Python Tools Overview

The Ansible developer tools ecosystem is built on a curated set of Python CLI packages maintained by the Ansible team at Red Hat. These tools handle every phase of Ansible content development — from scaffolding new projects, through linting and testing, to building execution environments and signing content for distribution.

All tools work standalone from the command line and are deeply integrated into the VS Code extension, Language Server, and MCP server.

ansible-dev-tools (ADT)

The ansible-dev-tools meta-package installs the entire suite in one command:

pip install ansible-dev-tools

After installation, verify all tool versions with a single command:

adt --version

ansible-builder                          3.1.1
ansible-core                             2.21.0
ansible-creator                          26.4.3
ansible-dev-environment                  26.6.0
ansible-dev-tools                        26.4.6
ansible-lint                             26.4.0
ansible-navigator                        26.4.0
ansible-sign                             0.1.5
molecule                                 26.4.0
tox-ansible                              26.6.0

Container image

All ADT tools come pre-installed in the community-ansible-dev-tools container image:

podman pull ghcr.io/ansible/community-ansible-dev-tools:latest

This image can be used as:

A development container via VS Code Dev Containers or GitHub Codespaces
A base image for custom execution environments
An interactive environment for Ansible development without local installation

podman run -it --rm \
  -v $PWD:/workdir \
  ghcr.io/ansible/community-ansible-dev-tools:latest

DevContainer support

The ansible-dev-tools repository provides sample devcontainer.json files for both Podman and Docker. Copy the .devcontainer directory into your Ansible project to get a fully configured development environment with all tools available.

Tool categories

The tools are organized into three functional groups reflecting the Ansible content lifecycle:

Creation tools

Tool	Purpose
ansible-creator	Scaffold collections, playbooks, roles, plugins, and execution environments
ansible-dev-environment	Manage isolated virtual environments for collection development

Linting and testing tools

Tool	Purpose
ansible-lint	Check playbooks, roles, and collections for best practices
molecule	Functional testing framework for Ansible content
tox-ansible	Generate multi-version test matrices for collections

Execution and deployment tools

Tool	Purpose
ansible-navigator	Run and inspect Ansible content with a TUI or in execution environments
ansible-builder	Build execution environment container images
ansible-sign	Sign and verify Ansible project content with GPG

Installation options

Full suite (recommended)

pip install ansible-dev-tools

Individual tools

Each tool can be installed independently:

pip install ansible-lint
pip install molecule
pip install ansible-navigator

System packages

On Fedora and RHEL:

dnf install ansible-lint

From the container image

No local Python installation required:

podman run -it --rm \
  -v $PWD:/workdir \
  ghcr.io/ansible/community-ansible-dev-tools:latest

Your journey through the toolkit

These tools aren’t standalone utilities — they form a connected pipeline. Each step produces what the next step consumes:

Scaffold ──▶ Environment ──▶ Lint ──▶ Test ──▶ Execute ──▶ Package ──▶ Sign
creator      ade              lint    molecule  navigator   builder     sign
                                      tox

Where to start

Starting a new project? Begin with ansible-creator to scaffold a collection or playbook project, then set up your environment with ade.

Already have content? Jump to ansible-lint to validate it, then Molecule to test it.

Ready to run playbooks? Go straight to ansible-navigator for interactive or container-based execution.

Preparing for production? Read ansible-builder to create custom execution environments, then ansible-sign to secure them.

Want the full picture? The end-to-end workflow guide walks through the entire lifecycle from empty directory to signed release.

The editor and AI layer

Underneath your workflow, the VS Code extension, Language Server, and MCP server integrate with every tool:

ansible-creator powers the extension’s scaffolding panels via adt server
ansible-lint provides real-time diagnostics through the Language Server
ansible-navigator handles playbook execution with progress streaming
ansible-builder and ansible-navigator provide execution environment introspection
ansible-dev-environment manages Python environments the extension discovers

AI agents connected via the MCP server access the same capabilities — scaffolding, linting, environment queries — without manual steps.