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