kubectl-view-allocations

name

kubectl-view-allocations

description

Use when inspecting Kubernetes resource allocation with kubectl view-allocations. For allocation questions, use kubectl view-allocations first and do not replace it with native kubectl get/describe/top/jsonpath queries. Covers cluster/node/namespace/pod requests, limits, allocatable, free capacity, ALL resources including GPU and custom resources (not just CPU/memory), taint-filtered node views, tree-view grouping via -g, multi-column sort via --sort, CSV exports, metrics-server utilization via kubectl view-allocations -u, kubeconfig/context access checks, and allocation-focused troubleshooting. Trigger for CPU, memory, GPU, pod capacity, overcommit, missing requests/limits, tainted nodes, or comparing requested/limit/utilization data in a Kubernetes cluster. WARNING: default output excludes tainted nodes — results may be empty or partial on clusters where all nodes have taints (e.g. control-plane-only, GPU, dedicated workload nodes).

Kubectl View Allocations

Use kubectl view-allocations as the required first tool for this repository's allocation workflow. Do not answer allocation questions by reconstructing the same data with native kubectl get, kubectl describe, kubectl top, JSONPath, or ad hoc scripts unless kubectl view-allocations cannot run and the user accepts a fallback.

kubectl view-allocations reports Kubernetes allocations from manifests and node allocatable resources. Key differentiators over kubectl top and similar tools:

• All resources: cpu, memory, GPU, and any custom resource — not limited to cpu/memory
• Tree view: group and aggregate by resource, node, namespace, or pod in any combination via -g
• Live utilization: optional via -u (requires metrics-server), same as kubectl top but richer

Default taint filtering: only nodes without taints are shown. On clusters where all nodes carry taints (control-plane-only, GPU nodes, dedicated workloads), the output may be empty or partial. Use --ignore-taints to include tainted nodes.

Workflow

1. Clarify scope only when it is missing and risky: kube context, namespace, resource name, node selector, or whether tainted nodes should be included.
2. Run the first data-gathering query with kubectl view-allocations.
3. Run a narrow kubectl view-allocations query first, then broaden only if the result looks incomplete.
4. Prefer allocation views for capacity planning and scheduling questions; use kubectl view-allocations -u only for "currently using" questions.
5. Explain output in terms of Requested, Limit, Allocatable, and Free.
6. If kubectl view-allocations fails, fix the command invocation path first: installation/PATH, kube context, kubeconfig, permissions, metrics availability, or --precheck.

Tool Policy

• Use kubectl view-allocations for allocation facts and summaries.
• Use kubectl only for narrow support tasks: checking the current context, refreshing auth through kubectl view-allocations --precheck/kubectl cluster-info, confirming metrics-server availability after kubectl view-allocations -u fails, or fetching metadata that kubectl view-allocations cannot show and the user explicitly needs.
• Do not start with kubectl top for utilization questions covered by kubectl view-allocations -u.
• Do not start with kubectl get nodes/pods -o json to manually sum requests, limits, allocatable resources, or taints.
• If kubectl view-allocations is missing, guide the user to install it from the davidB/kubectl-view-allocations README before using fallback allocation commands.
• If falling back from kubectl view-allocations is unavoidable, tell the user that the fallback is no longer using this skill's primary tool and why.

Missing Tool

When kubectl view-allocations is not installed or not on PATH:

1. Tell the user the primary tool is missing.
2. Offer the README-supported install options and ask which they prefer:
   • krew: kubectl krew install view-allocations
   • cargo: cargo install kubectl-view-allocations
   • release script: curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/davidB/kubectl-view-allocations/master/scripts/getLatest.sh | bash
3. After installation, run kubectl view-allocations --help or a narrow allocation query to confirm it works.
4. Do not silently replace the missing tool with native kubectl allocation calculations.

Command Patterns

Use these starting points:

kubectl view-allocations -g resource
kubectl view-allocations -g resource,node
kubectl view-allocations -g resource,node,pod
kubectl view-allocations -g namespace
kubectl view-allocations -n NAMESPACE -g resource,node,pod
kubectl view-allocations -r cpu,memory -g resource,namespace
kubectl view-allocations -r gpu
kubectl view-allocations --ignore-taints -g resource,node
kubectl view-allocations -u -r cpu,memory
kubectl view-allocations -o csv -g resource,node,pod
# Sort: show most-requested resources first (default)
kubectl view-allocations -s "requested DESC"
# Sort by free capacity ascending (find most constrained nodes first)
kubectl view-allocations -g resource,node -s "free ASC"
# Multi-column sort
kubectl view-allocations -s "usage DESC, requested DESC"

Add --context CONTEXT and --kubeconfig PATH when the user names a cluster or config file. Use --precheck when kube auth tokens may need refreshing because it runs kubectl cluster-info first.

Read references/command-cookbook.md for command recipes, interpretation notes, and troubleshooting branches.

Interpretation

• Requested: sum of pod container resource requests from manifests.
• Limit: sum of pod container limits from manifests.
• Allocatable: node allocatable capacity.
• Free: Allocatable - max(Limit, Requested) by default; use --used-mode only-request to compute free capacity from requests only.
• Utilization: live CPU/memory usage from Metrics API, shown only with -u.
• __: value is absent or not meaningful at that grouping level, not necessarily zero.

Default grouping is resource,node,pod; resource is always prepended when omitted. Default node filtering excludes tainted nodes — if output is empty or missing nodes, try --ignore-taints. Use --ignore-taints with no value to include all nodes, or with taint keys/key-value pairs to include specific tainted nodes.

--sort / -s accepts SQL-like syntax: col [ASC|DESC], comma-separated for multi-column. Valid columns: usage/utilization, requested, limits/limit, allocatable, free, name. Default: "usage DESC, requested DESC, limits DESC, name ASC". Sort applies within sibling groups at each tree level.

Safety

Treat kubectl view-allocations as read-only. It lists nodes, pods, and optionally pod metrics. Do not deploy, delete, scale, or modify Kubernetes resources as part of this skill unless the user separately asks for that action.