How to Extend kubectl with Plugins

kubectl plugins extend the CLI with custom commands. Use Krew package manager to discover and install plugins that boost productivity.

Install Krew

# macOS / Linux
(
  set -x; cd "$(mktemp -d)" &&
  OS="$(uname | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')" &&
  ARCH="$(uname -m | sed -e 's/x86_64/amd64/' -e 's/aarch64/arm64/')" &&
  KREW="krew-${OS}_${ARCH}" &&
  curl -fsSLO "https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/krew/releases/latest/download/${KREW}.tar.gz" &&
  tar zxvf "${KREW}.tar.gz" &&
  ./"${KREW}" install krew
)

# Add to PATH
export PATH="${KREW_ROOT:-$HOME/.krew}/bin:$PATH"

# Add to shell profile
echo 'export PATH="${KREW_ROOT:-$HOME/.krew}/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc

Krew Basic Usage

# Update plugin index
kubectl krew update

# Search for plugins
kubectl krew search
kubectl krew search pod

# Install plugin
kubectl krew install ctx
kubectl krew install ns

# List installed plugins
kubectl krew list

# Upgrade plugins
kubectl krew upgrade

# Uninstall plugin
kubectl krew uninstall ctx

# Plugin info
kubectl krew info ctx

Essential Plugins

# Context and namespace switching
kubectl krew install ctx    # kubectl ctx
kubectl krew install ns     # kubectl ns

# Usage
kubectl ctx                 # List contexts
kubectl ctx production      # Switch context
kubectl ns                  # List namespaces
kubectl ns kube-system      # Switch namespace

# Resource tree visualization
kubectl krew install tree

# Show owner hierarchy
kubectl tree deployment nginx
# NAMESPACE  NAME                           READY  REASON  AGE
# default    Deployment/nginx               -              5d
# default    └─ReplicaSet/nginx-6799fc88d8  -              5d
# default      └─Pod/nginx-6799fc88d8-xyz   True           5d

# View resource utilization
kubectl krew install resource-capacity

# Node capacity
kubectl resource-capacity
# NODE          CPU REQUESTS  CPU LIMITS  MEMORY REQUESTS  MEMORY LIMITS
# node-1        1200m (60%)   2000m       2Gi (50%)        4Gi
# node-2        800m (40%)    1500m       1.5Gi (37%)      3Gi

# Access pod logs easily
kubectl krew install stern

# Tail logs from multiple pods
stern "web-.*" -n production
stern -l app=nginx --tail 50

# Get all images in cluster
kubectl krew install images

kubectl images
# Shows all container images used in the cluster

# View pod networking
kubectl krew install pod-inspect

kubectl pod-inspect my-pod

# Score resources against best practices
kubectl krew install score

kubectl score deployment.yaml
# Shows security and reliability recommendations

Debugging Plugins

# Debug running containers
kubectl krew install debug

# Start debug container
kubectl debug my-pod -it --image=busybox

# View pod resource usage
kubectl krew install top-pod

kubectl top-pod
# Enhanced top with more details

# Check deprecated APIs
kubectl krew install deprecations

kubectl deprecations
# Lists deprecated APIs in use

# Node shell access
kubectl krew install node-shell

kubectl node-shell my-node
# Opens shell on node

Security Plugins

# Scan for vulnerabilities
kubectl krew install kubesec-scan

kubectl kubesec-scan pod my-pod

# View RBAC permissions
kubectl krew install access-matrix

kubectl access-matrix --for user:jane
kubectl access-matrix --for sa:default:myapp

# Who can perform actions
kubectl krew install who-can

kubectl who-can create pods -n production
kubectl who-can delete secrets --all-namespaces

Network Plugins

# Capture network traffic
kubectl krew install sniff

kubectl sniff my-pod -n production

# Test network policies
kubectl krew install np-viewer

kubectl np-viewer
# Visualizes network policies

Create Custom Plugin

# Plugins are executables named kubectl-<name>
# Create kubectl-hello

cat > kubectl-hello << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
echo "Hello from kubectl plugin!"
echo "Current context: $(kubectl config current-context)"
echo "Arguments: $@"
EOF

chmod +x kubectl-hello
mv kubectl-hello /usr/local/bin/

# Use plugin
kubectl hello
kubectl hello world

Advanced Custom Plugin

# kubectl-pod-status - Show pod status summary
cat > kubectl-pod-status << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash

NAMESPACE="${1:---all-namespaces}"

if [[ "$NAMESPACE" != "--all-namespaces" ]]; then
  NS_FLAG="-n $NAMESPACE"
else
  NS_FLAG="--all-namespaces"
fi

echo "Pod Status Summary"
echo "=================="

kubectl get pods $NS_FLAG -o json | jq -r '
  .items | group_by(.status.phase) | 
  map({phase: .[0].status.phase, count: length}) |
  .[] | "\(.phase): \(.count)"
'

echo ""
echo "Problematic Pods:"
kubectl get pods $NS_FLAG --field-selector=status.phase!=Running,status.phase!=Succeeded
EOF

chmod +x kubectl-pod-status
sudo mv kubectl-pod-status /usr/local/bin/

# Usage
kubectl pod-status
kubectl pod-status production

Plugin with Go

// kubectl-goinfo/main.go
package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "os"
    "path/filepath"

    "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
    "k8s.io/client-go/tools/clientcmd"
)

func main() {
    kubeconfig := filepath.Join(os.Getenv("HOME"), ".kube", "config")
    config, _ := clientcmd.BuildConfigFromFlags("", kubeconfig)
    clientset, _ := kubernetes.NewForConfig(config)
    
    version, _ := clientset.Discovery().ServerVersion()
    fmt.Printf("Server Version: %s\n", version.GitVersion)
    
    nodes, _ := clientset.CoreV1().Nodes().List(context.TODO(), metav1.ListOptions{})
    fmt.Printf("Nodes: %d\n", len(nodes.Items))
}

Plugin Discovery

# List all available plugins
kubectl plugin list

# Check if command is a plugin
type kubectl-ctx
# kubectl-ctx is /Users/user/.krew/bin/kubectl-ctx

# Plugin locations (searched in order):
# 1. Current directory
# 2. Directories in PATH
# 3. ~/.krew/bin/

Popular Plugin Collection

# Install commonly used plugins
kubectl krew install \
  ctx \
  ns \
  tree \
  stern \
  images \
  resource-capacity \
  who-can \
  deprecations \
  neat \
  view-secret

# kubectl neat - Clean YAML output
kubectl get pod my-pod -o yaml | kubectl neat

# kubectl view-secret - Decode secrets
kubectl view-secret my-secret

Alias with Plugins

# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
alias kctx='kubectl ctx'
alias kns='kubectl ns'
alias klog='kubectl stern'
alias ktree='kubectl tree'

# Combined workflows
alias kpods='kubectl get pods -o wide'
alias kdebug='kubectl debug -it --image=nicolaka/netshoot'

Summary

Krew is the package manager for kubectl plugins. Install with the official script and add to PATH. Use kubectl krew search to discover plugins and kubectl krew install to add them. Essential plugins include ctx/ns (context switching), stern (log tailing), tree (resource hierarchy), and resource-capacity (utilization). Create custom plugins as executables named kubectl-<name>. Security plugins like who-can and access-matrix help audit RBAC. Combine plugins with shell aliases for maximum productivity.

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