CiliKube

CiliKube is an open-source Kubernetes multi-cluster management platform that makes an AI investigation workspace the landing page after login while keeping a full resource console as the source of truth, built on a React 19 + TypeScript frontend and a Go + Gin backend.

What is CiliKube?

CiliKube is an open-source Kubernetes multi-cluster management platform that pairs an AI read-only investigator with a complete resource console. It accepts kubeconfig contexts or imported clusters as input and outputs a web dashboard, along with Electron desktop apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux that read the local ~/.kube/config. The project is developed by the ciliverse community, licensed under AGPL-3.0, and available as a public demo at cilikube.cillian.website.

What makes CiliKube stand out?

• AI workspace first — After login, users land on an AI investigator that answers status and troubleshooting questions ("how is it now / what's broken") and stays read-only by default; resource pages and fleet cards can push context back into the chat.
• Topology with traffic mode — Renders Ingress → Service → Workload → Pod graphs with RPS flow, including fan-out to pods, for observing request paths.
• Timeline view — Displays status segments plus live Event markers, with a Showcase mode that backfills demo history.
• Multi-cluster fleet overview — Health cards for each imported cluster with environment tags, plus per-card and fleet-wide AI inspection.
• Broad resource console — Covers workloads (Pods, Deployments, StatefulSets, DaemonSets, Jobs, CronJobs, HPA, PDB), networking (Services, Ingress, Gateway API classes/gateways/HTTPRoutes, NetworkPolicies), config (ConfigMaps, Secrets, ServiceAccounts, ResourceQuotas, LimitRanges), storage (PV/PVC/StorageClass), and access (Roles, RoleBindings, ClusterRoles, ClusterRoleBindings).
• Monitoring — metrics-server snapshots and Prometheus series charts, with sample curves on the public demo.
• Desktop apps with embedded backend — Windows x64, macOS Apple Silicon, and Linux x64 installers bundle the Go API inside an Electron shell and read the local kubeconfig without standing up a web stack.
• Eight visual themes — tron, paper, matrix, amber, nord, sakura, midnight-violet, and solarized, with a Chinese UI option.

The frontend uses React 19, TypeScript 7, Vite 8, Tailwind CSS 4, TanStack Query, React Router, Framer Motion, Recharts, and Axios; the backend uses Go 1.26+, Gin, client-go aligned with Kubernetes 1.36.2, JWT authentication, Gorilla WebSocket, Viper configuration, and Zap logging. The AI layer is a mock or OpenAI-compatible SSE endpoint that exposes read-only tool calls.

Who should use CiliKube?

• Cloud-native / DevOps engineers — Run a lightweight, self-hostable multi-cluster UI with ask-first workflows to triage incidents before making changes.
• Frontend developers — Study a production React 19 + TypeScript 7 + Vite 8 + Tailwind CSS 4 codebase with real-time chat, charts, and theming.
• Backend developers — Explore Go + Gin REST APIs, client-go cluster integration, WebSocket delivery for logs and terminals, and JWT/Casbin auth.
• Kubernetes learners — See how resource models fit together through topology graphs, event timelines, and troubleshooting paths in a real console.

What can you do with CiliKube?

• Cluster troubleshooting: Ask the AI investigator what's broken, follow resource clues into pod details, logs, or a web terminal, then apply changes through the console and your existing approval process.
• Multi-cluster operations: Import several clusters, scan fleet health cards, and ask for per-cluster or fleet-wide AI summaries from one browser tab or desktop app.
• Resource management: View, edit, and delete YAML for workloads, network policies, Gateway API routes, storage, and RBAC, with global search and an Events stream.
• Learning Kubernetes: Trace traffic through Service → Workload → Pod topology and correlate status segments with event markers in the timeline.

How does CiliKube work?

Connect a cluster by pointing the backend at a kubeconfig (default ~/.kube/config) or importing clusters through the UI; desktop apps do this automatically from the local kubeconfig. After login, the AI workspace is the home page, with the resource console in the top bar, and global search plus an Events stream for navigation. The AI agent is read-only by default — writes, approvals, and backups stay in the console.

FAQ

Is CiliKube free?

Yes, CiliKube is open source under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0. You can self-host it from source, via Docker images (ghcr.io/ciliverse/cilikube and ghcr.io/ciliverse/cilikube-web), Docker Compose, or a Helm chart from the ciliverse repository.

What are the default login credentials for CiliKube?

The default admin account is admin with password 12345678, and a forced password change happens on first login. The public demo provides one-click demo accounts backed by a fake fleet rather than a production cluster.

Does the CiliKube AI mutate my cluster?

No. The default agent is a read-only cluster investigator. Writes, approvals, and backups still go through the console and your existing process; the AI layer uses mock or OpenAI-compatible SSE with read-only tool calls.

What are the system requirements for CiliKube?

Building from source requires Node.js 20 or newer (tested with v24.14.1), pnpm 10 or newer, Go 1.26 or newer (tested with v1.26.4), and kubectl aligned with Kubernetes 1.36.2.

Is there a CiliKube desktop app, and are the builds signed?

The v1.0.0-desktop.1 release ships installers for Windows x64, macOS Apple Silicon DMG, and Linux x64 AppImage. The builds are unsigned — Windows SmartScreen and macOS Gatekeeper may warn — and an Intel Mac DMG is not yet published.