k9s Terminal UI

k9s provides a terminal-based UI for Kubernetes cluster management with real-time updates and keyboard-driven navigation.

Launch Options

k9s                                    # Default kubeconfig
k9s --kubeconfig /path/to/config       # Specific kubeconfig
k9s --context <context-name>           # Specific context
k9s -n <namespace>                     # Start in namespace
k9s --readonly                         # Read-only mode (no modifications)
k9s --headless                         # No splash screen
k9s -c <resource>                      # Start with resource view (e.g., k9s -c pods)
k9s info                               # Show config/log locations

Navigation Commands (: prefix)

Resource Views

| Command | Resource | |---------|----------| | :pod / :po | Pods | | :deploy / :dp | Deployments | | :svc | Services | | :ns | Namespaces | | :node / :no | Nodes | | :rs | ReplicaSets | | :ds | DaemonSets | | :sts | StatefulSets | | :cm | ConfigMaps | | :secret / :sec | Secrets | | :pvc | PersistentVolumeClaims | | :pv | PersistentVolumes | | :ing | Ingresses | | :cj | CronJobs | | :job | Jobs | | :hpa | HorizontalPodAutoscalers | | :ep | Endpoints | | :sa | ServiceAccounts | | :ctx | Contexts | | :event / :ev | Events |

Special Commands

| Command | Action | |---------|--------| | :aliases | Show all resource aliases | | :xray <resource> | Tree view of resource dependencies | | :pulse | Cluster health pulse view | | :popeye | Run cluster linter (if installed) | | :dir <path> | Browse saved files | | :q / :quit | Exit k9s |

Global Keyboard Shortcuts

| Key | Action | |-----|--------| | ? | Help / Show all shortcuts | | Esc | Back / Cancel / Exit mode | | Ctrl+a | Show all resources in namespace | | Ctrl+e | Toggle header | | Ctrl+w | Toggle wide columns | | Ctrl+s | Save resource YAML to file | | / | Filter mode (regex search) | | 0-9 | Quick namespace switch (favorites) |

Resource-Specific Actions

Pods

| Key | Action | |-----|--------| | l | View logs | | p | View previous container logs | | s | Shell into container | | a | Attach to container | | d | Describe | | y | View YAML | | e | Edit | | Ctrl+d | Delete | | Ctrl+k | Kill (force delete) | | f | Port forward | | Shift+f | Port forward menu |

Deployments

| Key | Action | |-----|--------| | s | Scale replicas | | r | Restart (rollout restart) | | d | Describe | | y | View YAML | | e | Edit | | Ctrl+l | Rollback |

General Resources

| Key | Action | |-----|--------| | Enter | Select / View details | | d | Describe | | y | View YAML | | e | Edit (opens $EDITOR) | | Ctrl+d | Delete (with confirmation) | | Ctrl+k | Kill (no confirmation) |

Sorting

| Key | Sort By | |-----|---------| | Shift+c | CPU | | Shift+m | Memory | | Shift+s | Status | | Shift+p | Namespace | | Shift+n | Name | | Shift+o | Node | | Shift+i | IP Address | | Shift+a | Age |

Filtering & Search

/                    # Enter filter mode
/<term>              # Filter by term (regex)
/-f <term>           # Fuzzy search
/!<term>             # Inverse filter (exclude)
/-l app=nginx        # Filter by label
Esc                  # Clear filter

Namespace Operations

| Key/Command | Action | |-------------|--------| | :ns | List namespaces | | u | Mark as favorite (adds +) | | 0-9 | Quick switch to favorite | | Enter | Switch to namespace |

Favorites appear in header for quick access.

Logs View

Within pod logs (l):

| Key | Action | |-----|--------| | 0 | Tail all containers | | 1-9 | Tail specific container | | w | Toggle wrap | | t | Toggle timestamps | | s | Toggle auto-scroll | | / | Search in logs | | Ctrl+s | Save logs to file | | m | Mark current position | | Ctrl+b | Page up | | Ctrl+f | Page down |

Port Forwarding

After selecting a pod and pressing Shift+f:

1. Select container/port
2. Enter local port
3. Port forward starts in background
4. View active forwards: :pf

Configuration

Config Location

~/.config/k9s/config.yaml     # Main config (Linux)
~/Library/Application Support/k9s/config.yaml  # macOS

Key Settings

k9s:
  refreshRate: 2              # Refresh interval (seconds)
  maxConnRetry: 5
  readOnly: false             # Disable modifications
  ui:
    enableMouse: false
    headless: false           # Hide header
    logoless: false           # Hide logo
    crumbsless: false         # Hide breadcrumbs
  logger:
    tail: 1000                # Log lines to keep
    buffer: 5000
    sinceSeconds: -1          # -1 = all logs

Custom Views

~/.config/k9s/views.yaml:

k9s:
  views:
    v1/pods:
      sortColumn: AGE:desc
      columns:
        - AGE
        - NAMESPACE
        - NAME
        - STATUS
        - RESTARTS
        - CPU
        - MEM
        - IP
        - NODE

Skins/Themes

~/.config/k9s/skins/<name>.yaml - Custom color schemes

Set in config: skin: <name>

Plugins

Location: ~/.config/k9s/plugins.yaml

Example Plugin

plugins:
  stern:
    shortCut: Shift+L
    description: "Multi-pod logs with stern"
    scopes:
      - pods
    command: stern
    background: false
    args:
      - --context
      - $CONTEXT
      - --namespace
      - $NAMESPACE
      - $FILTER

Available variables: $NAMESPACE, $NAME, $CONTEXT, $CLUSTER, $USER, $COL-<column>

Workflow Examples

Debug Failing Deployment

1. :deploy → find deployment
2. Enter to see pods
3. Select failing pod → d describe (check events)
4. l for logs
5. p for previous logs (if crashed)
6. s to shell in for live debugging

Monitor Rollout

1. :deploy → select deployment
2. Enter to see ReplicaSets
3. Watch old RS scale down, new RS scale up
4. Check pod status in new RS

Quick Cluster Health

1. :pulse for overview
2. :node → check node status
3. :event → recent cluster events
4. Shift+c / Shift+m to sort by resource usage

Investigate Memory Issues

1. :pod → Shift+m (sort by memory)
2. Identify high consumers
3. d describe for limits/requests
4. l logs for memory-related errors

Tips

• Speed: Learn :po, :dp, :svc shortcuts
• Favorites: Mark frequently-used namespaces with u
• Save often: Ctrl+s saves current view to /tmp/k9s-screens-<user>/
• Mouse: Enable in config if preferred
• Context switching: :ctx to quickly switch clusters
• Wide view: Ctrl+w shows more columns (node, IP, etc.)
• Xray: :xray deploy shows deployment→RS→pod tree