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🛥️🐳 KSail

Cluster Provisioning

Create and manage local Kubernetes clusters with a single command. KSail supports Vanilla, K3s, Talos, and VCluster distributions, generates native configuration files (kind.yaml, k3d.yaml, Talos patches, vcluster.yaml) that work directly with upstream tools, and automatically configures CNI, CSI, metrics-server, cert-manager, and policy engines. Component installations use automatic retry with exponential backoff; the --benchmark flag shows per-component install durations during cluster create and cluster update.

Terminal window
ksail cluster init --name my-cluster --distribution Vanilla --cni Cilium
ksail cluster create

The generated config files work directly with kind, k3d, talosctl, and vcluster — KSail is a superset.

Ephemeral Clusters

Section titled “Ephemeral Clusters”

Use --ttl to create a cluster that auto-destroys after a set duration. See Ephemeral Clusters for usage patterns and tips.

Terminal window
ksail cluster create --ttl 1h

Updating Clusters

Section titled “Updating Clusters”

ksail cluster update applies changes from ksail.yaml to a running cluster. Changes are classified as in-place (no disruption), reboot-required, or recreate-required. Use --dry-run to preview changes without applying them. Use --output json for a machine-readable diff in CI pipelines or MCP tools:

Terminal window
# Preview changes without applying
ksail cluster update --dry-run


# Machine-readable diff for CI gating or MCP consumption
ksail cluster update --dry-run --output json | jq .recreateRequired

CLI Reference

Section titled “CLI Reference”

ksail cluster

Section titled “Related”