k9s

A terminal dashboard for Kubernetes. Navigate and manage your cluster without typing kubectl commands.

Launch

k9s                          # connect to current context
k9s -n staging               # open in a specific namespace
k9s --context my-cluster     # specific cluster
k9s --readonly               # view-only mode (safe for prod browsing)

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Navigation

Key	Action
:pod	Go to Pods view
:deploy	Go to Deployments
:svc	Go to Services
:ns	Go to Namespaces
:secret	Go to Secrets
:cm	Go to ConfigMaps
:ing	Go to Ingresses
:node	Go to Nodes
:helm	Go to Helm releases
:ctx	Switch cluster context

Type : then the resource name and hit Enter to navigate.

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Actions on a Selected Resource

Key	Action
l	Logs
d	Describe
e	Edit (opens in $EDITOR)
s	Shell / exec into container
ctrl+d	Delete
ctrl+k	Kill (force delete)
y	YAML view

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Logs

Press l on any Pod to open logs.

Inside the log view:

Key	Action
f	Toggle follow (tail -f)
/	Filter/search logs
0	Toggle timestamps
w	Toggle line wrap
Esc	Go back

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Filtering & Searching

Key	Action
/	Filter the current list (type to search)
Esc	Clear filter

Example: press / then type error to filter pods with "error" in the name.

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Namespace Switching

Press 0 to show all namespaces, or :ns to pick one.

You can also press ctrl+a to toggle between your current namespace and all namespaces.

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Port Forward

Select a Pod and press shift+f → enter local port and container port → k9s manages the forward in the background.

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Benchmarking / Resource Usage

Key	Action
ctrl+e	Toggle resource usage (CPU/mem)

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Tips

• ? anywhere shows the help menu with all shortcuts for the current view
• ctrl+c or q exits
• k9s remembers your last context and namespace between sessions
• Use --readonly when browsing production — prevents accidental deletes