.devEnvironments.cliActivityTracker section to the CheCluster CRD, allowing administrators to enable and configure CLI Activity Tracker settings cluster-wide. When enabled, the operator writes CLI_ACTIVITY_TRACKER_* environment variables to the che-user-settings ConfigMap, which is auto-mounted to all workspace containers via DevWorkspace Operator. che-machine-exec reads these env vars and uses them as admin-level configuration for monitoring active CLI processes and preventing workspace idling.

What does this PR do?

Adds spec.devEnvironments.cliActivityTracker section to the CheCluster CRD, allowing administrators to enable and configure CLI Activity Tracker settings cluster-wide.

New CRD fields under spec.devEnvironments.cliActivityTracker:

Field	Type	Description
`enabled`	`*bool`	Enables CLI Activity Tracker to monitor running CLI processes and prevent workspace idling. When omitted, che-machine-exec determines the default behavior.
`secondsOfCheckPeriod`	`*int32`	How often (in seconds) to scan for active CLI processes.
`secondsOfActivityWindow`	`*int32`	How long (in seconds) to wait for input from interactive processes before considering them idle.
`secondsOfGracePeriod`	`*int32`	All processes unconditionally prevent idling when younger than this (in seconds).
`secondsOfMaxProcessAge`	`*int32`	Safety limit (in seconds). Processes older than this stop preventing idling.

All timing fields are optional. When omitted, set to -1, or set to 0, che-machine-exec calculates defaults dynamically based on the workspace idle timeout. Minimum validation is set to -1 for all timing fields.

How it works:

The operator reads spec.devEnvironments.cliActivityTracker from the CheCluster CR
When enabled is explicitly true, it writes CLI_ACTIVITY_TRACKER_* env vars to the che-user-settings ConfigMap
The ConfigMap is auto-mounted to all workspace containers via DevWorkspace Operator
che-machine-exec reads these env vars and applies them as admin-level configuration
When enabled is false, nil, or the entire section is omitted, no env vars are written

Env var mapping:

CRD field	ConfigMap env var
`enabled`	`CLI_ACTIVITY_TRACKER_ENABLED`
`secondsOfCheckPeriod`	`CLI_ACTIVITY_TRACKER_CHECK_PERIOD`
`secondsOfActivityWindow`	`CLI_ACTIVITY_TRACKER_ACTIVITY_WINDOW`
`secondsOfGracePeriod`	`CLI_ACTIVITY_TRACKER_GRACE_PERIOD`
`secondsOfMaxProcessAge`	`CLI_ACTIVITY_TRACKER_MAX_PROCESS_AGE`

Screenshot/screencast of this PR

N/A — no UI changes. This is a CRD and controller change.

What issues does this PR fix or reference?

Issue: https://issues.redhat.com/browse/CRW-11940
Related che-machine-exec PR: TBD

How to test this PR?

Tests added:

Existing TestCreatesDataInNamespace extended with CLI Activity Tracker assertions including -1 and nil field handling
New TestOptionalFeaturesOmitEnvVars verifies no env vars are written when the feature is disabled (nil, false, or nil-enabled with timing fields set)

Manual testing:

Deploy the operator from sources (see below)

Patch the CheCluster CR to enable CLI Activity Tracker:

kubectl patch checluster/eclipse-che -n eclipse-che --type=merge \
  -p '{"spec":{"devEnvironments":{"cliActivityTracker":{"enabled":true,"secondsOfCheckPeriod":30,"secondsOfActivityWindow":900}}}}'

Start a workspace and verify the che-user-settings ConfigMap in the user namespace contains CLI_ACTIVITY_TRACKER_ENABLED=true, CLI_ACTIVITY_TRACKER_CHECK_PERIOD=30, CLI_ACTIVITY_TRACKER_ACTIVITY_WINDOW=900
Verify that omitted fields (e.g. secondsOfGracePeriod) do not appear in the ConfigMap
Set enabled: false or remove the cliActivityTracker section — verify no CLI_ACTIVITY_TRACKER_* env vars in the ConfigMap

OpenShift

./build/scripts/olm/test-catalog-from-sources.sh

or

build/scripts/docker-run.sh /bin/bash -c "
  oc login \
    --token=<...> \
    --server=<...> \
    --insecure-skip-tls-verify=true && \
  build/scripts/olm/test-catalog-from-sources.sh
"

on Minikube

./build/scripts/minikube-tests/test-operator-from-sources.sh

Common Test Scenarios

Deploy Eclipse Che
Start an empty workspace
Open terminal and build/run an image
Stop a workspace
Check operator logs for reconciliation errors or infinite reconciliation loops

PR Checklist

As the author of this Pull Request I made sure that:

Reviewers

Reviewers, please comment how you tested the PR when approving it.

