winget install --id=janosmiko.lfk -e LFK is a lightning-fast, keyboard-focused, yazi-inspired terminal user interface for navigating and managing Kubernetes clusters. Built for speed and efficiency, it brings a three-column Miller columns layout with an owner-based resource hierarchy to your terminal.
LFK is a keyboard-focused, yazi-inspired terminal user interface for navigating and managing Kubernetes clusters. It brings a three-column Miller columns layout with an owner-based resource hierarchy to your terminal.
pinned_groups in config or interactively with p key (stored per-context)argoproj.io, longhorn.io, networking.istio.io)H to surface them under their categories and an "Advanced" group (resets each launch)zShift+F~/.kube/config, ~/.kube/config.d/* (recursive, symlinks followed), KUBECONFIG env var, and KUBECONFIG_DIR env var.@ key), configurable endpoints per clusterI key) with recursive field browserkind clusters; create, list, start, stop, and delete k3d and minikube clusters (kind has no native start/stop) from inside lfk via the Ctrl+N manager overlay.--read-only, the read_only: true config field, per-context clusters..read_only, or the in-app Ctrl+R toggle (toggles the highlighted row's [RO] marker at the cluster picker; toggles the current tab inside a context). A [RO] badge in the title bar marks active sessions. See Read-Only Mode.f, search with / -- supports substring, regex (auto-detected), and fuzzy (~ prefix) modespvc, hpa, deploy etc. to jump to resource types:) with vertical dropdown autocomplete: resource jumps (:pod, :dep), built-in commands (:ns, :ctx, :set, :sort, :export), kubectl with :k/:kubectl prefix and flag/namespace completion, shell commands (:!). Value positions (namespace, context, resource name, option, column, format) accept fuzzy matches; command names stay on prefix.oz)describe — accessible from the Pod action menu (x → I). Refresh with .Tab/z), and in-place editingShift+P)P: parses the selected line as JSON or logfmt, falls back to plain text), and automatic reconnect across init-container transitions (stays attached as each init container finishes and the next one starts)Ctrl+S) and dedicated editor (e)a, / to search); includes a Custom Resource template as a starting pointy), open copy-as picker (Y: YAML / JSON / Table), paste/apply from clipboard (Ctrl+P), paste into search/filter boxes (Cmd+V / Ctrl+Shift+V)Shift+O (or run bare :orphans) to open the cluster-wide orphan overview across 11 kinds — Pods, Secrets, ConfigMaps, Services, PVCs, HPAs, PDBs, NetworkPolicies, Roles, ClusterRoles, RoleBindings, ClusterRoleBindings. Per-list filters are still available via the filter-preset overlay (.) on each kind, or jump straight to a filtered view with :orphans (e.g., :orphans secrets). A strict / lenient toggle (s) flips between "truly unused" and "currently idle but referenced by workload templates" (e.g. CronJob between firings). Auto-excludes Helm release Secrets, ServiceAccount tokens, owner-managed resources, and kube-root-ca.crt.T to preview and switch themes without restarting.)auto (default, detects Nerd Font-capable terminals like Ghostty/Kitty/WezTerm), unicode, nerdfont (Material Design Icons), simple (ASCII labels), emoji, or none. Override at runtime with the LFK_ICONS environment variable., key)tips: false)# Homebrew (macOS / Linux)
brew install janosmiko/tap/lfk
# Windows: Scoop
scoop bucket add janosmiko https://github.com/janosmiko/scoop-bucket && scoop install lfk
# or: winget install janosmiko.lfk
# or: choco install lfk
# Linux: Arch / AUR
yay -S lfk-bin
# Linux: Debian / Ubuntu (Cloudsmith APT)
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/janosmiko/lfk/setup.deb.sh' | sudo -E bash && sudo apt update && sudo apt install lfk
# Linux: Fedora / RHEL (Cloudsmith DNF)
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/janosmiko/lfk/setup.rpm.sh' | sudo -E bash && sudo dnf install lfk
# Go
go install github.com/janosmiko/lfk@latest
# Nix
nix run github:janosmiko/lfk
kubectl is required and must be configured. helm and trivy are optional (Helm management, image vulnerability scanning).
> See docs/installation.md for Windows, Docker, NixOS/home-manager flake input, building from source, and the full list of optional CLI dependencies.
# Use default kubeconfig (~/.kube/config + ~/.kube/config.d/*)
lfk
# Start in a specific context / namespace
lfk --context my-cluster -n kube-system
# Use a specific kubeconfig
lfk --kubeconfig /path/to/kubeconfig
KUBECONFIG=/path/to/config1:/path/to/config2 lfk
# Use a custom directory for kubeconfigs (repeat the flag for multiple)
lfk --kubeconfig-dir /path/to/configs/
lfk --kubeconfig-dir /team-a/configs --kubeconfig-dir /team-b/configs
KUBECONFIG_DIR=/path/to/configs/ lfk
KUBECONFIG_DIR=/team-a/configs:/team-b/configs lfk
> See docs/usage.md for the full CLI reference and runtime tuning options: mouse capture, no-color mode, read-only mode, watch-mode interval, discovery cache (KUBECACHEDIR), and Secret lazy loading.
Clusters (kubeconfig contexts)
+-- Resource Types (grouped: Workloads, Networking, Config, Storage, ArgoCD, Helm, ...)
+-- Resources (e.g., individual Deployments)
+-- Owned Resources (Pods via ownerReferences, Jobs for CronJobs, etc.)
