# litek8s

> A whole Kubernetes in one Rust binary: a local cluster in about a second,
> spare machines as one cluster, a control plane that idles at 23 MiB. It
> serves the real Kubernetes API (kubectl, Helm, Argo CD work unchanged), plus
> a Docker Engine API, built-in metrics/logs/alerts, a terminal UI and an MCP
> server (`litek8s mcp`).

Agents: prefer `litek8s mcp` (tools for dev clusters, get/apply/logs/PromQL,
diagnose_pod) and its resources `litek8s://skill/...` and `litek8s://docs/...`;
`litek8s skill` prints the same guide. Servers authenticate clients and
enforce RBAC since 0.2.12: a 401 or 403 on a cluster made with an earlier
release is fixed as in "Authentication and RBAC" below. GitOps with Argo CD's
manifests in one small pod: litecd ("GitOps with litecd" below).

## Start here

- [Introduction](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/overview.md): litek8s: a lightweight Kubernetes in one binary (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/)
- [Next to your clusters](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/alongside.md) (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/alongside/)
- [Install](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/install.md): Install litek8s on macOS (Apple silicon) or Linux (x86_64, aarch64) with Homebrew or the install script, then start a local Kubernetes cluster. (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/install/)
- [Quickstart](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/quickstart.md): Start a local Kubernetes cluster with litek8s dev up, deploy nginx with kubectl, use the same cluster as a Docker engine, and add multi-node clusters. (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/quickstart/)
- [Numbers](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/numbers.md): Memory, startup time and CI numbers for litek8s against k3s, kind and k3d, measured with scripts in the repo: a 23 MiB control plane, 0.2 s dev clusters. (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/numbers/)
- [Platforms](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/platforms.md): Where litek8s runs: dev clusters on macOS (Apple silicon) and rootless Linux, servers and nodes on Linux x86_64 and aarch64 with crun. (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/platforms/)
- [Multi-node and HA](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/multi-node.md): Multi-node Kubernetes and HA with litek8s (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/multi-node/)
- [Limitations](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/limitations.md): What litek8s does not do yet: simpler authentication and RBAC than upstream, young on-disk formats, kubelet behaviors and admission features still missing. (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/limitations/)

## Guides

- [Dev clusters](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/dev.md) (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/dev/)
- [Docker API](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/docker.md) (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/docker/)
- [CI (GitHub Actions)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/ci.md) (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/ci/)
- [Terminal UI](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/ui.md) (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/ui/)
- [Metrics, logs, alerts](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/observability.md) (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/observability/)
- [Clusters over SSH](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/clusters.md) (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/clusters/)
- [Authentication and RBAC](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/auth.md): How litek8s servers authenticate clients and enforce RBAC, the RBAC-audit mode, and how to fix a cluster made with an earlier release (401, 403). (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/auth/)
- [Private registries and mirrors](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/registries.md) (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/registries/)
- [Networking across NATs](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/networking.md) (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/networking/)
- [HA control plane](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/ha.md) (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/ha/)
- [CRDs and server-side apply](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/crds.md) (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/crds/)
- [MCP and LLM agents](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/agents.md) (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/agents/)
- [One LLM across machines](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/llm-cluster.md) (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/llm-cluster/)

## Ecosystem

- [GitOps with litecd](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/litecd.md): Run Argo CD Applications on litek8s with litecd: the same manifests and status in one Rust pod of 7 MiB instead of Argo CD's 310 MiB. (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/litecd/)

## Contributing

- [Building and testing](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/contributing/)
- [Developing without Docker](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/docs/develop-without-docker.md) (page: https://litek8s.dev/docs/develop-without-docker/)

## Optional

- [Changelog](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/CHANGELOG.md): what changed in each release, breaking changes first
- [Agent skill](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jairoFernandez/litek8s/main/skills/litek8s/SKILL.md): the guide `litek8s mcp` serves to agents