explaingit

bjarneo/kli

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

92GoAudience · ops devopsComplexity · 3/5Setup · moderate

TLDR

kli is a terminal dashboard for browsing, inspecting, and managing Kubernetes clusters, inspired by lazygit and k9s.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((kli))
    What it does
      Cluster dashboard
      Resource browsing
      Log and shell access
    Tech stack
      Go
      Kubernetes API
    Use cases
      Cluster monitoring
      Config editing
      Custom resource types
    Design
      Inspired by lazygit
      Inspired by k9s
    Audience
      Ops and devops

Code map

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

View cluster health, node resource usage, and pod status from a terminal dashboard.

USE CASE 2

Edit a resource's YAML configuration directly and apply changes on save.

USE CASE 3

Follow live logs or open a shell inside a running container without leaving the terminal.

USE CASE 4

Customize the sidebar to show custom resource types like KEDA ScaledObjects.

What is it built with?

GoKubernetes

How does it compare?

bjarneo/klimitchellh/go-fsawuqing/backupx
Stars929296
LanguageGoGoGo
Last pushed2018-05-08
MaintenanceDormant
Setup difficultymoderateeasyeasy
Complexity3/52/53/5
Audienceops devopsdeveloperops devops

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires Go 1.24 or newer and a reachable Kubernetes cluster.

No license information is provided in the README.

In plain English

kli is a terminal-based interface for managing Kubernetes clusters, written in Go. Kubernetes is a system that runs and coordinates containerized applications across servers. kli lets you browse, inspect, and interact with everything running in a cluster without leaving the terminal window. When you open kli, you get a dashboard overview showing cluster health, node resource usage (CPU and memory gauges), pod and deployment status, and any recent warnings. From there, a sidebar on the left lists resource types -- pods, deployments, services, and others -- and you navigate between them with keyboard shortcuts. The layout is inspired by lazygit, a popular terminal Git client, and k9s, an earlier Kubernetes terminal tool. For any selected resource, you can view its current state in a table, read and edit its configuration in a text editor (changes are applied when you save), follow its logs in real time, open a shell directly inside a running container, delete it, or scale it. All of these actions happen in overlays inside the same terminal window. The sidebar menu can be customized with a YAML config file. By default it shows the most common resource types, but you can add custom resource types including third-party ones like KEDA ScaledObjects or OpenTelemetry collectors. kli supports multiple color themes and adapts to light or dark terminal backgrounds. It remembers the last cluster context and namespace you used so you start where you left off. Installation is available via a one-line shell script, the Go package manager, or by building from source. It requires Go 1.24 or newer and a reachable cluster.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Explain how kli's dashboard overview differs from running kubectl get pods manually.
Prompt 2
How do I customize the sidebar menu in kli to add a custom resource type via YAML config?
Prompt 3
Write the one-line shell install command I'd use to get kli running on my machine.
Prompt 4
Compare kli to k9s and lazygit in terms of what each tool is designed for.

Frequently asked questions

What is kli?

kli is a terminal dashboard for browsing, inspecting, and managing Kubernetes clusters, inspired by lazygit and k9s.

What language is kli written in?

Mainly Go. The stack also includes Go, Kubernetes.

What license does kli use?

No license information is provided in the README.

How hard is kli to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is kli for?

Mainly ops devops.

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