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CDK8s is an open-source framework for defining Kubernetes applications in familiar programming languages and synthesizing them into standard Kubernetes YAML. It helps you author and reuse configuration in code; it does not deploy that configuration to a cluster.
What is CDK8s?
CDK8s (the Cloud Development Kit for Kubernetes) is a software development framework for describing Kubernetes applications with programming-language APIs and reusable abstractions. Its output is ordinary Kubernetes manifests, which you can use with different clusters and your existing deployment workflow. The project is an open-source CNCF Sandbox project, according to its official homepage.
The practical distinction is between authoring and applying: CDK8s creates manifest files, but does not install or update resources in a cluster. The official documentation states that CDK8s apps define Kubernetes applications but do not apply them to a cluster.
How does CDK8s work?
A CDK8s application is organized as a construct tree. The app is the root, Charts group related Kubernetes resources, and constructs represent resources or reusable building blocks. When you synthesize the app, each Chart produces Kubernetes manifest output. The constructs guide explains this model.
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- App: The root object for an application.
- Chart: A grouping of Kubernetes resources that synthesizes to a manifest file.
- Constructs: The objects used to define resources and build reusable abstractions.
Because you define configuration in code, you can use language features such as loops and conditionals, as well as classes and typed APIs where supported by the language and libraries. These features can help organize repeated or parameterized configuration, but they do not remove the need to understand Kubernetes resources and API compatibility.
Does CDK8s deploy applications to Kubernetes?
No. CDK8s synthesizes manifests; a separate tool or deployment process applies them. The project repository shows an example using kubectl apply -f dist/chart.k8s.yaml. You can also route synthesized files through a GitOps workflow, such as committing configuration to Git for a tool like Flux to apply. The project repository and project homepage describe these patterns.
This separation lets CDK8s fit into different operational workflows. Synthesis produces the desired configuration; cluster access, rollout behavior, and ongoing reconciliation are handled elsewhere.
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Which programming languages does CDK8s support?
Official project materials list TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Java, and Go. They also describe support for custom resources. Language bindings and libraries may not have identical ergonomics, so check the documentation for the language you plan to use rather than assuming examples or features transfer unchanged. See the project homepage for the documented language list.
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How does CDK8s relate to AWS CDK?
CDK8s can be used alongside AWS CDK constructs, but packages in the same app must agree on a compatible major version of the underlying constructs framework. The interoperability guide maps cdk8s 1.x to constructs 3.x and cdk8s 2.x to constructs 10.x; it associates those lines with AWS CDK v1 and v2, respectively.
Before combining libraries or migrating, inspect the versions actually installed in your project and confirm their compatibility. A package name alone is not enough to establish that two libraries can share a construct tree.
What is cdk8s+ and how do you choose a version?
cdk8s+ provides higher-level constructs for Kubernetes objects. Its documentation says the libraries are maintained for the three latest Kubernetes releases and recommends using the matching cdk8s-plus-XX release for a cluster running Kubernetes 1.XX when one is available. Consult the cdk8s+ guide for the supported release line and API details.
Compatibility depends on the Kubernetes API version targeted by the generated manifests, not simply whether your code compiles. The guide distinguishes stable APIs, which it describes as usable from the corresponding Kubernetes release onward, from unstable APIs that may change or be removed. Older clusters may lack supported spec properties, resulting in invalid manifests or resources that the cluster cannot accept.
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When is CDK8s a good fit?
CDK8s is worth considering when your team wants to author Kubernetes configuration with programming-language features, package reusable abstractions, or generate manifests as part of a build or GitOps workflow. It may be a poorer fit if your team prefers to manage configuration directly in YAML, does not want to maintain code and language dependencies for infrastructure, or needs a tool that applies and reconciles resources by itself.
When weighing it against YAML, Helm, Kustomize, or another configuration approach, compare the work your team needs to do: how it expresses conditional or repeated configuration, shares reusable pieces, fits existing deployment practices, and handles target Kubernetes API versions. CDK8s documents its own behavior; that does not establish a universal advantage over those alternatives.
What does a basic CDK8s project look like?
The official TypeScript getting-started example initializes a project with cdk8s init typescript-app, imports Construct, App, Chart, and ChartProps, defines a class extending Chart, creates an app and chart, and calls app.synth(). This is the documented project shape, not a deployment command. See the TypeScript getting-started guide.
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