> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://datum-4926dda5-docs-compute-and-vpc-guides.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Compute commands
> Deploy and manage containerized workloads on Datum Cloud with the datumctl compute plugin.
Compute is in preview, and each project needs approved access before it can deploy. For product guides, including a quickstart, see [Compute](/compute/overview).
`datumctl compute` deploys a container image as a *workload* that runs in one or more Datum Cloud locations, and provides the day-to-day commands to scale, restart, and delete it. It's a first-party plugin instead of a built-in command. After you install it, its commands behave like the rest of the CLI.
```bash theme={null}
datumctl plugin install compute
datumctl compute --help
```
New to plugins? [Using plugins](/datumctl/plugins/using-plugins) covers installation, upgrades, and how a plugin inherits your active context and credentials. Not installed `datumctl` itself yet? Start with the [Quickstart](/datumctl/quickstart).
## Core concepts
A handful of terms recur across every `compute` command:
| Term | Meaning |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Workload** | The thing you deploy — a container image plus its runtime configuration (ports, env, instance type) and one or more placements. |
| **Placement** | A named group of locations and a scale policy (minimum replica count) in a workload. A flag-based `deploy` creates a single placement named `default`. |
| **Location** | A Datum Cloud region a workload can run in, for example `us-central-1`. The `--city` flag selects every location in a city by its code, such as `DFW`. |
| **Instance** | One running copy of a workload's container in one location. A placement with `--min=2` across two locations produces four Instances. |
`compute` is project-scoped: every command reads `--project` (or your active context's project, injected automatically — see [Contexts & scoping](/datumctl/contexts-and-scoping)). There is no organization-level view and no `--namespace` flag; all compute resources live in the project's `default` namespace.
## Requesting access
Compute is a gated service. The first time you run a command that needs it, `datumctl` checks whether your project is entitled to use Compute:
No request has been made yet. On an interactive terminal, the gate offers to submit one for you.
A request is awaiting a manual decision by the service provider. Latency is unbounded.
The project is entitled — every `compute` command runs normally.
The provider rejected the request (or later revoked it). Recovery is submitting a new request.
### The automatic gate
Run any gated command — `deploy`, `workloads`, `instances`, and so on — without access, and on a TTY `datumctl` prompts you inline:
```bash theme={null}
datumctl compute deploy api --image=ghcr.io/acme/api:1.4.2 --location=us-central-1 --min=1
```
`datumctl` checks if Compute is enabled for the project, and — if not — asks whether to request access; on confirmation, it submits the request and waits briefly to see whether the platform approves it immediately or the request needs manual review.
Decline, and nothing is submitted — run `datumctl compute access request` yourself whenever you're ready. In a non-interactive shell (CI, a script, or a piped command), the gate never prompts; it fails immediately and tells you which command to run.
### Checking and requesting access explicitly
Use `datumctl compute access` to check the current state directly, and `access request` for more control over submitting one than the automatic prompt gives you:
```bash theme={null}
# Show the current access state
datumctl compute access
# Submit a request with a justification, useful for the provider's review
datumctl compute access request --message="Onboarding the api service"
# Submit and block until the platform's first decision (or --timeout elapses)
datumctl compute access request --wait
# A denied or revoked request is terminal — --renew deletes it and submits fresh
datumctl compute access request --renew
```
`datumctl compute access` prints the state, the platform's explanation, and — when there's a next step — the exact command to run:
```text theme={null}
Service: Compute (compute.datumapis.com)
Project: acme-prod
Status: Not requested
This service is not enabled for this project.
Request access with: datumctl compute access request
```
Add `-o json` or `-o yaml` to script against the state instead of parsing prose.
## Checking quota
Once active, `datumctl compute quota` shows how much of your project's compute allotment is used:
```bash theme={null}
datumctl compute quota
```
```text theme={null}
Quota for project acme-prod
RESOURCE UNIT LIMIT USED AVAILABLE USAGE
Workloads workloads 10 3 7 [######--------------] 30%
Instances instances 50 12 38 [#####---------------] 24%
vCPUs vCPUs 32 8 24 [#####---------------] 25%
Memory MiB 65536 16384 49152 [#####---------------] 25%
```
Pass `--constrained` to show only the resource types that are currently at their limit — the fastest way to check whether a stalled rollout is a quota problem:
```bash theme={null}
datumctl compute quota --constrained
```
## Find your way around
Turn a Dockerfile into an image Compute can run, and check compatibility before you deploy.
Deploy a workload from flags or a manifest, and read back its health across locations.
Roll restarts, watch a rollout, and debug individual Instances.
Tear down a workload and every Instance it created.
## Related
* `datumctl compute --help` and `datumctl compute --help` for the full flag reference.
* [Compute](/compute/overview) — product guides for runtime classes, configuration, placement, and publishing workloads.
* [Using plugins](/datumctl/plugins/using-plugins) — how the `compute` plugin is installed, upgraded, and trusted.
* [Contexts & scoping](/datumctl/contexts-and-scoping) — how the project a `compute` command runs against is resolved.
* [Output formats & scripting](/datumctl/output-and-scripting) — `-o json`/`-o yaml` patterns that apply across `compute` subcommands.