install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install cdk8s

provider-native install command

overview

Package summary

Define k8s native apps and abstractions using object-oriented programming

Project links

Homepage

Commands and aliases

cdk8s

history

Project history and usage

cdk8s is the Cloud Development Kit for Kubernetes, a framework and CLI for defining Kubernetes manifests in general-purpose programming languages and synthesizing them to YAML.

Project history

AWS introduced cdk8s publicly in 2020 as a Kubernetes-focused member of the broader CDK family. The official documentation presents it around apps, charts, constructs, and imports, mirroring the construct model familiar from AWS CDK while targeting Kubernetes manifests.

The Homebrew package installs the cdk8s CLI, whose official GitHub repository is cdk8s-team/cdk8s-cli. The documentation site links to the broader cdk8s-team/cdk8s project for framework documentation and source.

Adoption history

cdk8s grew in the infrastructure-as-code community as a code-first alternative to hand-written Kubernetes YAML, Helm templates, and Kustomize overlays. Its official docs support TypeScript, Python, Java, and Go language guides, reflecting adoption by teams that prefer typed languages and reusable constructs.

The project later became associated with the Cloud Native Computing Foundation ecosystem as a CNCF Sandbox project, giving it a recognizable place among Kubernetes tooling rather than as only an AWS-authored experiment.

How it is used

Typical use starts with cdk8s init, a project-level cdk8s.yaml file, and app code that defines charts and constructs. The CLI synthesizes manifests for review or deployment through other Kubernetes workflows.

Why package nerds care

For package people, cdk8s matters because it packages a Node-based CLI for a polyglot framework: the formula is the command-line entry point, while generated bindings and constructs connect npm, PyPI, Maven, Go modules, and Kubernetes release churn.

Timeline

2020: AWS publicly introduces cdk8s for Kubernetes manifests.
2021: cdk8s-cli repository created under the cdk8s-team organization.
2020s: Documentation grows around multiple programming languages and Kubernetes construct workflows.

Related projects

cdk8s is part of the CDK family of infrastructure tools and is conceptually related to AWS CDK and CDK for Terraform, while competing or coexisting with Helm, Kustomize, and handwritten Kubernetes YAML.

Sources

security posture

No protected-tool coverage found yet

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for cdk8s. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.

Install behavior

No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Configuration files

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Unix: ./cdk8s.yaml

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`cdk8s`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-08-03

manager version2.207.43

manager updated2026-08-02

local dataunknown

upstreamnot available

latest detectednot detected

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:cdk8s
Version	2.207.43
Package manager	Homebrew
Homepage	https://cdk8s.io/
Last updated	2026-08-02T08:57:24Z
Pulse	updated
Bottle	not recorded
Service	none declared

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/cdk8s.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
curated configuration and credential file locations
curated package history
pkgdb category and tag curation

Install cdk8s with Homebrew