kubectx

name	kubectx
description	kubectx and kubens for Kubernetes context/namespace switching. Use for switching contexts/namespaces, fzf selection, shell completions, kube-ps1 prompts, KUBECONFIG management, or troubleshooting.
last_updated	"2026-03-18T00:00:00.000Z"

kubectx & kubens

CLI tools by ahmetb for fast Kubernetes context and namespace switching. Written in Go, single binaries. Both support fzf for interactive fuzzy selection.

Installation

# Homebrew (macOS/Linux)
brew install kubectx

# Arch
pacman -S kubectx

# Manual binary
curl -Lo kubectx https://github.com/ahmetb/kubectx/releases/latest/download/kubectx
curl -Lo kubens https://github.com/ahmetb/kubectx/releases/latest/download/kubens
chmod +x kubectx kubens && mv kubectx kubens /usr/local/bin/

# With fzf (enables interactive mode automatically)
brew install fzf

kubectx - Context Switching

kubectx                     # List all contexts (current highlighted)
kubectx <name>              # Switch to context
kubectx -                   # Switch to previous context (toggle)
kubectx -c                  # Show current context name
kubectx <new>=<old>         # Rename context
kubectx -d <name>           # Delete context
kubectx -d <name1> <name2>  # Delete multiple contexts
kubectx -u                  # Unset current context

With fzf installed, bare kubectx opens interactive fuzzy finder instead of listing.

kubens - Namespace Switching

kubens                      # List all namespaces (current highlighted)
kubens <name>               # Switch to namespace
kubens -                    # Switch to previous namespace (toggle)
kubens -c                   # Show current namespace

With fzf installed, bare kubens opens interactive fuzzy finder instead of listing.

How It Works

• kubectx modifies ~/.kube/config (or file(s) in $KUBECONFIG)
• Equivalent to kubectl config use-context <name>
• kubens sets namespace in current context's config
• Equivalent to kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=<name>
• The - toggle stores previous selection in ~/.kube/kubectx and ~/.kube/kubens

KUBECONFIG with Multiple Files

# Merge multiple kubeconfig files
export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config:~/.kube/cluster-a:~/.kube/cluster-b

# kubectx sees all contexts across all files
kubectx    # lists contexts from all kubeconfig files

When KUBECONFIG contains multiple files, kubectx operates across all of them. Changes are written to the first file in the list that contains the modified context.

Common Patterns

Quick Context+Namespace Switch

kubectx production && kubens monitoring

Scripting (Non-Interactive)

# Force non-interactive even with fzf installed
KUBECTX_IGNORE_FZF=1 kubectx my-cluster
KUBECTX_IGNORE_FZF=1 kubens kube-system

# Use in scripts
current=$(kubectx -c)
kubectx staging
# ... do work ...
kubectx "$current"  # restore

Context Naming Convention

# Rename long auto-generated names to short memorable ones
kubectx prod=arn:aws:eks:us-east-1:123456:cluster/production
kubectx staging=gke_myproject_us-central1_staging
kubectx homelab=kubernetes-admin@homelab

Reference Files

File	Content
references/shell-integration.md	zsh/bash completions, kube-ps1 prompt, fzf config, zinit setup

Cross-References

• K3s clusters: Use k3s skill for cluster setup, then kubectx to manage contexts
• Shell config: Use zinit-zsh skill for plugin installation in this dotfiles repo