🦖 k8s Unix System

A 3D Kubernetes resource viewer inspired by the FSN (File System Navigator) from Jurassic Park. Fly through your cluster like it's 1993.

"It's a Unix system! I know this!"

Demo

Namespaces are rendered as raised platforms (islands), pods as 3D blocks on each island. Live updates via Kubernetes watch API.

Install

Homebrew

brew install jlandersen/tap/kube3d

Docker

docker run --rm -it \
  -v ~/.kube/config:/root/.kube/config:ro \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  ghcr.io/jlandersen/k8s-unix-system:main

# Use a specific kubeconfig context
docker run --rm -it \
  -v ~/.kube/config:/root/.kube/config:ro \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  ghcr.io/jlandersen/k8s-unix-system:main --context my-cluster

Go

go install github.com/jeppe/k8s-unix-system/cmd/kube3d@latest

Build from source

go build -o kube3d ./cmd/kube3d

Usage

# Use current kubeconfig context
kube3d

# Specify a context
kube3d --context my-cluster

# Use a specific kubeconfig file
kube3d --kubeconfig /path/to/kubeconfig

# Watch a single namespace (works with restricted RBAC)
kube3d -n my-namespace

# Custom port, don't open browser
kube3d --port 9090 --no-browser

Opens a browser with the 3D view. All data streams live from your cluster.

Controls

Key	Action
Click	Lock cursor for look-around
WASD / Arrows	Move
Mouse	Look around
Space	Fly up
Ctrl	Fly down
Shift	Move faster
Hover pod / node	Show details tooltip
Esc	Release cursor

Supported Resources

Resource	How it's shown
Pods	3D blocks on namespace platforms, colored by status, sized by CPU/memory requests
Namespaces	Raised platform islands that group all resources in the namespace
Nodes	Cubes on a dedicated dark-blue island, colored by Ready/NotReady status
Workloads	Pods grouped under their owning Deployment, StatefulSet, DaemonSet, Job, or CronJob
Services	Cyan arcs connecting pods that match the service's label selector
Ingresses	Orange diamond markers on the platform with orthogonal connector lines to target service pods
PersistentVolumeClaims	Purple cylinder markers on the platform with orthogonal connector lines to pods that mount them
PersistentVolumes	Accessible via the detail panel and search; no scene marker (cluster-scoped)

All resources stream live from the cluster via the Kubernetes watch API.

Visual Guide

Pods

• Green blocks — Running pods
• Yellow blocks — Pending / Initializing
• Red blocks — Error / CrashLoopBackOff
• Block height — Increases with restart count
• Pods gently bob when running; error pods shake

Nodes

Nodes are rendered on a separate dark-blue island labeled NODES. Each node is a cube colored by status:

• Cyan blocks — Ready
• Red blocks — NotReady

Hover a node to see its name, status, CPU capacity, and memory capacity.

Services

Services are visualized as curved cyan arcs connecting pods that match a service's label selector. When a service selects two or more pods, arcs radiate from the first matched pod to the others, forming a star topology. Lines are semi-transparent so they don't obscure the rest of the scene.

Ingresses

Ingresses appear as orange diamond markers on the front edge of namespace platforms. Orthogonal connector lines trace the path from each ingress to the pods backing its target services. Hover a marker to see the routing rules (host, path, backend service).

PersistentVolumeClaims

PVCs appear as purple cylinder markers on namespace platforms. Orthogonal connector lines connect each PVC to the pods that mount it. Click a marker to fly to it and open the detail panel, which shows the claim status, storage class, bound PV, and mounting pods. Pods with volume mounts also list their PVCs in the pod detail panel. PersistentVolumes have no scene marker but are reachable via the detail panel (linked from a bound PVC) or search (kind:pv).

Namespaces

• Platform color — Namespace island (pink/magenta)

Flags

Flag	Default	Description
--context	current	Kubernetes context
--kubeconfig	~/.kube/config	Path to kubeconfig file (also respects KUBECONFIG env var)
--namespace, -n	all	Scope all watches to a single namespace (useful with restricted RBAC)
--port	8080	HTTP server port
--no-browser	false	Don't auto-open browser