k13d

README

k13d

The all-in-one Kubernetes dashboard — Terminal & Web UI with AI built in.

kubeaidashboard = k+ 13 letters + d = k13d

Download a single binary, run one command, and get a full-featured Kubernetes dashboard
with an AI assistant that actually executes commands for you.

Documentation · Download · Web UI Guide · TUI Guide · 한국어

---

Web UI

TUI

---

Get Started in 30 Seconds

1. Download from Releases — single binary, no dependencies.

tar xzf k13d_*.tar.gz && chmod +x k13d

macOS: if blocked, run xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ./k13d

2. Run.

TUI mode — terminal dashboard with Vim navigation + AI panel

./k13d

Opens a full-featured terminal dashboard. Use j/k to navigate, Tab to open the AI panel, : for commands.

Web UI mode — browser dashboard (local / desktop)

./k13d -web -auth-mode local
# Open http://localhost:8080 — Default login: admin / admin

-auth-mode local uses simple username/password authentication stored in memory — ideal for local development and desktop use. No Kubernetes tokens or external auth providers required. Just start and log in.

If -admin-user and -admin-password are not specified, defaults to admin / admin. You can also set credentials via environment variables: K13D_USERNAME and K13D_PASSWORD.

Web UI mode — production (Kubernetes RBAC)

./k13d -web -auth-mode token

Uses Kubernetes service account tokens validated via the TokenReview API. Best for in-cluster deployments where users authenticate with their K8s credentials.

Both modes — Web UI + TUI simultaneously

./k13d -web -auth-mode local &   # Web UI in background
./k13d                            # TUI in foreground

Run the Web UI as a background process, then launch the TUI in the foreground. Both share the same kubeconfig.

Authentication Modes

Mode	Flag	Use Case
Local	-auth-mode local	Local dev, desktop, standalone deployments
Token	-auth-mode token	In-cluster with K8s RBAC (default)
LDAP	-auth-mode ldap	Enterprise LDAP / Active Directory
OIDC	-auth-mode oidc	SSO via Google, Okta, Azure AD, etc.
No Auth	--no-auth	Development/testing only (not recommended)

Flags

Flag	Description
-web	Start Web UI server (default port 8080)
-tui	Start TUI mode explicitly (default when -web not specified)
-mcp	Start MCP server mode (stdio transport)
-port <N>	Custom port for Web UI
-auth-mode <mode>	Auth mode: local, token, ldap, oidc
-admin-user <name>	Admin username for local auth (env: K13D_USERNAME)
-admin-password <pw>	Admin password for local auth (env: K13D_PASSWORD)
--no-auth	Disable auth (dev only)
--embedded-llm	Use built-in LLM (no API key needed)
--download-model	Download the default embedded model
-n <namespace>	Start in a specific namespace
-A	Start with all namespaces
--version	Show version information
--completion <shell>	Generate shell completion (bash, zsh, fish)
--storage-info	Show storage configuration and data locations
--db-path <path>	Custom SQLite database path
--no-db	Disable database persistence entirely
--debug	Enable debug logging

That's it. Your kubeconfig is auto-detected.

---

Why k13d?

	k13d	k9s	Lens	kubectl
Terminal UI	Yes	Yes	-	-
Web UI	Yes	-	Yes	-
AI Assistant	Yes	-	-	-
Single binary, zero deps	Yes	Yes	-	Yes
Free & open source	Yes	Yes	Paid	Yes

Web UI — Everything in the browser

• Dashboard — Pods, Deployments, Services, all resources with real-time status
• AI Assistant — Ask questions, AI executes kubectl with your approval
• Topology — Graph & tree visualization of resource relationships
• Reports — Cluster health, security audit, FinOps cost analysis
• Metrics — Historical CPU/Memory/Pods/Nodes charts (SQLite-backed, 7-day retention)
• Helm — Release management, history, rollback
• Terminal — Full xterm.js shell into any pod
• Logs — Real-time streaming with ANSI colors, search, download
• RBAC Viewer — Subject-to-role relationship map with permission details
• Network Policy Map — Ingress/egress rule visualization
• Event Timeline — Cluster events grouped by time windows
• Security Scanning — Trivy CVE scanner with air-gapped support
• Resource Templates — One-click deploy (Nginx, Redis, PostgreSQL, etc.)
• Notifications — Slack, Discord, Teams, Email (SMTP) alerts for cluster events
• Applications View — App-centric grouping by Helm and K8s labels
• Validate View — Cross-resource validation with severity levels
• 5 Themes — Tokyo Night (default), Production, Staging, Development, Light

