5 Must-Have Tools to Supercharge Your Kubernetes Workflow

Kubernetes provides the kubectl CLI for interacting with clusters. For quick local testing, use kind to create a disposable cluster.

# Install kind
brew install kind
# Create a cluster named "playground" using a specific node image
kind create cluster --name playground --image kindest/node:v1.21.14

1. K9s

K9s is a terminal UI that continuously watches a cluster and lets you navigate namespaces, services, deployments, and pods. It supports log viewing, resource description, manifest editing, and port‑forwarding with keyboard shortcuts.

# Install K9s
brew install k9s

2. Popeye

Popeye scans a Kubernetes cluster for configuration inconsistencies, produces a health report, and assigns a grade.

# Install Popeye
brew install derailed/popeye/popeye
# Run the scanner on the current context
popeye

3. kube‑bench

kube‑bench validates a cluster against the CIS Kubernetes Benchmark. The project supplies a ready‑made Job manifest that can be applied directly to the cluster.

# Deploy the kube‑bench Job
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aquasecurity/kube-bench/main/job.yaml | kubectl apply -f -
# Retrieve the logs from the pod created by the Job (replace <code><kube-bench-pod></code> with the actual pod name)
kubectl logs <code><kube-bench-pod></code> -f

4. kubectx, kubens & fzf

When working with multiple clusters or environments, kubectx switches between Kubernetes contexts and kubens switches namespaces. Pair them with fzf for an interactive fuzzy finder.

# Install utilities
brew install kubectx kubens fzf
# Example: list and select a namespace interactively
kubens $(kubens | fzf)

5. Stern

Stern aggregates logs from multiple pods that match a label or name pattern and color‑codes each pod’s output, making it easy to follow concurrent processes.

# Install Stern
brew install stern
# Tail logs from all pods whose name contains "deploy"
stern deploy

Bonus: Bat

Bat is a drop‑in replacement for cat with syntax highlighting, Git integration, and theme support, useful for quickly inspecting YAML or other source files.

# Install Bat
brew install bat
# List available themes
bat --list-themes
# View a file with syntax highlighting
bat deployment.yaml

Reference Links

kind – https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/

K9s – https://github.com/derailed/k9s

kube‑bench – https://github.com/aquasecurity/kube-bench

Popeye – https://github.com/derailed/popeye

kubectx/kubens – https://github.com/ahmetb/kubectx

fzf – https://github.com/junegunn/fzf

Stern – https://github.com/wercker/stern

Bat – https://github.com/sharkdp/bat