kubehop

Fast Kubernetes context and namespace switcher. Drop-in replacement for kubectx/kubens with a built-in fuzzy finder, sub-50ms startup, and no runtime dependencies. Written in Rust.

Features

• Built-in fuzzy picker powered by nucleo (from the Helix editor) and ratatui -- no fzf required
• Single kubeconfig parse per invocation -- parsed once, used for the entire operation
• Selective parsing -- reads only current-context and context names; skips clusters, users, and certificates
• Multi-file KUBECONFIG support -- when names overlap, the first file wins
• Sub-50ms startup on standard kubeconfig files
• Batch operations -- delete multiple contexts in one command
• k9s plugin support via a pick subcommand
• Shell completions for bash, zsh, and fish with dynamic context/namespace name completion
• --raw output for scripting (no prefixes, no color)
• Recency-aware picker -- recently switched contexts and namespaces appear first
• Optional fzf fallback via --fzf flag

Install

Homebrew

brew install ikchifo/tap/khop

Shell installer (macOS / Linux)

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/ikchifo/kubehop/releases/latest/download/khop-installer.sh | sh

Cargo

cargo install khop

Pre-built binaries and a PowerShell installer are also available on the releases page.

Optional: kubectx/kubens symlinks

To use the familiar kubectx/kubens command names, create symlinks pointing to khop. For example, with a Cargo install:

ln -s ~/.cargo/bin/khop ~/.cargo/bin/kubectx
ln -s ~/.cargo/bin/khop ~/.cargo/bin/kubens

The binary name (argv0) determines the default mode:

Usage

Context switching

khop                             List contexts (interactive if TTY)
khop <name>                      Switch to context
khop -                           Switch to previous context
khop <new>=<old>                 Rename context ('.' for current)
khop -c, --current               Show current context name
khop -d, --delete NAME [NAME...] Delete context(s) ('.' for current)
khop -u, --unset                 Unset current context
khop --raw                       List context names (no prefix, no color)
khop --fzf                       Use external fzf for selection
khop ns <args>                   Namespace mode (see below)
khop --completion <shell>        Output shell completion (bash/zsh/fish)

Namespace switching

Use khop ns or invoke the binary as kubens / kubectl-ns (see symlinks above):

khop ns                     List namespaces (interactive if TTY)
khop ns <name>              Switch namespace
khop ns -                   Switch to previous namespace
khop ns -f, --force <name>  Switch without existence check
khop ns <name> -f           Same, trailing form
khop ns -c, --current       Show current namespace
khop ns -u, --unset         Reset namespace to "default"
khop ns --raw               List namespace names (no prefix, no color)
khop ns --fzf               Use external fzf for selection
khop ns --completion <shell> Output shell completion (bash/zsh/fish)

All khop ns commands also work when invoked as kubens (e.g. kubens kube-system).

Shell completions

Context and namespace names are completed dynamically.

# bash (kubectx)
khop --completion bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/khop

# zsh (kubectx)
khop --completion zsh > ~/.zfunc/_khop

# fish (kubectx)
khop --completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/khop.fish

# kubens (if using symlinks)
kubens --completion bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/kubens
kubens --completion zsh  > ~/.zfunc/_kubens
kubens --completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/kubens.fish

k9s plugin

kubehop works as a k9s plugin for context switching. Add this to your k9s plugins.yaml:

plugins:
  kubehop:
    shortCut: Ctrl-K
    description: Switch context
    scopes:
      - all
    command: khop
    args:
      - pick
      - --switch

Architecture

src/
  main.rs           Entry point (~10 lines)
  lib.rs            Crate root, module declarations
  cli.rs            Arg parsing and command dispatch
  dispatch.rs       Argv0-based mode detection
  completion.rs     Shell completion generation
  kubeconfig/       Selective serde parser, multi-file merge
  context/          Current, switch, mutate (rename/delete), state
  namespace/        List, switch, unset, per-context state
  picker/           Fuzzy scoring (nucleo) + inline TUI (ratatui)
  integration/      k9s plugin subcommand

Design decisions:

• Selective serde for reads, full serde_yaml::Value round-trip for writes, preserving fields the tool does not use
• No async runtime -- all operations are local file I/O on small files
• thiserror in library modules, anyhow in the CLI layer
• State file compatibility -- shares its state file path with kubectx, so khop - works after migrating

License

Apache-2.0