+-- Containers (for Pods)
Namespaces are not a navigation level. The current namespace is shown in the top-right corner and can be changed by pressing \. All-namespaces mode is enabled by default (toggle with A).
app.kubernetes.io/instance label)> For the complete keybinding reference (YAML view, log viewer, describe, diff, exec mode, and all sub-modes), see docs/keybindings.md. Press ? or F1 in-app for the built-in help screen.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
h / Left | Navigate to parent level |
l / Right | Navigate into selected item |
j / Down | Move cursor down |
k / Up | Move cursor up |
gg / Home | Jump to top of list |
G / End | Jump to bottom of list |
Ctrl+D / Ctrl+U | Half-page scroll down/up |
Ctrl+F / Ctrl+B / PgDn / PgUp | Full-page scroll down/up |
Enter | Open full-screen YAML view / navigate into |
z | Toggle expand/collapse all resource groups / toggle event grouping (Events view) |
p | Pin/unpin CRD group (at resource types level) |
H | Toggle rarely used resource types (CSI internals, webhooks, APF, leases, advanced core) in the sidebar |
0 / 1 / 2 | Jump to clusters / types / resources level |
J / K | Scroll preview pane down/up |
o | Jump to owner/controller of selected resource |
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
? | Toggle help screen |
f | Filter items in current view |
/ | Search and jump to match |
n / N | Next / previous search match |
P | Toggle between details and YAML preview |
M | Toggle resource relationship map |
F | Toggle fullscreen (middle column or dashboard) |
. | Quick filter presets |
! | Error log (V/v select, y copy, f fullscreen) |
Ctrl+S | Toggle secret value visibility |
Ctrl+G | Finalizer search and remove |
I | API Explorer (browse resource structure interactively) |
U | RBAC permissions browser (can-i) |
T | Open theme selector |
: | Command bar: resource jumps (:pod, :dep), built-ins (:ns, :ctx, :set, :sort, :export), kubectl (:k get pod), shell (:! cmd) |
w | Toggle watch mode (auto-refresh) |
, | Column visibility toggle (show/hide and reorder columns) |
> / < | Sort by next / previous column |
= | Toggle sort direction (ascending/descending) |
- | Reset sort to default (Name ascending) |
W | Save resource to file / toggle warnings-only (Events) |
Ctrl+T | Cycle terminal mode (pty / exec / mux — mux skipped without tmux/zellij) |
@ | Monitoring overview (active Prometheus alerts) |
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
x | Action menu (logs, exec, describe, edit, delete, scale, port-forward, etc.) |
\ / A | Namespace selector / toggle all-namespaces |
L | View logs |
v | Describe resource |
D / X | Delete / force delete |
y / Y | Copy name / open copy-as picker (YAML / JSON / Table) |
Space | Toggle multi-selection (bulk actions via x) |
m / ' | Set / jump to bookmark (lowercase = context-aware, uppercase = context-free) |
t / ] / [ | New tab / next / previous |
All views (YAML, logs, describe, diff, exec) use vim-style navigation (j/k, gg/G, Ctrl+D/Ctrl+U, / search, v/V visual selection). See docs/keybindings.md for the full reference.
> For the complete command bar reference (built-in commands, shell/kubectl execution, resource jumps), see docs/commands.md.
Create ~/.config/lfk/config.yaml to customize the application. All fields are optional; only the values you specify will override the defaults.
> For the complete configuration reference, see docs/config-reference.md and docs/config-example.yaml.
# Color scheme (press T in-app to browse 460+ themes with live preview)
# Auto dark/light mode — Ghostty-style "dark:X,light:Y" syntax switches the
# scheme when the OS appearance changes (CSI 996/2031; Ghostty, kitty >= 0.27, …)
colorscheme: "dark:catppuccin-mocha,light:catppuccin-latte"
# Use terminal's own background
transparent_background: true
# Icon mode: "auto" (default, detects Nerd Font terminals like Ghostty/Kitty/WezTerm),
# "unicode", "nerdfont" (requires Nerd Font in terminal), "simple" (ASCII labels),
# "emoji", or "none". The LFK_ICONS env var overrides this setting.
icons: auto
# Disable mouse capture (allows native terminal text selection)
mouse: false
# Custom keybinding overrides (only specify what you want to change)
keybindings:
logs: "L"
describe: "v"
delete: "D"
# Search abbreviations (extend built-in abbreviations for :pod, :dep, etc.)
abbreviations:
myapp: myapplications
All search and filter inputs support three modes, auto-detected from the query string:
| Mode | Syntax | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Substring | plain text | nginx |
| Regex | auto-detected | err[0-9]+ |
| Fuzzy | ~ prefix | ~deplymnt |
| Literal | \ prefix | \err.* |
Clipboard paste: All search, filter, and command bar inputs accept pasted text (Cmd+V on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+V on Linux). Multiline paste shows a confirmation dialog.
Recall previous queries: While the f filter or / search input is open, press Up / Down to cycle through previous queries. / and f share one history (the matcher and matched fields are identical between them), kept separate from the : command bar. The log viewer's / search has its own history because it matches raw log lines (substring/regex over arbitrary text) rather than resource names — pooling it would surface irrelevant entries. All three persist across sessions under $XDG_STATE_HOME/lfk/ (default ~/.local/state/lfk/) — query-history for explorer / and f, log-search-history for the log viewer's /, and history for the command bar.
Contributions are welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md for prerequisites, development setup, build/test commands, project layout, and the PR submission flow.
If you find lfk useful and want to support its development:
Apache License 2.0 - see LICENSE for details.
Shift+Rc on a Pod or Service.Q | Namespace resource quota dashboard |