kubewatch

Kubewatch TUI

A fast, interactive terminal-based Kubernetes dashboard built with Go and Bubble Tea. Monitor and manage your Kubernetes resources in real-time without leaving your terminal.

Features

Core Functionality

• Real-time monitoring - Auto-refresh every 2 seconds (configurable)
• Multiple resource types - Pods, Deployments, StatefulSets, Services, Ingresses, ConfigMaps, Secrets
• Interactive navigation - Tab between resources, arrow keys for selection
• Resource management - Delete resources with confirmation dialog
• Log viewing - Stream logs from pods and deployments
• Namespace switching - Quick namespace selector with filtering
• Color-coded status - Visual indicators for resource health and metrics

UI Features

• Smart column layout - Dynamic sizing with important info always visible
• Word wrap toggle - Switch between full and truncated display
• Keyboard-driven - Full keyboard shortcuts for all operations
• Clean interface - Minimal, distraction-free design
• Loading states - Clear feedback for async operations

Installation

Using Go Install

go install github.com/HamStudy/kubewatch/cmd/kubewatch@latest

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/HamStudy/kubewatch.git
cd kubewatch

# Build
make build

# Or build for specific platform
make build-linux
make build-darwin
make build-windows

Using GoReleaser

# Build all platforms
goreleaser build --snapshot --clean

# Create a release
goreleaser release --snapshot --clean

Usage

Basic Usage

# Use current kubectl context
kubewatch

# Specify namespace
kubewatch --namespace production

# Use a specific context
kubewatch --context production

# Use multiple contexts (multi-context mode)
kubewatch --context prod,staging,dev

# Custom refresh interval (in seconds)
kubewatch --refresh-interval 5

# Specific kubeconfig
kubewatch --kubeconfig ~/.kube/other-config

Keyboard Shortcuts

Navigation

• Tab / Shift+Tab - Switch between resource types
• ↑ / k - Move selection up
• ↓ / j - Move selection down
• PgUp / PgDn - Page up/down
• Home / g - Go to first item
• End / G - Go to last item

Actions

• Enter / l - View logs (for Pods/Deployments)
• d - Delete selected resource (with confirmation)
• n - Open namespace selector
• u - Toggle word wrap
• r - Manual refresh
• ? - Show help
• q / Ctrl+C - Quit

In Log View

• ↑ / ↓ - Scroll logs
• PgUp / PgDn - Page through logs
• Home / End - Jump to beginning/end
• Esc / q - Return to resource view

In Namespace Selector

• ↑ / ↓ - Navigate namespaces
• / - Focus search field
• Enter - Select namespace
• Esc - Cancel

Configuration

Command-line Flags

kubewatch [flags]

Flags:
  --context string           Kubernetes context(s) to use. Single: 'prod' or Multiple: 'prod,staging,dev'
  --namespace string         Kubernetes namespace (default: from current context)
  --kubeconfig string        Path to kubeconfig file (default: $HOME/.kube/config)
  --refresh-interval int     Auto-refresh interval in seconds (default: 2)
  --context-file string      File containing list of contexts (one per line)
  --help                     Show help message

Environment Variables

• KUBECONFIG - Path to kubeconfig file
• KUBEWATCH_NAMESPACE - Default namespace

Development

Prerequisites

• Go 1.21 or higher
• Access to a Kubernetes cluster
• Make (optional, for using Makefile)

Project Structure

golang-implementation/
├── cmd/
│   └── kubewatch/          # CLI entry point
├── internal/
│   ├── core/               # Core types and state management
│   ├── k8s/                # Kubernetes client and operations
│   └── ui/                 # Terminal UI components
│       └── views/          # Individual view components
├── docs/                   # Documentation
├── Makefile               # Build automation
├── go.mod                 # Go module definition
└── .goreleaser.yml        # Release configuration

Building

# Run tests
make test

# Build binary
make build

# Run locally
make run

# Clean build artifacts
make clean

Testing

# Run all tests
go test ./...

# Run with coverage
go test -cover ./...

# Run specific package tests
go test ./internal/k8s

Roadmap

Planned Features

• Search/filter in resource view
• Multi-selection for bulk operations
• Context switching (multiple clusters) - Use --context prod,staging,dev
• Column configuration (hide/show)
• Aggregated logs for deployments
• Persistent preferences
• Log search functionality
• Export resources to YAML
• Resource editing capabilities
• Custom resource support

Performance Improvements

• Implement SharedInformerFactory for efficient watching
• Optimize rendering for large resource lists
• Add caching layer for resource metadata

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

# Check kubectl connectivity
kubectl cluster-info

# Verify kubeconfig
export KUBECONFIG=/path/to/config
kubewatch

Performance Issues

• Increase refresh interval: --refresh-interval 10
• Check network latency to cluster
• Ensure sufficient terminal size

Display Issues

• Minimum terminal size: 80x24
• Use a terminal with 256 color support
• Try toggling word wrap with u key

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built with Bubble Tea - A powerful TUI framework
• Inspired by k9s and other Kubernetes TUI tools
• Uses client-go for Kubernetes API interactions

Support

For issues, questions, or suggestions, please open an issue on GitHub.