Kite

A native, UI-first Kubernetes cockpit for developers debugging real clusters.

Kite is a native, UI-first Kubernetes cockpit built with Tauri, Rust, React, and Bun.

The product moat is the interface: a simple native control-plane lens, macOS glass, reusable motion, and guarded Kubernetes actions without dashboard clutter.

Highlights

• Native macOS-first app shell built with Tauri 2.
• Multi-context kubeconfig discovery with explicit context switching.
• Live Kubernetes resource inventory with namespace, status, label, search, sorting, and pressure signals.
• Persistent pinned resources for fast returns to active incidents.
• Grouped drilldowns from namespaces, services, workloads, and pods.
• Pod debugging workspace with status, containers, mounted dependencies, events, searchable source- and level-filtered logs, exec command handoff, guarded restart, and guarded delete.
• Local-first architecture with no cluster-side agent.
• Guarded write model for risky Kubernetes actions.

Principles

• Local-first Kubernetes inspection with no cluster-side agent.
• Developer debugging workflows over generic dashboard clutter.
• Guarded writes: destructive actions must show the exact cluster, namespace, resource, and risk.
• No writes to non-local clusters during development or tests.

Development

bun install
bun run dev

Prerequisites:

• Bun
• Rust stable
• Tauri system dependencies
• kubectl
• Optional local cluster: k3d, kind, minikube, or Docker Desktop Kubernetes

Install

Kite is available from the public Homebrew tap:

brew tap rootsec1/kite
brew install --cask kite

Current macOS builds are unsigned and not notarized. On first launch, macOS may block Kite as an unidentified developer. Open it with right-click > Open, or use System Settings > Privacy & Security > Open Anyway after the first blocked launch.

Kite is not in the official Homebrew/homebrew-cask tap yet. The public custom tap is the supported install path until the app is signed/notarized and passes Homebrew's new-cask notability audit.

Local Kubernetes Demo

chmod +x scripts/k3d-demo.sh
scripts/k3d-demo.sh

Validation

bun run build
cd src-tauri && cargo check

macOS Packaging

bun run tauri:build

Release artifacts are written to src-tauri/target/release/bundle/macos/Kite.app and src-tauri/target/release/bundle/dmg/. Public distribution uses the GitHub release workflow and Homebrew cask flow in docs/release.md. Current macOS builds are unsigned and not notarized, so Gatekeeper may show an unidentified developer warning on first launch.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. All contributors are expected to follow the Code of Conduct.

Security

Please report vulnerabilities through GitHub private vulnerability reporting or the process in SECURITY.md.