javascript

The official Kubernetes JavaScript client, @kubernetes/client-node, lets Node and TypeScript code do what kubectl does: list pods, create namespaces, watch for changes, exec into containers, tail logs, copy files and port-forward. It's generated from the Kubernetes API, lives in the same kubernetes-client org as the Python and Java clients, and is Apache 2.0 and free.

npm install @kubernetes/client-node and it reads your kubeconfig the way kubectl does. Version 2.0 (August 2026) moved the HTTP layer to undici, Node's own fetch engine, dropped Node 18, 20 and 23, and targets Kubernetes 1.36. CI tests Node 22, 24, 25 and 26. No paid tier: free for solo devs, small teams and large teams.

Reach for it when building operators, internal dashboards or CI scripts in Node. Want a friendlier layer? Pepr's kubernetes-fluent-client wraps this library with a fluent API. Skip GoDaddy's older kubernetes-client, untouched since 2023.

The catch: it's generated code, so expect a big, mechanical API with one class per API group (CoreV1Api and friends) and breaking majors, like 2.0's HTTP swap. Multiple kubeconfigs aren't fully supported because cached credentials can collide by username, and the README's compatibility table still stops at 1.4.x.