kubectl-ctx and kubectl-ns

Simple context and namespace switchers for kubectl using client-go libraries.

Features

• ✅ Multiple KUBECONFIG support - automatically handles KUBECONFIG=file1:file2:file3
• ✅ Context switching - switch between Kubernetes contexts
• ✅ Namespace switching - switch namespaces within current context
• ✅ Interactive mode - select from list when no argument provided
• ✅ Uses kubectl's libraries - same behavior as kubectl for config merging

Installation

Quick Install (MacOS and Linux)

Install with Homebrew

brew install camaeel/tap/kubectl-ctx

Manual download

# Automatically detect platform and install latest version
VERSION=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/camaeel/kubectl-ctx/releases/latest | grep '"tag_name"' | sed -E 's/.*"([^"]+)".*/\1/')
OS=$(uname -s | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
ARCH=$(uname -m | sed 's/x86_64/amd64/;s/aarch64/arm64/')
curl -L "https://github.com/camaeel/kubectl-ctx/releases/download/${VERSION}/kubectl-ctx-${OS}-${ARCH}" -o kubectl-ctx
curl -L "https://github.com/camaeel/kubectl-ctx/releases/download/${VERSION}/kubectl-ns-${OS}-${ARCH}" -o kubectl-ns
chmod +x kubectl-ctx kubectl-ns
sudo mv kubectl-ctx kubectl-ns /usr/local/bin/

Windows (PowerShell)

$VERSION = (Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://api.github.com/repos/camaeel/kubectl-ctx/releases/latest").tag_name Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/camaeel/kubectl-ctx/releases/download/$VERSION/kubectl-ctx-windows-amd64.exe" -OutFile "kubectl-ctx.exe" Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/camaeel/kubectl-ctx/releases/download/$VERSION/kubectl-ns-windows-amd64.exe" -OutFile "kubectl-ns.exe"

Move to a directory in your PATH

### Verify Installation

```bash
kubectl ctx --version
kubectl ns --version

Building from Source

# Build both tools
go build -o kubectl-ctx ./cmd/kubectl-ctx
go build -o kubectl-ns ./cmd/kubectl-ns

# Install to PATH
cp kubectl-ctx kubectl-ns /usr/local/bin/

Usage

kubectl-ctx (Context Switcher)

# Show current context
kubectl ctx

# Switch to a specific context
kubectl ctx my-context

# Interactive mode (shows numbered list)
kubectl ctx
# Then select from the list

kubectl-ns (Namespace Switcher)

# Show current namespace
kubectl ns

# Switch to a specific namespace
kubectl ns my-namespace

# Interactive mode (prompts for input)
kubectl ns
# Then enter namespace name

How It Works

Both tools use Kubernetes' client-go libraries:

• clientcmd.NewDefaultClientConfigLoadingRules() - handles KUBECONFIG env var and file merging
• clientcmd.ModifyConfig() - writes changes back to the appropriate config file
• Follows kubectl's exact behavior for multi-file configurations

Multiple KUBECONFIG Files

Works seamlessly with multiple config files:

export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config:~/.kube/config-prod:~/.kube/config-dev
kubectl ctx  # Shows contexts from all files merged

The tools automatically:

• Merge contexts from all files (first occurrence wins for duplicates)
• Write current-context changes to the first file in KUBECONFIG
• Handle relative paths and LocationOfOrigin tracking

Differences from Original kubectx/kubens

• Uses client-go instead of custom YAML parsing
• Simpler interactive mode (no fzf dependency)
• Only supports switching (no rename/delete operations)
• Guaranteed compatibility with kubectl behavior (support for multiple KUBECONFIG files)