What’s New in KubeVela 1.5? Deep Dive into Plugins, Observability, and Cloud Shell

KubeVela 1.5 Release Overview

KubeVela 1.5 was officially released, bringing a suite of out‑of‑the‑box application delivery capabilities such as system observability, a Cloud Shell terminal that runs the Vela CLI in the browser, enhanced Canary releases, and optimized multi‑environment workflows. The project also entered the CNCF Incubation stage, reflecting strong community adoption and maturity.

Design Philosophy and OAM Foundation

Since its first major version, KubeVela has followed a design that balances extensibility with simplicity, building a platform that abstracts underlying infrastructure differences. It leverages the Open Application Model (OAM) to define reusable, plugin‑based capabilities, enabling developers to focus on business logic while the platform handles cloud‑native complexities.

Plugin Architecture and Directory Structure

From version 1.2 onward, the plugin mechanism has become a core part of the ecosystem, with nearly 50 plugins contributed by about 50 developers. The plugin repository is hosted at https://github.com/kubevela/catalog. A typical plugin consists of the following directories:

template.cue / template.yaml – defines runtime behavior and optional resources (e.g., an Operator) using a mix of YAML and CUE.

definitions – contains the Definition objects that expose the plugin’s capabilities to users.

schema – provides UI rendering rules for the Definition.

views – stores VelaQL syntax extensions to broaden query capabilities.

metadata.yaml & readme.md – describe basic information, dependencies, and usage instructions.

Detailed specifications are available at http://kubevela.net/zh/docs/platform-engineers/addon/intro.

Example: Integrating Helm Chart Delivery

The platform can wrap existing Helm‑based deployment tools such as FluxCD or ArgoCD via plugins. By defining a standard API for end‑users, the UI can automatically generate forms that collect required parameters, while the plugin translates those inputs into the underlying deployment configuration.

Telemetry Integration: Prometheus, Grafana, and Exporters

KubeVela 1.5 adds built‑in observability as a core feature. The platform bundles a one‑click installation plugin for multi‑cluster monitoring based on Prometheus, Grafana, and various exporters. It also supports Thanos Query for aggregating metrics across clusters and automates Grafana dashboard generation via IaC.

Cloud Shell: Unified CLI & UI Experience

The new CloudShell plugin provides each user with a web‑based terminal that includes Vela, kubectl, and other CLI tools. Features include automatic KubeConfig authorization, a one‑hour auto‑recycle policy, enhanced Vela CLI commands (log, status, exec, port‑forward), and real‑time synchronization of changes between CLI and UI.

OpenKruise Rollout for Canary Deployments

KubeVela now integrates OpenKruise Rollout, offering non‑intrusive, easy‑to‑configure Canary releases for Deployments, StatefulSets, and CloneSets. Users enable the rollout trait in a component, define traffic‑shifting rules, and monitor progress via the UI. Advantages include zero binding, simple configuration, and broad compatibility with custom workloads.

VelaUX Multi‑Environment Enhancements

Version 1.5 adds visual editing of environment differences, allowing overrides per environment, cluster, or namespace. New capabilities include:

DryRun – preview deployment results before applying.

Environment Diff Insight – automatically compare local and deployed configurations when switching views.

Version Detail & Comparison – view rendered configuration per version and compare against current or latest local state.

Application Engine Performance Improvements

Significant engine updates include a 75% reduction in CPU usage during workflow execution, higher parallelism, and new workflow features:

Timeout control for steps.

Conditional execution with If statements and If Always support.

Switchable execution modes: DAG or StepByStep.

Shared resource policies to avoid conflicts across applications.

Optimized resource‑tree construction algorithm for faster queries and extensibility.

For the full list of changes, see the release notes at https://github.com/kubevela/kubevela/releases/tag/v1.5.0.

Future Roadmap

KubeVela 1.6 will further enhance observability (including logging and tracing), decouple workflow capabilities from applications, and improve integration with monitoring systems. The community invites developers to participate via the GitHub repository github.com/oam-dev/kubevela, the official site kubevela.io, and CNCF Slack channels.