openshift-ci-robot · 2026-07-29T16:40:20Z

openshift-ci · 2026-07-29T16:40:21Z

[APPROVALNOTIFIER] This PR is NOT APPROVED

This pull-request has been approved by: vrubezhny

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vrubezhny · 2026-07-29T20:31:29Z

/retest-required

tolusha · 2026-07-30T08:30:52Z

+
+	// CLI Watcher configuration for preventing workspace idling during active CLI processes.
+	// +optional
+	CliWatcher *CliWatcherConfig `json:"cliWatcher,omitempty"`


Do we have some better naming?
activityMonitor ?

cc @ibuziuk

Note that's it's actually not for the whole 'activityMonitor`-thing, but only a part of what we have for Activity Tracking related to only user CLI processes running in Terminal.

So, maybe still something like cliActivityMonitor?

cliActivityTracker ?

I'm OK with both names if they keep mentioning that's these properties are for CLI processes that need to be tracked/monitored.
And I'd changed the env. variable names that are to be generated in ConfigMaps accordingly - like CLI_ACTIVITY_MONITOR_* or CLI_ACTIVITY_TRACKER_*.

In the latest version I've changed it to use cliActivityTracker and CLI_ACTIVITY_TRACKER_*.

We can change this later at any time before we merge it, if any objections.

tolusha · 2026-07-30T08:44:00Z

/che-ai-assistant ok-pr-review

Task completed.

tolusha

Consider omitting cliWatcher from the top-level DevEnvironments default annotation

The +kubebuilder:default:= annotation on the DevEnvironments field now includes cliWatcher: {enabled: false}. This means every existing CheCluster CR will get cliWatcher: {enabled: false} injected by the API server's defaulting webhook on CRD upgrade, which shows up as a noisy diff in CR audits. The CliWatcher field is already a pointer with omitempty, and the controller already guards it with if checluster.Spec.DevEnvironments.CliWatcher != nil, so the feature stays off without the struct-level default. The +kubebuilder:default:=false on Enabled still applies when a user explicitly creates a cliWatcher: section.

Document actual defaults that che-machine-exec applies when numeric fields are absent

The CRD field comments say "Set to -1 to use the default value calculated by che-machine-exec" but do not state what those values actually are. Would it be possible to add a brief note (e.g., "defaults to 30s") so admins can reason about resource consumption without having to read che-machine-exec source?

vrubezhny · 2026-07-30T18:44:43Z

Consider omitting cliWatcher from the top-level DevEnvironments default annotation

The default values are removed from the spec, it's up to che-machine-exec to dynamically calculate them in function of the secondsOfInactivityBeforeIdling property

Document actual defaults that che-machine-exec applies when numeric fields are absent

Each field is described and possible (but not guaranteed defaults has given as examples), also the consequence of omitting a property or setting it to -1 or 0 is described.

…ster CRD Add spec.devEnvironments.cliActivityTracker section to expose CLI Activity Tracker settings at the CheCluster CR level. The operator propagates these as CLI_ACTIVITY_TRACKER_* env vars via the che-user-settings ConfigMap to all workspace containers. Issue: https://issues.redhat.com/browse/CRW-11940 Signed-off-by: Victor Rubezhny <vrubezhny@redhat.com> Assisted-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

vrubezhny requested review from SDawley, dkwon17, ibuziuk, mkuznyetsov and tolusha as code owners July 29, 2026 16:40

openshift-ci-robot added the jira/valid-reference label Jul 29, 2026

vrubezhny force-pushed the feature/cli-watcher-checluster-cr branch from db8b71d to c1c3c1e Compare July 29, 2026 22:54

tolusha reviewed Jul 30, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread api/v2/checluster_types.go

Comment thread controllers/usernamespace/usernamespace_controller.go Outdated

Comment thread controllers/usernamespace/usernamespace_controller_test.go Outdated

Comment thread controllers/usernamespace/usernamespace_controller_test.go Outdated

vrubezhny force-pushed the feature/cli-watcher-checluster-cr branch from c1c3c1e to e9cdae0 Compare July 30, 2026 19:24

vrubezhny changed the title ~~[feature] CRW-11940: Add CLI Watcher configuration to CheCluster CRD~~ [feature] CRW-11940: Add CLI Activity Tracker configuration to CheCluster CRD Jul 30, 2026

vrubezhny requested a review from tolusha July 30, 2026 21:55

vrubezhny force-pushed the feature/cli-watcher-checluster-cr branch from e9cdae0 to 56bb729 Compare July 31, 2026 15:16

vrubezhny mentioned this pull request Aug 1, 2026

[feature] CRW-11940: Expose CLI Activity Tracker configuration as environment variables eclipse-che/che-machine-exec#376

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