Collect Evidence

netcli.collect_evidence is a check step that runs CLI commands on each target device and captures every command's output as an evidence artifact. Use it to record device state — before-and-after snapshots, verification output, audit trails. It is meant for read-only show commands, but nothing enforces that: a configured command runs as written, so keep anything that changes device state in netcli.execute.

Using It

List the commands one per line, typically show/exec commands such as show version or show interfaces. Command lines accept {{ variable }} templates for flow inputs and earlier step results, resolved before the step runs. On each device all commands are executed together in one session, in order, and each command's output becomes its own artifact.

Leaving the command list empty is not an error: as long as at least one target device is configured, the step succeeds with a "No commands configured" summary and collects nothing. Max Parallel Devices controls the fan-out: 1 (the default) processes devices strictly one after another, higher values run up to that many devices concurrently (capped at 32). Command output reaches the step's live log per device, once that device's whole command batch has finished.

Output

The step adds no custom chainable output keys; what it produces lives in its evidence. Each command on each device yields a cli_output artifact named <device>:<command>, holding the raw output plus the device, the command, the exit code, and any error text. A device without a management host or one that fails to connect contributes an error artifact with the message instead. Metrics record device_count, command_count, total_success and total_failure (per-command results across devices), and failed_devices. The summary reports how many devices were collected from and how many commands succeeded.

When It Fails

The step fails when no target devices are configured, or when the commands value is malformed (not a list, or containing empty or non-string entries). Per device, it counts as failed when the device has no management host, when connecting or executing raises an error, or when any command returns a non-zero exit code. Collection continues on the remaining devices either way, and all collected evidence is kept — but if any device failed, the step fails and its error names the failing devices. The handler imposes no timeout of its own on command execution.