Companion Tools

KSail manages cluster provisioning and GitOps bootstrapping. Inner-loop tools handle the build-watch-deploy cycle, hot-reload, or local↔remote traffic bridging. They are complementary—not competing—layers.

ksail workload watch monitors your workload source directory and auto-applies changes. It scopes the apply to the nearest directory containing a kustomization file (kustomization.yaml, kustomization.yml, or Kustomization), falling back to kubectl apply -f <dir> --recursive when no kustomization boundary is found. The watch path is resolved from --path if set, otherwise from spec.workload.sourceDirectory in ksail.yaml, falling back to k8s/. All companion tools work alongside it—they operate at different layers and don’t conflict.

Layer	Responsibility	Tool
Cluster lifecycle	Create, configure, and delete clusters	KSail
GitOps bootstrap	Install Flux/ArgoCD, push manifests	KSail
Manifest watch & apply	Watch files, auto-apply Kustomize layers	KSail (ksail workload watch)
Build & deploy loop	Watch files, rebuild images, hot-reload	Tilt, Skaffold, or DevSpace
Local↔remote bridging	Bridge local processes to in-cluster pods	Telepresence or mirrord

Note

KSail sets the kubeconfig context after ksail cluster create. The context name depends on the distribution:

Distribution	Context name
Vanilla (Kind)	kind-<name>
K3s (K3d)	k3d-<name>
Talos (Docker/Hetzner)	admin@<name>
Talos (Omni)	Generated by Omni (e.g., devantler-prod)
VCluster	vcluster-docker_<name>

KSail + Tilt

Tilt watches your source files, rebuilds container images, and applies updated manifests to a running cluster. KSail creates and configures that cluster.

1. Write a Tiltfile that targets the KSail-managed kubeconfig context.

   # Tiltfile
   allow_k8s_contexts("k3d-dev")
   
   docker_build("my-app", ".")
   
   k8s_yaml("k8s/deployment.yaml")
   k8s_resource("my-app", port_forwards="8080:80")

2. Start Tilt:

   tilt up

   When done, tear down with:

   tilt down
   ksail cluster delete

Tip

If you use a local registry (--local-registry localhost:5050), add default_registry("localhost:5050") to your Tiltfile.

KSail + DevSpace

DevSpace provides hot-reload for interpreted languages (Python, Node.js, Ruby) by syncing file changes directly into running containers without image rebuilds.

1. Initialize DevSpace in your project directory.

   devspace init

   This creates a devspace.yaml. Pass the KSail context via --kube-context (see the context name table above).

   devspace.yaml

   version: v2beta1
   name: my-app
   dev:
     my-app:
       imageSelector: my-app
       sync:
         - path: ./src:/app/src
       terminal: {}
       ports:
         - port: "8080:80"

2. Start DevSpace dev mode:

   devspace dev --kube-context <your-context>

   When done, tear down with:

   devspace purge
   ksail cluster delete

Tip

For compiled languages (Go, Rust, Java), use devspace.yaml build pipelines or pair with Tilt instead of file sync.

KSail + Telepresence

Telepresence bridges your local machine to the cluster network, letting you run a service locally while it receives traffic from in-cluster pods. This is useful for debugging services without image rebuilds.

1. Deploy your application

   kubectl --context <your-context> create deployment my-app --image=nginx:latest
   kubectl --context <your-context> expose deployment my-app --port=80

2. Connect Telepresence and intercept traffic:

   telepresence connect --context <your-context>
   telepresence intercept my-app --port 8080:80

   Traffic destined for my-app is now routed to localhost:8080. Run your local service on that port:

   # Run your service locally — it receives cluster traffic
   go run ./cmd/server --port 8080

   When done, tear down with:

   telepresence leave my-app || true
   telepresence quit || true
   ksail cluster delete

Tip

Use telepresence list to see available services for interception. For selective routing, use --http-header to intercept only requests matching specific headers (useful in shared clusters).

KSail + Skaffold

Skaffold automates the build-tag-deploy pipeline. KSail provides the cluster; Skaffold handles the rest.

1. Create skaffold.yaml pointing at the KSail cluster context (replace <your-context> with the value from the table above).

   skaffold.yaml

   apiVersion: skaffold/v4beta11
   kind: Config
   metadata:
     name: my-app
   build:
     artifacts:
       - image: my-app
   manifests:
     rawYaml:
       - k8s/deployment.yaml
   deploy:
     kubeContext: <your-context>
     kubectl: {}

2. Run Skaffold in dev mode:

   skaffold dev

   When done: Ctrl+C (also cleans up deployed resources), then ksail cluster delete.

Tip

Use skaffold dev --port-forward for automatic port forwarding. If using a local registry, set build.local.push: true and prefix artifact images with your --local-registry value (e.g., localhost:5050/).

KSail + mirrord

mirrord lets you run a local process as if it were inside the cluster by mirroring or stealing traffic from a remote pod. KSail sets up the cluster; mirrord connects your local process to it.

See the KSail + mirrord guide for full setup instructions, mirror vs. steal mode comparison, IDE integration, and usage tips.