kc - Kubernetes Context Switcher

An interactive command-line tool for switching between Kubernetes contexts and namespaces.

✨ Features

• 🎨 Colorful Interface - Easy-to-read, color-coded output using ANSI colors
• ⚡ Fast & Lightweight - Minimal dependencies, single binary
• 📋 Detailed View - See cluster and user information for each context
• 🎯 Current Context Highlight - Clearly shows your active context
• 🔄 Interactive Selection - Number-based selection for quick switching
• 🚫 Zero Dependencies - Only uses standard Go libraries and YAML parser

📸 Demo

🚀 Quick Start

# Install from source
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/kc.git
cd kc
make install

Then simply run:

kc

📦 Installation

Using Pre-built Binaries (Recommended)

Download the latest release for your platform:

Linux (AMD64):

curl -LO https://github.com/debelio/kc/releases/latest/download/kc-linux-amd64
chmod +x kc-linux-amd64
sudo mv kc-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/kc

Linux (ARM64):

curl -LO https://github.com/debelio/kc/releases/latest/download/kc-linux-arm64
chmod +x kc-darwin-arm64
sudo mv kc-darwin-arm64 /usr/local/bin/kc

macOS (Apple Silicon):

curl -LO https://github.com/debelio/kc/releases/latest/download/kc-darwin-arm64
chmod +x kc-darwin-arm64
sudo mv kc-darwin-arm64 /usr/local/bin/kc

macOS (Intel):

curl -LO https://github.com/debelio/kc/releases/latest/download/kc-darwin-amd64
chmod +x kc-darwin-amd64
sudo mv kc-darwin-amd64 /usr/local/bin/kc

Prerequisites

• Go 1.19 or higher (for building from source)

Option 1: Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/debelio/kc.git
cd kc
go build -o bin/kc main.go

Option 2: Using Make

# Build standard binary
make build

# Build optimized binary (smaller size)
make build-small

# Install to /usr/local/bin (requires sudo)
make install

# Uninstall from /usr/local/bin
make uninstall

Configuration

The tool reads from your kubeconfig:

• Default location: ~/.kube/config
• Custom location: Set KUBECONFIG environment variable

# Use custom kubeconfig
export KUBECONFIG=/path/to/your/kubeconfig
kc

🚀 Usage

Interactive Mode

Simply run kc without arguments to enter interactive mode:

kc

Non-Interactive Mode

You can also pass arguments directly for quick context/namespace switching:

# Switch to a context
kc prod-cluster

# Switch to a context and set namespace
kc prod-cluster my-namespace

# Using flags (alternative syntax)
kc -c prod-cluster
kc -c prod-cluster -n my-namespace

# Partial context name matching
kc prod        # Matches "prod-cluster" if it's the only match

Command-Line Options

-c string
    Context name to switch to
-n string
    Namespace to set (requires -c)

🔧 Development

Building

# Standard build
go build -o bin/kc main.go

# Optimized build (smaller binary, ~30-50% size reduction)
go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o bin/kc main.go

Make Targets

make build        # Build the binary
make build-small  # Build optimized binary (smaller size)
make clean        # Remove build artifacts
make install      # Install to /usr/local/bin
make uninstall    # Remove from /usr/local/bin
make run          # Build and run the application
make help         # Show available commands

🛠️ How It Works

1. Read kubeconfig from ~/.kube/config or $KUBECONFIG
2. Parse YAML to extract contexts, clusters, and users
3. Display all contexts with highlighting for the current one
4. Prompt user for selection via numbered input
5. Update current-context field in kubeconfig
6. Write updated configuration back to file

📋 Dependencies

• gopkg.in/yaml.v3 - YAML parsing

Note: Uses built-in ANSI color codes for styling—no additional color libraries needed!

📄 License

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

🌟 Similar Projects

• kubectx - The original Kubernetes context switcher (bash/shell)
• kubie - An alternative context manager (Rust)
• kubens - Namespace switcher companion to kubectx

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Inspired by kubectx