atmos toolchain get

Display version information for tools configured in your .tool-versions file. View the currently configured version or browse all available versions from the registry.

atmos toolchain get --help

Usage

Get Tool Version

atmos toolchain get [tool]

When a tool name is provided, displays the version configured in .tool-versions for that specific tool.

When no tool name is provided, displays versions for all tools in .tool-versions.

Examples

Get Specific Tool Version

# Get configured Terraform version
atmos toolchain get terraform

# Get configured kubectl version
atmos toolchain get kubectl

# Get configured Helm version
atmos toolchain get helm

The default table shows configured versions, installation status, and the default version. For a bare version suitable for scripts, use atmos toolchain get terraform --format=plain.

Get All Tool Versions

# List all configured tool versions
atmos toolchain get

The default output groups version tables by the names recorded in .tool-versions, preserving aliases. Use --format=plain for one tool version line per configured entry, sorted by those names:

atmos toolchain get --format=plain

hashicorp/terraform 1.9.8
helm/helm 3.13.0

Use atmos toolchain get --format=json for an array of tool objects, each containing tool, version, and installed. Aggregate output preserves each configured name in tool, so an alias and its canonical name remain distinct entries. A named-tool query returns a single object with the canonical tool name.

Show All Available Versions

# Show all available versions for a tool
atmos toolchain get terraform --all

# Limit number of versions displayed
atmos toolchain get terraform --all --limit 20

The table marks the default version and installation status. Omit the tool name to query available versions for every tool in .tool-versions; --limit applies to each tool. With --all --format=json, each object contains tool, default_version, and a versions array.

Arguments

tool (optional)

Name of the tool to get version information for. Can be the short name (alias) or full owner/repo format.

Examples: terraform, kubectl, hashicorp/terraform, kubernetes-sigs/kubectl

If omitted, displays versions for all tools in .tool-versions.

Flags

--all (optional)

Show all available versions from the registry, not just the configured version.

Useful for discovering which versions are available to install.

Environment variable: ATMOS_TOOLCHAIN_ALL

--limit (optional)

Maximum number of versions to display when using --all. Default: 10

Environment variable: ATMOS_TOOLCHAIN_LIMIT

--format, -f (optional)

Output format: table (default), plain, or json.

For a named tool, plain prints the bare version string for shell substitution. Without a tool name, it prints one tool version line per configured entry, preserving aliases. Use json for structured output that includes installation status: an object for one tool, or an array when the tool name is omitted.

plain cannot be combined with --all, since there's no single version to print — use json instead.

Environment variable: ATMOS_TOOLCHAIN_GET_FORMAT

Use Cases

Check Configured Version

Verify which version is configured before running commands:

# Check Terraform version before deployment
atmos toolchain get terraform

# Verify kubectl version before cluster operations
atmos toolchain get kubectl

Compare with Available Versions

See if newer versions are available:

# Show latest Terraform versions
atmos toolchain get terraform --all --limit 5

# Browse available OpenTofu versions
atmos toolchain get opentofu --all

Audit Tool Versions

Review all configured tool versions:

# Display all tool versions
atmos toolchain get

# Export to file for documentation
atmos toolchain get > tool-versions.txt

Script Integration

Use --format=plain to get just the bare version string, no parsing required:

#!/bin/bash

# Get configured Terraform version
TF_VERSION=$(atmos toolchain get terraform --format=plain)

echo "Using Terraform version: $TF_VERSION"

This is the preferred way to capture a version in CI, for example writing to GITHUB_OUTPUT:

version=$(atmos toolchain get vale-cli/vale --format=plain)
echo "version=$version" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"

Use --format=json when a script needs more than the version, such as installation status:

atmos toolchain get terraform --format=json | jq -r '.version'

Update Workflow

Check current version before updating:

# Check current version
atmos toolchain get terraform

# View available versions
atmos toolchain get terraform --all --limit 10

# Update to newer version
atmos toolchain add terraform@1.9.8