Ktop
A top-like tool for your Kubernetes cluster metrics
Install / Use
/learn @vladimirvivien/KtopREADME
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<img src="./docs/images/ktop-logo.svg" alt="ktop" height="96">
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<img src="./docs/images/ktop.png" alt="ktop">
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A top-like tool for your Kubernetes cluster.
Following the tradition of Unix/Linux top tools, ktop is a tool that displays useful metrics information about nodes, pods, and other workload resources running in a Kubernetes cluster.
Features
- Real-Time Monitoring - Continuously updated view of nodes, pods, and containers
- Drill-Down Navigation - Explore from cluster overview → node → pod → container logs
- Zero Cluster Installation - Runs locally using your kubeconfig; no agents or server-side components
- Works Anywhere kubectl Works - Connects through the Kubernetes API; no direct node access required
- Streaming Container Logs - Real-time logs with filtering, timestamps, line wrap, and full-screen mode
- Multiple Metrics Sources - Support Prometheus for enhanced metrics, Metrics-Server, or no-metrics as fallback
- Graceful Degradation - Works even without metrics infrastructure by showing resource requests/limits
- Single Binary - Download and run; no dependencies beyond a valid kubeconfig
Installation
kubectl plugin
kubectl krew install ktop
kubectl ktop
Requires krew plugin manager.
Homebrew
brew tap vladimirvivien/oss-tools
brew install ktop
Go install
go install github.com/vladimirvivien/ktop@latest
Binary download
Download from GitHub Releases.
Quick Start
With a valid kubeconfig file ($KUBECONFIG or ~/.kube/config):
# Start ktop with default settings
ktop
# Use a specific context
ktop --context my-cluster
# Filter to a namespace
ktop --namespace production
# Use Prometheus for enhanced metrics
ktop --metrics-source=prometheus
Documentation
See ktop's website for documetation.
