KubOps Operator

Deploy applications on Kubernetes without the complexity.

KubOps is an open-core, Kubernetes-native PaaS operator. It lets developers deploy and manage applications using simple custom resources — no Deployments, Services, or Ingress manifests to write.

Open Core — this repository is the free, Apache 2.0 core.

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Why KubOps?

Most PaaS tools either run on Docker/VPS (Coolify, Dokploy) or are locked to clouds (Porter, Qovery). KubOps is:

• Kubernetes-native — runs on any cluster (EKS, GKE, AKS, on-premise, k3s)
• Declarative by nature — your entire platform is defined as Kubernetes CRDs
• Self-hosted first — install on your own cluster via Helm, zero vendor lock-in
• Developer-friendly — kubectl apply an App and get a running deployment with Ingress and TLS

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Features

• Project / Environment / App model — organize applications by project and environment (dev, staging, prod)
• Shared namespaces per environment — all apps in the same environment share a namespace, enabling simple service-to-service communication (http://backend:3000)
• Automatic Ingress — define a hostname and TLS is handled automatically via cert-manager
• Cascade deletion — delete a Project and everything underneath (Environments, Apps, namespaces) is cleaned up automatically
• KubOpsConfig — global operator configuration (IngressClass, cert-manager issuer) with per-app overrides

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Prerequisites

• Go 1.25+ (for building from source)
• Kubernetes 1.31+ (tested on 1.31, built against client-go v0.35 / K8s 1.35)
• cert-manager (for automatic TLS certificates)
• An Ingress controller (e.g. ingress-nginx)

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Installation

Using Helm (coming soon)

helm repo add kubops https://charts.kubops.com
helm install kubops kubops/kubops-operator -n kubops-system --create-namespace

From source

git clone https://github.com/KubOpsCloud/kubops-operator
cd kubops-operator
make install   # installs CRDs into the cluster
make run       # runs the operator locally against your current kubeconfig

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Quick Start

1. Configure the operator (optional but recommended):

apiVersion: core.kubops.com/v1alpha1
kind: KubOpsConfig
metadata:
  name: kubops
spec:
  ingress:
    className: nginx
    certIssuer: letsencrypt-prod

2. Create a Project:

apiVersion: core.kubops.com/v1alpha1
kind: Project
metadata:
  name: my-app
spec:
  displayName: "My App"

3. Create an Environment:

apiVersion: core.kubops.com/v1alpha1
kind: Environment
metadata:
  name: my-app-prod
spec:
  project: my-app
  type: prod

This automatically creates the Kubernetes namespace my-app-prod.

4. Deploy an App:

apiVersion: core.kubops.com/v1alpha1
kind: App
metadata:
  name: frontend
spec:
  project: my-app
  environment: my-app-prod
  source:
    image:
      repository: nginx
      tag: "latest"
  replicas: 2
  port: 80
  ingress:
    host: myapp.example.com
    tls:
      enabled: true

This creates a Deployment, Service, ServiceAccount, and Ingress in the my-app-prod namespace.

kubectl get apps
# NAME       PROJECT   ENVIRONMENT    IMAGE   REPLICAS   PHASE     AGE
# frontend   my-app    my-app-prod    nginx   2          Running   30s

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CRD Reference

Project

Logical grouping of environments and apps. No Kubernetes resources are created — it is a pure organizational construct.

Field	Type	Required	Description
spec.displayName	string	✅	Human-readable name (1-64 chars)
spec.description	string		Optional description

Status phases: Active · Terminating

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Environment

Represents a deployment environment (dev, staging, prod). Creates and owns a shared Kubernetes namespace used by all Apps in this environment.

Field	Type	Required	Description
spec.project	string	✅	Parent Project name
spec.type	string	✅	Environment type — e.g. dev, staging, prod

Namespace naming: {project}-{type} → my-app-prod

Status phases: Active · Failed · Terminating

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App

A web application (HTTP service). Deployed into the Environment's shared namespace.

Field	Type	Required	Description
spec.project	string	✅	Parent Project name
spec.environment	string	✅	Target Environment name
spec.source.image.repository	string	✅	Docker image repository
spec.source.image.tag	string	✅	Docker image tag
spec.source.image.pullSecret	string		Name of a docker-registry Secret
spec.replicas	integer		Number of replicas (default: 1)
spec.port	integer	✅	Container port
spec.ingress.host	string		Public hostname — creates an Ingress
spec.ingress.className	string		IngressClass override (falls back to KubOpsConfig)
spec.ingress.tls.enabled	bool		Enable TLS on the Ingress
spec.ingress.tls.certIssuer	string		cert-manager ClusterIssuer override (falls back to KubOpsConfig)
spec.env	EnvVar[]		Environment variables injected into the container

Status phases: Pending · Running · Failed · Terminating

Kubernetes resources created: ServiceAccount · Deployment · Service · Ingress (only if spec.ingress is set)

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KubOpsConfig

Singleton cluster-scoped resource (name must be kubops) that sets global operator defaults.

Field	Type	Description
spec.ingress.className	string	Default IngressClass for all Ingress resources
spec.ingress.certIssuer	string	Default cert-manager ClusterIssuer for TLS

Per-app values in App.spec.ingress always take precedence over KubOpsConfig.

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Architecture

kubectl apply (App YAML)
        ↓
Kubernetes API — CRDs core.kubops.com/v1alpha1
        ↓
KubOps Operator (this repo)
        ↓
Kubernetes native resources
(Namespace, Deployment, Service, Ingress, ServiceAccount)

Cascade deletion chain:

Project deleted
  └─→ Environments deleted
        └─→ Apps deleted (Deployment, Service, SA, Ingress removed)
              └─→ Namespace deleted

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Development

# Install CRDs and run the operator locally
make install
make run

# Apply sample resources
kubectl apply -f config/samples/core_v1alpha1_kubopsconfig.yaml
kubectl apply -f config/samples/core_v1alpha1_project.yaml
kubectl apply -f config/samples/core_v1alpha1_environment.yaml
kubectl apply -f config/samples/core_v1alpha1_app.yaml

# Run tests
make test

# Regenerate CRD manifests after changing types
make manifests

# Regenerate DeepCopy methods after changing types
make generate

Note: Always scaffold new API types with kubebuilder create api to ensure config/crd/kustomization.yaml is updated automatically.

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Roadmap

• Project, Environment, App controllers
• KubOpsConfig (global Ingress defaults)
• Worker (CronJob / background worker)
• Database (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis)
• HelmRelease
• Helm chart
• UI
• CLI

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue before submitting a pull request for significant changes.

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License

Copyright 2026 KubOps.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See LICENSE for details.

kubops.com