# Install cdk8s with Homebrew

Define k8s native apps and abstractions using object-oriented programming. Version 2.207.43 via Homebrew; verified 2026-08-02.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:cdk8s
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install cdk8s
```

  Evidence: provider-native install command

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:cdk8s
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.207.43
- **Source summary:** Define k8s native apps and abstractions using object-oriented programming
- **Homepage:** <https://cdk8s.io/>
- **Last updated:** 2026-08-02T08:57:24Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T00:40:33+00:00

## Executables

- cdk8s (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.207.43
## 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

- <https://api.github.com/repos/cdk8s-team/cdk8s-cli>
- <https://github.com/cdk8s-team/cdk8s-cli>
- <https://cdk8s.io/>
- <https://cdk8s.io/docs/latest>
- <https://cdk8s.io/docs/latest/get-started>
- <https://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula/cdk8s.json>


## Security Notes

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.



## 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

- Unix: ./cdk8s.yaml

## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/cdk8s.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/cdk8s.yml)


## Sources

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