Kube9 VS Code

Kubernetes Management in Your Favorite IDE

Overview

Kube9 VS Code is an extension that brings visual Kubernetes cluster management directly into your development environment. It provides a modern, intuitive interface for managing your Kubernetes resources without leaving your IDE.

Key Features

• 🌲 Tree view cluster navigation
• 📝 Resource detail viewer (form + YAML)
• ✏️ Edit and save resources to cluster
• 🚀 Launch workloads with freeform YAML
• 🔄 Multi-cluster support via kubeconfig
• 📦 ArgoCD integration with drift detection and application monitoring
• 📊 Enhanced metrics and monitoring with kube9-operator

Architecture

Kube9 VS Code provides a clean separation between local development tooling and cluster-side monitoring:

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│  VSCode Extension                   │
│  - Generates HTML locally           │
│  - Webviews for resource management │
│  - Direct kubectl operations        │
│  - Uses your kubeconfig             │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘
                  │
                  ↓ (kubectl API)
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Kubernetes Cluster                 │
│  - Your workloads and resources     │
│  - Optional: kube9-operator         │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

How It Works

Core Extension:

• Uses your kubeconfig to interact with clusters
• All UI is generated locally in VS Code webviews
• Direct kubectl operations for resource management
• No data sent to external servers
• Your kubeconfig never leaves your machine

Enhanced with kube9-operator (Optional):

• Install kube9-operator in your cluster for enhanced monitoring
• Operator collects metrics and cluster health data
• Extension automatically detects operator and provides enhanced views
• Sanitized metrics only (no secrets, credentials, or sensitive data)
• No cluster ingress needed

Getting Started

Installation

From VS Code Marketplace (Recommended)

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + X)
3. Search for "Kube9"
4. Click Install

For Developers

git clone <repository-url>
cd kube9-vscode
npm install
npm run compile
# Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host

Quick Start

1. Open Kube9

   • Look for the Kube9 icon in VS Code activity bar
   • Extension automatically reads your ~/.kube/config

2. Navigate Your Cluster

   • Expand clusters in tree view
   • Click namespaces to view resources
   • Click resources to view/edit details

3. Edit Resources

   • Form view for common fields
   • YAML view for advanced editing
   • Save changes directly to cluster

4. Launch Workloads

   • Use "Launch Workload" command
   • Paste or write YAML manifests
   • Apply to cluster with one click

Optional: Install kube9-operator for Enhanced Monitoring

The kube9-operator enhances the extension with cluster metrics and monitoring capabilities. It runs in your cluster and provides enriched data to the extension.

Install with Helm:

helm repo add kube9 https://charts.kube9.io
helm install kube9-operator kube9/kube9-operator \
  --namespace kube9-system \
  --create-namespace

Once installed, the extension automatically detects the operator and provides enhanced resource views with metrics and health data. See the kube9-operator documentation for configuration options.

ArgoCD Integration

Kube9 VS Code provides seamless ArgoCD integration for GitOps workflows. View and manage your ArgoCD Applications directly from VS Code.

Prerequisites:

• ArgoCD 2.5+ installed in your cluster
• kubectl configured and accessible
• RBAC permissions for ArgoCD CRD access

Quick Start:

1. Ensure ArgoCD is installed in your cluster
2. Open the Kube9 tree view - ArgoCD Applications will appear automatically when detected
3. Expand "ArgoCD Applications" to see all applications with sync/health status
4. Click any application to view details and drift information
5. Right-click applications to sync, refresh, or perform hard refresh

For detailed setup instructions, usage guide, and troubleshooting, see ArgoCD Integration Documentation.

Features

Resource Management

• Tree view navigation (clusters → namespaces → resources)
• Resource detail viewer with form and YAML tabs
• Graphical kubectl describe functionality for Pods, PVCs, PVs, Secrets, and more
• Edit common fields (replicas, image, labels, etc.)
• Save changes back to cluster
• Delete resources with confirmation

YAML Operations

• Syntax-highlighted YAML editor
• Apply arbitrary YAML manifests
• Dry-run validation
• Quick templates (Deployment, Service, Pod, ConfigMap)

Multi-Cluster Support

• Automatic kubeconfig parsing
• Switch between clusters and contexts
• Multiple kubeconfig file support
• Manage multiple clusters from one interface

