What this is

A thin, zero-dependency client for Kea DHCP's Control Agent HTTP command channel. Kea's API is a single-endpoint JSON command protocol (POST / with {command, service, arguments}), not a path-based REST API — this client wraps that protocol in typed, resource-grouped methods covering the general control commands and every command hook library ships (lease_cmds, host_cmds, subnet_cmds, class_cmds, stat_cmds, cb_cmds, ha). It does not manage the Kea process itself, nor the Control Agent's own configuration.

The supported command set is intentionally explicit below; this is not a claim of complete coverage of every Kea command or optional hook library.

Installation

npm install @sourceregistry/kea-client

Also published unscoped as kea-client. Requires Node.js >= 18.

Quick Start

import { KeaClient } from "@sourceregistry/kea-client";

const client = new KeaClient({ baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:8000" });

const version = await client.control.getVersion();
console.log(version.extended);

// Target a specific daemon behind the Control Agent with a trailing `service` array.
const status = await client.control.getStatus(["dhcp4"]);
console.log(status);

await client.lease.setLease4(
  { "ip-address": "192.0.2.100", "hw-address": "1a:1b:1c:1d:1e:1f", "subnet-id": 1 },
  ["dhcp4"],
);

See /examples for full walkthroughs of the supported command groups.

API

Every KeaClient method sends one Kea command and unwraps the first response entry, throwing KeaApiError if its result code is non-zero. The optional trailing service?: string[] argument on every method selects which daemon(s) the Control Agent forwards the command to (e.g. ["dhcp4"], ["dhcp6"], ["d2"]); omit it to let the Control Agent handle the command itself.

| Resource | Hook / source | Example methods | |---|---|---| | client.control | general commands (built into every daemon) | getVersion, getStatus, getConfig, setConfig, testConfig, reloadConfig, writeConfig, listCommands, shutdown, getBuildReport, enableDhcp/disableDhcp, reclaimLeases, listInterfaces/addInterface/redetectInterfaces, testSubnet4Select/testSubnet6Select | | client.lease | lease_cmds | setLease4/setLease6, getLease4/getLease6, getLease4ByHwAddress, getLease4ByState, getLease4ByHostname, getLease6ByDuid, getLease6ByState, getLease6ByHostname, writeLeases4/writeLeases6, updateLease4/updateLease6, delLease4/delLease6, wipeLease4/wipeLease6, getAllLeases4/getAllLeases6, getLease4Page/getLease6Page, bulkApplyLease6, resendLease4Ddns/resendLease6Ddns | | client.host | host_cmds | setReservation, getReservation, getAllReservations, getReservationPage, getReservationsByAddress, getReservationByHostname, getReservationById, updateReservation, delReservation | | client.subnet | subnet_cmds | setSubnet4/setSubnet6, getSubnet4/getSubnet6, updateSubnet4/updateSubnet6, listSubnets4/listSubnets6, delSubnet4/delSubnet6, setNetwork4/setNetwork6, getNetwork4/getNetwork6, listNetworks4/listNetworks6, addNetworkSubnet4/addNetworkSubnet6, delNetworkSubnet4/delNetworkSubnet6, delNetwork4/delNetwork6 | | client.class | class_cmds | setClass, updateClass, getClass, listClasses, delClass | | client.stat | stat_cmds | getStatistic, getAllStatistics, resetStatistic/resetAllStatistics, removeStatistic/removeAllStatistics, setStatisticSampleAge/setAllStatisticsSampleAge, setStatisticSampleCount/setAllStatisticsSampleCount | | client.configBackend | cb_cmds (remote-*) | setGlobalParameter4/get/getAll/del (+ 6), setServer4/get/getAll/del (+6), setRemoteNetwork4/get/list/del (+6), setRemoteSubnet4/get/list/delById/delByPrefix (+6), setRemoteClass4/get/getAll/del (+6), setOptionGlobal4/get/getAll/del, setOptionNetwork4/del, setOptionSubnet4/del, setOptionPool4/del, setOptionPdPool6/del, setOptionDef4/get/getAll/del (+6 for all option/def commands) | | client.ha | ha (High Availability) | getHeartbeat, setScopes, continueSync, reset, startMaintenance/cancelMaintenance, sync, notifySyncComplete |

For commands issued against multiple service targets at once (e.g. ["dhcp4", "dhcp6"]), use client.sendRaw(command, args, service) — it returns every response entry without throwing on individual failures, since one target may succeed while another fails (Kea's partial-failure result: 5).

Coverage and known gaps

The typed surface is checked against the Kea 3.2 Administrator Reference Manual, but a deployment only exposes commands from its installed Kea version and loaded hook libraries. Use client.control.listCommands(["dhcp4"]) or client.control.listCommands(["dhcp6"]) to discover the commands available on a target.

This package does not provide typed wrappers for every optional Kea hook or version-specific command. Known gaps include host_cache, perfmon, forensic logging, RADIUS, and internal HA peer commands such as ha-maintenance-notify. Use sendRaw() for those commands and for any newer Kea surface until a typed wrapper and tests are added.

Error handling

import { KeaApiError, KeaTransportError } from "@sourceregistry/kea-client";

try {
  await client.lease.getLease4({ "ip-address": "192.0.2.100" }, ["dhcp4"]);
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof KeaApiError) {
    // err.result: 1 error, 2 unsupported, 3 not found, 4 conflict, 5 partial failure
    console.error(err.command, err.result, err.message);
  } else if (err instanceof KeaTransportError) {
    // non-2xx HTTP status or malformed response from the Control Agent itself
    console.error(err.statusCode, err.message);
  }
}

Options

new KeaClient({
  baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:8000", // required
  username: "admin",                 // optional, HTTP Basic Auth
  password: "secret",
  headers: { "x-request-id": "..." }, // optional, merged into every request
  timeoutMs: 10000,                    // optional, defaults to 10000
});

Development

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the branch/PR process, commit message conventions, and a checklist for adding new commands.

npm test              # vitest run
npm run test:ui        # vitest --ui
npm run test:coverage  # vitest run --coverage
npm run build           # tsc + vite build (+ JSR package assembly)
npm run docs:build      # typedoc -> generated/docs

Each file in /examples is runnable directly against a real Control Agent:

npm run examples/basic-status -- http://127.0.0.1:8000
# or: KEA_CA_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8000 npm run examples/leases

License

Apache-2.0. See LICENSE.