km is a thin wrapper for kubectl to enhance Kubernetes workflow with colorized output, context switching, and advanced log streaming.
Any command not recognized by km will be proxied directly to kubectl, so km can be used as a drop-in replacement for kubectl.
Check km -h for all available options.
- Colorized kubectl output - Automatically colorizes
get,describe, andtopcommands - Context switching - Quick cluster and namespace context changes with fuzzy finder
- Session information - Displays current user, namespace, cluster, and authentication expiration. Supports both certificate-based and exec-based authentication (Pinniped, OIDC, etc.).
- Advanced log streaming - Stream logs from multiple pods/containers simultaneously with colors (stern-like)
- Watch mode - Continuously refresh any kubectl command output
- Shell completion - Bash, Zsh, and Fish completion support
- Single binary - No dependencies required (kubectl must be installed separately)
sudo curl -L \ $(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/catalinpan/km/releases/latest \ | jq -r '.assets[] | select(.name == "km-linux-amd64") | .browser_download_url') \ -o /usr/local/bin/km && sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/kmsudo curl -L \ $(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/catalinpan/km/releases/latest \ | jq -r '.assets[] | select(.name == "km-darwin-amd64") | .browser_download_url') \ -o /usr/local/bin/km && sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/kmgit clone https://github.com/catalinpan/km.git cd km go build -o ./bin/km ./cmd/km/main.go sudo mv ./bin/km /usr/local/bin/kmkm cc# Interactive fuzzy finder with pod preview km cn # Direct namespace change km cn default km cn kube-systemkm whoami User: user-pinniped-example Namespace: myapp Context: user-pinniped-example@mycluster Cluster: mycluster Expires: 2025-12-11 12:15:19 UTC (expires in 1 minutes)Displays current user, namespace, cluster, and client certificate expiration.
km logskm logs my-pod-name km logs -f my-pod-name# All pods in current namespace km logs --all # All pods in specific namespace km logs --all -n kube-system # Multiple namespaces km logs --all -n velero -n external-dns -n monitoring # With tail limit km logs --all --tail 100 km logs --all -n production --tail 50 # Multiple namespaces with tail km logs --all -n ns1 -n ns2 -n ns3 --tail 100Output format:
namespace/pod-name › container-name | log message Each pod gets a unique color (cycling through 6 colors), and container names are displayed in cyan for easy identification.
# Default refresh (2 seconds) km watch get pods -o wide # Custom refresh interval km watch -i 1 get pods -o wide km watch -i 5 get deployments# Install completion echo 'source <(km completion bash)' >> ~/.bashrc source ~/.bashrc# Install completion echo 'source <(km completion zsh)' >> ~/.zshrc source ~/.zshrc# Install completion km completion fish | source km completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/km.fishNote: kubectl completion must be installed locally for km completion to work properly.
Any unrecognized command is passed directly to kubectl:
km get pods km describe pod my-pod km apply -f deployment.yaml km delete pod my-podUsage: km <kubectl-command> # Direct kubectl passthrough km cn [<namespace>] # Change current namespace km logs [<pod>] # View pod logs (interactive or direct) km logs --all [flags] # Stream logs from all pods km cc # Switch cluster context km whoami # Show current user, namespace, cluster, and auth expiration km watch [-i N] # "watch"-style loop with color km completion <shell> # Generate completion script Logs --all flags: -n, --namespace NS Namespace (can be specified multiple times) --tail N Number of lines to show from end of logs Flags: -h, --help Show km help -v, --version Show km version - Go 1.21 or higher
- kubectl installed and configured
- Access to a Kubernetes cluster
go run ./cmd/km/main.go get pods go run ./cmd/km/main.go logs --all -n kube-system# Run all tests go test -v ./... # Run specific package tests go test -v ./internal/kube go test -v ./internal/completion# Build for current platform go build -o ./bin/km ./cmd/km/main.go # Build for Linux GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -o ./bin/km-linux-amd64 ./cmd/km/main.go # Build for macOS GOOS=darwin GOARCH=amd64 go build -o ./bin/km-darwin-amd64 ./cmd/km/main.go # Build for macOS ARM (Apple Silicon) GOOS=darwin GOARCH=arm64 go build -o ./bin/km-darwin-arm64 ./cmd/km/main.go # Build for Windows GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build -o ./bin/km-windows-amd64.exe ./cmd/km/main.goVERSION=$(git describe --tags --always --dirty) go build -ldflags "-X main.version=${VERSION}" -o ./bin/km ./cmd/km/main.go- fatih/color - Terminal color output
- ktr0731/go-fuzzyfinder - Interactive fuzzy finder
- golang.org/x/term - Terminal utilities
# Get pods with colorized status km get pods # Describe with colorized output km describe pod my-pod # YAML output with syntax highlighting km get pod my-pod -o yaml# Monitor all pods across multiple namespaces km logs --all -n production -n staging -n monitoring # Last 50 lines from each pod in multiple namespaces km logs --all -n app1 -n app2 --tail 50# Watch deployments with status colors km watch get deployments # Watch pods with auto-refresh every second km watch -i 1 get pods -o wideMIT License - see LICENSE file for details