ArgoCD Integration

• View ArgoCD Applications in tree view with sync/health status
• Monitor GitOps deployments and detect configuration drift
• Sync, refresh, and hard refresh applications directly from VS Code
• Application details webview with drift information
• Works with ArgoCD 2.5+ in both operated and basic modes

Enhanced Monitoring (with kube9-operator)

When the kube9-operator is installed in your cluster:

• Resource metrics and usage data
• Cluster health monitoring
• Enhanced resource views with real-time data
• Historical trend information

Project Structure

kube9-vscode/
├── src/
│   ├── extension.ts           # Main entry point
│   ├── providers/
│   │   ├── ClusterTreeProvider.ts
│   │   └── NamespaceWebview.ts
│   ├── commands/              # Command implementations
│   ├── services/
│   │   └── KubernetesService.ts
│   ├── webviews/              # Local HTML generators
│   └── utils/
├── ai/                        # Forge context files
│   ├── contexts/
│   ├── decisions/
│   ├── features/
│   └── specs/
└── dist/                      # Compiled output

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22+ (LTS recommended)
• npm or yarn
• kubectl configured for testing
• VS Code 1.80.0+

Setup

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Compile TypeScript
npm run compile

# Watch mode for development
npm run watch

# Run extension (opens Extension Development Host)
# Press F5 in VS Code

# Run tests
npm test

# Package extension
npm run package

Testing

Basic Extension Testing:

• Extension should show local webviews
• Verify resource navigation works
• Verify CRUD operations work
• Test ArgoCD integration if available

Testing with kube9-operator:

• Install kube9-operator in test cluster
• Extension should detect operator
• Verify enhanced metrics views appear
• Test operator-provided data display

Testing with Demo Cluster

For safe testing without affecting real clusters, use the isolated demo cluster system:

# Start demo cluster
./scripts/demo-cluster/start.sh

# Populate with a scenario
./scripts/demo-cluster/populate.sh with-operator

# Launch Extension (Demo Cluster) in VSCode
# Press F5 → Select "Extension (Demo Cluster)"

The demo cluster is completely isolated from your real clusters and is safe for:

• Feature development and testing
• Marketing screenshots
• QA regression testing
• Demo presentations

See scripts/demo-cluster/README.md for complete documentation.

Technology Stack

• Framework: VS Code Extension API
• Language: TypeScript (ES2020)
• Runtime: Node.js 22+ (LTS)
• Kubernetes: kubectl CLI + @kubernetes/client-node
• Build: webpack + TypeScript compiler
• Package Manager: npm

Configuration

Settings

{
  // Optional: Enable debug logging
  "kube9.debugMode": false
}

Enhanced monitoring features are automatically enabled when the kube9-operator is detected in your cluster.

Related Projects

• kube9-operator - Kubernetes operator for enhanced cluster monitoring and metrics collection. Install this in your cluster to unlock enhanced monitoring features in the VS Code extension.
• kube9-desktop - Desktop application for Kubernetes management with integrated development tools.

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for details on:

• How to set up your development environment
• Our code style and conventions
• How to submit pull requests
• Our development workflow

This project uses the Forge methodology for context engineering:

1. Check ai/tasks/ for current priorities
2. Review ai/decisions/ for architectural context
3. Follow specifications in ai/specs/
4. Update progress in ai/tasks/

Quick Start for Contributors

# Fork and clone
git clone https://github.com/alto9/kube9-vscode.git
cd kube9-vscode

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run in development mode
npm run watch
# Press F5 in VS Code to launch Extension Development Host

Security

For security concerns, please see our Security Policy.

Extension Security

• All data stays on your machine
• Uses your kubeconfig for cluster access
• No external API calls
• No data collection
• Your kubeconfig never leaves VS Code

With kube9-operator (Optional)

When using the kube9-operator:

• Operator sends only sanitized metrics (no secrets, credentials, or sensitive data)
• Data sanitization at source (operator level)
• User controls what operator can access via RBAC
• All communication uses standard Kubernetes RBAC and authentication

To report a security vulnerability, please email security@alto9.com (do not open a public issue).

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Support

• Documentation
• GitHub Issues - Report bugs, request features
• GitHub Discussions - Ask questions, share ideas
• Contributing Guide - How to contribute
• Security Policy - Security reporting
• Code of Conduct - Community guidelines

Built with ❤️ by Alto9 - Making Kubernetes management visual and intelligent