# Install kwok with Homebrew, Nix, winget

Kubernetes WithOut Kubelet - Simulates thousands of Nodes and Clusters. Version 0.8.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-23. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#kwok.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:kwok
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install kwok
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#kwok
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/kw/kwok/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Windows

- winget (92%):

```sh
winget install --id Kubernetes.kwok -e
```

  Evidence: Windows Package Manager source index: Kubernetes.kwok from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:kwok
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.8.0
- **Source summary:** Kubernetes WithOut Kubelet - Simulates thousands of Nodes and Clusters
- **Homepage:** <https://kwok.sigs.k8s.io>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kwok>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-23T10:35:17Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- kwok (alias)
- kwokctl (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.8.0
## Project history and usage

KWOK, short for Kubernetes WithOut Kubelet, is a Kubernetes SIG project for simulating nodes, pods, and cluster behavior without running kubelets on real machines. The package ships the kwok simulator and kwokctl cluster-management CLI.

### Project history

KWOK was introduced publicly on the Kubernetes blog on 2023-03-01 by contributors from DaoCloud and Apple. The announcement framed it as a toolkit for creating clusters with thousands of simulated nodes in seconds, aimed at controller development, scale testing, and Kubernetes learning without large infrastructure bills.

The project lives under kubernetes-sigs, which makes it part of the Kubernetes community's SIG-governed tooling rather than a vendor-only simulator. Its release process uses Kubernetes-style release issues, staging images, GitHub releases, and registry.k8s.io promotion.

### Adoption history

KWOK's adoption is strongest in test and simulation workflows. The official site emphasizes compatibility with Kubernetes API clients such as kubectl and Helm, and the docs show fake nodes and pods represented as ordinary API objects that kwok keeps in plausible states.

### How it is used

Users install kwok to maintain fake node and pod status, and kwokctl to create or delete local simulated clusters. Package-manager users care about having both binaries available for fast CI jobs, controller load tests, scheduler experiments, and demos that need Kubernetes API behavior without worker-node cost.

### Why package nerds care

KWOK is interesting because it packages a fake kubelet world as normal CLI tooling. It turns what used to require heavyweight test clusters or bespoke mocks into a reproducible binary install, making it a neat inhabitant of the Kubernetes testing toolbox.

### Timeline

- 2022-09-27: The v0.0.1 release issue was opened in the kubernetes-sigs/kwok repository.
- 2023-03-01: The Kubernetes blog published the public KWOK introduction.
- 2023-08-15: The node and pod management guide was updated with examples for keeping fake nodes ready and running fake pods.

### Related projects

- KWOK relates to Kubernetes, kubelet, kubemark, controller testing, scheduler testing, kubectl, Helm, and registry.k8s.io image promotion workflows.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kwok>
- <https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kwok/issues/29>
- <https://kubernetes.io/blog/2023/03/01/introducing-kwok/>
- <https://kwok.sigs.k8s.io/>
- <https://kwok.sigs.k8s.io/docs/user/kwok-manage-nodes-and-pods/>


## Security Notes

infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal.

- **Geiger risk:** orange / medium
- infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - kwok: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/kw/kwok/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- winget - Kubernetes.kwok: normalized package name match | Windows Package Manager source index: Kubernetes.kwok from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix
- winget - Kubernetes.kwokctl: installed executable or alias match | Windows Package Manager source index: Kubernetes.kwokctl from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/kwok.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/kwok.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph