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k9s Keyboard Shortcuts

Quick reference for k9s TUI (Terminal UI) keyboard shortcuts.

Getting Started

# Start k9s
k9s

# Start in specific namespace
k9s -n development

# Start with specific view
k9s -c pods
k9s -c deployments
Key Action
? Show help/keyboard shortcuts
: Enter command mode
/ Filter current view
esc Back/exit/clear filter
ctrl-a Show all available resources
ctrl-c or q Quit k9s
0-9 Switch to namespace (from namespace list)
a Show all namespaces

Resource Views

Type : followed by resource name to switch views:

Command Resource
:pods or :po Pods
:deployments or :deploy Deployments
:services or :svc Services
:nodes or :no Nodes
:namespaces or :ns Namespaces
:configmaps or :cm ConfigMaps
:secrets or :sec Secrets
:events or :ev Events
:persistentvolumes or :pv Persistent Volumes
:persistentvolumeclaims or :pvc Persistent Volume Claims
:ingress or :ing Ingresses
:replicasets or :rs ReplicaSets
:statefulsets or :sts StatefulSets
:daemonsets or :ds DaemonSets
:jobs Jobs
:cronjobs or :cj CronJobs

Common Actions

Key Action
enter View details/drill down
d Describe selected resource
y View YAML
e Edit resource
l View logs
s Shell into container
ctrl-d Delete resource
ctrl-k Kill resource (force delete)

Pod Operations

In pod view:

Key Action
enter View containers in pod
l View logs
shift-f Port-forward
s Shell into container
ctrl-d Delete pod
ctrl-k Kill pod
t View pod's events
shift-r Sort by restart count
shift-s Sort by status
shift-c Sort by CPU
shift-m Sort by memory

Container Operations

When inside a pod (after pressing enter on a pod):

Key Action
l View container logs
p View previous container logs
s Shell into container
c View container's CPU usage
m View container's memory usage

Log Viewing

In log view:

Key Action
0 Show fullscreen logs
1 Show 100 lines
2 Show 200 lines
3 Show 300 lines
4 Show 400 lines
5 Show 500 lines
f Toggle log follow
s Toggle autoscroll
w Toggle wrap
t Toggle timestamps
/ Filter logs
ctrl-s Save logs to file
c Clear logs
p Show previous container logs

Filtering

Key Action
/ Start filter
enter Apply filter
esc Clear filter

Filter examples:

  • /nginx - Show resources containing "nginx"
  • /Running - Show only running pods
  • /-label app=web - Filter by label

Sorting

In any resource view:

Key Action
shift-a Sort alphabetically (A-Z)
shift-n Sort by name
shift-t Sort by type
shift-s Sort by status
shift-r Sort by restart count (pods)
shift-c Sort by CPU
shift-m Sort by memory

Context and Namespace

Key Action
:ctx View/switch contexts
:ns View/switch namespaces
0 Default namespace (in namespace view)
a All namespaces

Editing and Managing

Key Action
e Edit resource (opens in $EDITOR)
y View YAML
ctrl-d Delete resource (with confirmation)
ctrl-k Kill resource (force delete)

Special Commands

Type : followed by command:

Command Action
:q or :quit Quit k9s
:help Show help
:alias Show aliases
:ctx List/switch contexts
:ns List/switch namespaces
:xray <resource> Show tree view
:popeye Run cluster linter
:pulse Show resource pulse (updates)

XRay View

Show resource relationships:

:xray deployments
:xray services
:xray pods

Navigate with arrow keys, esc to exit.

Port Forwarding

  1. Navigate to pod
  2. Press shift-f
  3. Select container port
  4. Enter local port
  5. Access via localhost:<port>

Stop with ctrl-c

Benchmarking

Select a pod and press ctrl-b to run a benchmark.

Resource Usage

Key Action
:node View nodes
shift-c Sort by CPU
shift-m Sort by memory
enter View node details and pods

Useful Tips

Copy to Clipboard

Many views support copying:

  • y to view YAML
  • Terminal-specific copy commands (Ctrl+Shift+C on Linux)

Watching Resources

k9s automatically refreshes views every 2 seconds. Resources are color-coded:

  • Green: Running/Ready
  • Yellow: Warning/Pending
  • Red: Error/Failed

Resource Indicators

In pod view:

  • ! - Warning/Error
  • * - Restarting
  • ↺ - Restart count

Shortcuts File

Customize shortcuts in $HOME/.config/k9s/hotkey.yml

Skins

Change appearance with skins in $HOME/.config/k9s/skin.yml

Command Mode Examples

Type : to enter command mode:

:pods                    # Show pods
:svc                     # Show services
:deploy                  # Show deployments
:ns production           # Switch to production namespace
:ctx kind-kind          # Switch to kind-kind context
:xray deployments        # Show deployment tree
:pulse                   # Show resource pulse
:popeye                  # Run cluster linter

Filter Examples

Press / in any view:

/nginx                   # Filter for "nginx"
/Running                 # Show only Running pods
/!Running               # Show non-Running pods
/Error                  # Show resources with errors

Common Workflows

Debugging a Pod

  1. :pods - Show pods
  2. /my-app - Filter for your app
  3. enter - View containers
  4. l - View logs
  5. s - Shell into container

Checking Deployment

  1. :deploy - Show deployments
  2. Select deployment
  3. d - Describe
  4. enter - View pods
  5. Check status

Viewing Resource Usage

  1. :nodes - Show nodes
  2. shift-c - Sort by CPU
  3. enter - View pods on node
  4. shift-m - Sort by memory

Port Forward to Service

  1. :svc - Show services
  2. Select service
  3. shift-f - Port forward
  4. Access via localhost

Quick Pod Restart

  1. :pods - Show pods
  2. Select pod
  3. ctrl-d - Delete pod
  4. Kubernetes recreates it

Advanced Features

Popeye Integration

Popeye scans cluster for potential issues:

:popeye

Review findings:

  • Over-allocated resources
  • Resource issues
  • Security concerns

Pulse View

Monitor resource changes in real-time:

:pulse

XRay Tree View

Visualize resource relationships:

:xray deployments
:xray services

Navigate tree with arrows.

Configuration

k9s configuration files:

$HOME/.config/k9s/
├── config.yml          # Main configuration
├── hotkey.yml          # Custom hotkeys
├── plugin.yml          # Custom plugins
├── skin.yml            # UI skin/theme
└── views.yml           # Column customization

Example Custom Hotkey

~/.config/k9s/hotkey.yml:

hotKeys:
  shift-0:
    shortCut:    Shift-0
    description: View pods in default namespace
    command:     pods --context kind-kind --namespace default

Color Codes

Default status colors:

  • Green: Healthy/Running
  • Yellow: Warning/Pending/Terminating
  • Red: Error/Failed/CrashLoopBackOff
  • Blue: Completed/Succeeded

Performance Tips

  • Use filters (/) to reduce resource lists
  • Switch to specific namespace instead of "all namespaces"
  • Close log views when not needed
  • Use :pulse sparingly on large clusters

Getting Help