> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://ventstream.dev/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# VentStream Cloud

> Operate managed VentStream pipelines without putting the control plane in the data path.

VentStream Cloud is the managed control plane for CDC and realtime engine
workloads. It inventories deployments, enrolls agents, distributes desired state
and configuration, records durable operations, and provides organization-scoped
visibility.

The management plane is hosted by VentStream. Managed agents run in your
infrastructure and connect outbound to Cloud. Source records, sink writes, broker
events, GraphQL subscriptions, and WebSocket traffic stay in the engine data
path; they are not proxied through the control plane.

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart LR
  O[Operator] -->|Dashboard / HTTPS| API[VentStream Cloud]
  CLI[ventstreamctl] -->|HTTPS| API
  API --> OP[Desired state and operations]
  subgraph Customer environment
    A[Managed agent]
    E[VentStream engine]
    D[Sources, brokers, and sinks]
  end
  A -->|outbound mTLS| G[Cloud agent gateway]
  G -->|desired state and operations| A
  A --> E
  E -->|CDC / realtime data| D
```

## Administration surfaces

* The dashboard provides onboarding, organization membership, pipeline creation,
  configuration editing, deployment guidance, observability, billing, and
  settings.
* `ventstreamctl` provides repeatable pipeline, deployment, configuration,
  lifecycle, identity, status, and operation workflows.
* Kubernetes, Docker Compose, or your scheduler creates the managed-agent
  workload in your infrastructure. Cloud administers it after enrollment; it
  does not deploy directly into your cluster.

## Managed and standalone modes

The VentStream engine can run standalone from local configuration with no Cloud
dependency. Managed deployments run the Fleet supervisor as PID 1, which starts
and stops the engine child according to persisted desired state.

Standalone engines are operated through their process manager, Kubernetes, or
another scheduler. They cannot be paused, resumed, configured, or inspected with
`ventstreamctl` because they are not enrolled in VentStream Cloud.

Choose VentStream Cloud when you need centralized inventory, configuration
history, runtime visibility, controlled pause/resume/drain operations, agent
identity, or administration across organizations and environments.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Create a Cloud account" icon="cloud" href="https://ventstream.dev/signup">
    Start an organization or accept an invitation.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Administer with the CLI" icon="terminal" href="/docs/fleet/cli">
    Install `ventstreamctl` and manage enrolled pipelines.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>