k9s — Terminal UI for Managing Kubernetes Clusters in Style

What k9s Does

• Resource Navigation: Browse all Kubernetes resources with tab completion
• Live Updates: Real-time resource updates without refreshing
• Multi-Cluster: Switch between clusters and namespaces instantly
• Logs & Shell: Stream logs and exec into pods directly
• Port Forward: One-key port forwarding
• Resource Editing: Edit YAML in your favorite editor
• RBAC View: Check permissions and roles
• Node Metrics: View CPU/memory usage per node/pod
• Benchmarking: Built-in HTTP load testing for services
• Custom Views: Save frequently used resource views
• Skins: Customizable color themes
• Plugins: Extend with custom commands and actions

Installation

Package Managers

# macOS
brew install k9s

# Linux
snap install k9s --devmode
# Or via binary
curl -sS https://webinstall.dev/k9s | bash

# Windows
choco install k9s
# Or scoop
scoop install k9s

# Docker
docker run --rm -it -v $KUBECONFIG:/root/.kube/config quay.io/derailed/k9s

From Source

go install github.com/derailed/k9s@latest

Basic Usage

Starting k9s

# Use current kubectl context
k9s

# Specify context
k9s --context my-cluster

# Start in specific namespace
k9s -n kube-system

# Read-only mode
k9s --readonly

# With custom refresh rate
k9s --refresh 2

Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

Navigation

:pod            — Show pods
:svc            — Show services
:deploy         — Show deployments
:ns             — Show namespaces
:node           — Show nodes
:cm             — Show configmaps
:secret         — Show secrets
:ing            — Show ingresses
:pvc            — Show persistent volume claims
:sa             — Show service accounts
:cronjob        — Show cronjobs
:hpa            — Show horizontal pod autoscalers
:netpol         — Show network policies

Common Actions

d               — Describe resource
v               — View YAML
e               — Edit YAML (opens $EDITOR)
l               — View logs
s               — Shell into pod
:q or ctrl-c    — Quit / go back
?               — Show help
/               — Filter resources (fuzzy search)
Esc             — Clear filter
Enter           — Select / drill down
Space           — Toggle mark
r               — Refresh view
ctrl-d          — Delete resource (with confirmation)
ctrl-k          — Kill pod

Pod-Specific

l               — View logs
shift+l         — View previous container logs
s               — Shell into container
f               — Port forward
ctrl-k          — Kill pod (force delete)
shift+f         — Show port forwards

Context & Namespace

:ctx            — Switch context
:ns             — Switch namespace
:0              — View all namespaces

Pulses & Benchmarks

:pulse          — Cluster pulse (heartbeat view)
:bench          — Start HTTP benchmark
ctrl+b          — Toggle benchmark on service

Advanced Features

Custom Aliases

Create ~/.config/k9s/aliases.yaml:

aliases:
  po: pod
  dep: deployment
  svc: service
  cmap: configmap
  sec: secret
  # Custom shortcut
  prod: "-n production pod"

Use with :prod to show pods in production namespace.

Hotkeys

Create ~/.config/k9s/hotkeys.yaml:

hotKey:
  shift-0:
    shortCut: Shift-0
    description: Viewing all pods
    command: pods
  shift-1:
    shortCut: Shift-1
    description: Viewing services
    command: services

Plugins

Create ~/.config/k9s/plugin.yaml:

plugin:
  tail-logs:
    shortCut: Ctrl-L
    description: "Tail logs with grep"
    scopes:
      - po
    command: sh
    background: false
    args:
      - -c
      - "kubectl logs -f --tail=100 $NAME -n $NAMESPACE | less"

  debug-container:
    shortCut: Shift-D
    description: "Launch debug container"
    scopes:
      - po
    command: kubectl
    background: false
    args:
      - debug
      - -it
      - "$NAME"
      - --image=nicolaka/netshoot
      - --target=$NAME
      - -n
      - "$NAMESPACE"

Skins (Themes)

Create ~/.config/k9s/skins/dracula.yaml:

k9s:
  body:
    fgColor: "#F8F8F2"
    bgColor: "#282A36"
    logoColor: "#BD93F9"
  # ... more color settings

Set in config: skin: dracula

Views & Contexts

k9s remembers your views per context. Each kubectl context has its own state:

• Last viewed resource
• Active filters
• Saved views
• Custom columns

Productivity Tips

Filter Resources

/nginx          — Show resources matching "nginx"
/!system        — Exclude "system"

View Multiple Resources

:svc,pod        — Show both services and pods

Decoded Secrets

k9s can decode base64 secrets in real-time:

Navigate to secret → x (decode) → shows plaintext

Live Logs with Highlighting

Navigate to pod → l (logs)
/ — Filter logs by keyword
t — Toggle follow mode
Shift-T — Toggle timestamps
Shift-F — Show full log

k9s vs Alternatives

FAQ

Q: What permissions does k9s need? A: k9s uses your kubectl config and permissions. If kubectl can access the cluster, so can k9s. Read-only RBAC users can use --readonly mode to prevent accidental changes.

Q: Can I switch between multiple clusters? A: Yes. Use the :ctx command to view and switch between all kubectl contexts. k9s remembers per-context state (last browsed resource, filters, etc.).

Q: How do I view CPU/memory usage? A: Make sure metrics-server is installed in the cluster (so kubectl top works), then press :pod in k9s to view pods — live CPU and memory are shown. Press :node to see node-level resources.

Sources & Credits

• GitHub: derailed/k9s — 33.3K+ ⭐ | Apache-2.0
• Official site: k9scli.io