TUI — k9s on steroids

• Vim navigation — j/k, g/G, / filter, : commands
• AI panel — Tab to chat, AI executes commands for you
• Sort — Shift+N name, Shift+A age, Shift+T status, :sort picker
• Autocomplete — Dropdown suggestions as you type
• Aliases — Custom shortcuts (pp -> pods) via aliases.yaml
• Plugins — External tool integration via plugins.yaml
• Hotkeys — Custom keyboard shortcuts via hotkeys.yaml
• Model switching — :model to switch AI providers at runtime
• i18n — English, Korean, Chinese, Japanese

---

AI Setup (Optional)

Configure in Settings > AI in the Web UI, or via environment:

# OpenAI
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
./k13d -web -auth-mode local

# Ollama (local, free, no API key)
ollama pull qwen2.5:3b && ollama serve
./k13d -web -auth-mode local
# Set Provider: "ollama" in Settings > AI

# Embedded LLM (zero dependencies, no API key)
./k13d --download-model              # One-time download
./k13d --embedded-llm -web -auth-mode local

Supported AI Providers

Provider	Models	Notes
OpenAI	GPT-4o, GPT-4, o3-mini	Best tool calling support
Anthropic	Claude Opus 4, Sonnet 4, Haiku 4.5	Native Messages API, strong reasoning
Google Gemini	Gemini 2.5, 2.0	Multimodal capable
Upstage Solar	Solar Pro2, Solar Pro	Good balance of quality/cost
Azure OpenAI	GPT-4, GPT-3.5	Enterprise Azure deployments
AWS Bedrock	Claude, Llama, Mistral	AWS-hosted models
Ollama	Qwen, Llama, Mistral	Local, free, no API key
Embedded	Qwen2.5-0.5B	Built-in, no setup needed

The AI assistant can:

• Diagnose pod crashes and suggest fixes
• Execute kubectl commands with your approval
• Scale deployments, restart rollouts
• Analyze YAML, events, and logs in context
• Use MCP tools for extended capabilities

---

MCP (Model Context Protocol)

k13d supports MCP for extending AI capabilities with external tools. Run k13d as an MCP client (connects to external MCP servers) or as an MCP server (exposes k13d tools to other AI systems).

# Run as MCP server (stdio transport)
./k13d -mcp

Configure MCP servers in ~/.config/k13d/config.yaml:

mcp:
  servers:
    - name: kubernetes
      command: npx
      args: ["-y", "@anthropic/mcp-server-kubernetes"]
    - name: thinking
      command: npx
      args: ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-sequential-thinking"]

See the MCP Guide for details.

---

CLI Reference

./k13d                                    # TUI mode
./k13d -web -auth-mode local             # Web UI — local auth (desktop use)
./k13d -web -auth-mode token             # Web UI — K8s RBAC auth (production)
./k13d -web -port 3000                   # Custom port
./k13d -web --no-auth                    # No auth (dev only)
./k13d -mcp                              # MCP server mode
./k13d --embedded-llm -web -auth-mode local  # With built-in LLM
./k13d -n kube-system                    # Start in specific namespace
./k13d -A                                # Start with all namespaces
./k13d --version                         # Show version
./k13d --completion bash                 # Generate shell completion
./k13d --storage-info                    # Show storage configuration

Shell Completion

# Bash
source <(./k13d --completion bash)

# Zsh
source <(./k13d --completion zsh)

# Fish
./k13d --completion fish | source

---

Docker

docker run -d -p 8080:8080 \
  -v ~/.kube/config:/home/k13d/.kube/config:ro \
  cloudbro/k13d:latest \
  -web -auth-mode local

With environment variables:

docker run -d -p 8080:8080 \
  -v ~/.kube/config:/home/k13d/.kube/config:ro \
  -e K13D_AUTH_MODE=local \
  -e K13D_USERNAME=admin \
  -e K13D_PASSWORD=mysecurepassword \
  -e OPENAI_API_KEY=$OPENAI_API_KEY \
  cloudbro/k13d:latest \
  -web

---

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/cloudbro-kube-ai/k13d.git && cd k13d
make build

---

Configuration

k13d uses ~/.config/k13d/config.yaml for configuration:

File	Purpose
config.yaml	Main config (LLM provider, language, model profiles, storage)
hotkeys.yaml	Custom hotkey bindings
plugins.yaml	External plugin definitions
aliases.yaml	Resource command aliases
views.yaml	Per-resource view settings (sort defaults)

See the Configuration Guide for full reference.

---

Documentation

Full documentation: https://cloudbro-kube-ai.github.io/k13d

• Installation Guide
• Web UI Features
• TUI Features
• AI Assistant
• Configuration
• MCP Integration
• Docker Deployment
• Kubernetes Deployment
• 한국어 가이드

---

License

MIT License - see LICENSE.