kdash

To create a clean, loopable GIF (e.g., for a README) without the slow startup or final exit, use the startcast and stopcast steps within your program file. This allows you to bracket only the interesting parts of the session.

Clip Control Steps

• startcast: Drops all previously captured frames and re-bases the clock to the current moment. It also triggers a window resize to force a full repaint (essential for ratatui apps to ensure the clip doesn't start with a blank grid).
• stopcast: Finalizes the recording, excluding any subsequent actions (like quitting the app).

Example Workflow

1. Use --cols and --rows to drive a smaller terminal size.
2. Use startcast at the beginning of the 'hero' sequence.
3. Use stopcast at the end of the sequence.
4. Use agg to render the resulting cast to a GIF.

To start the KDash dashboard, simply run the kdash command in your terminal. Ensure your Kubernetes configuration (e.g., ~/.kube/config) is correctly set up in your environment so KDash can connect to your cluster.

While running, press ? to view the full, always-current list of keybindings, which includes any overrides from your configuration.

You can cycle through available themes on the fly using the t or Alt+t keys. Supported themes include:

• Catppuccin Macchiato
• Catppuccin Latte
• Gruvbox Dark
• Solarized Dark
• Mono
• Custom themes (if configured)

You can manage Kubernetes resources directly from the dashboard using these keybindings:

KDash provides several ways to interact with container logs:

• Aggregate Logs: Press Shift+L to view aggregated logs across all pods in a workload.
• Previous Logs: Press p to view logs from a previously restarted container.
• Log View Options: While viewing logs, use the following to customize the view:
  • t: Toggle timestamps
  • w: Toggle line wrap
  • s: Toggle auto-scroll

KDash is a keyboard-driven TUI. Use the following keys for navigation:

KDash uses a YAML configuration file for theme overrides, keybindings, and other settings. By default, it looks for a config file at ~/.config/kdash/config.yaml.

You can specify a custom configuration file path using the KDASH_CONFIG environment variable:

KDASH_CONFIG=/path/to/config.yaml kdash

The KDash TUI test harness is a Python-based driver used for end-to-end/UAT testing of the KDash terminal UI. It runs kdash in a pseudo-terminal (PTY), simulates keystrokes, and allows for assertions on the rendered screen.

Requirements

• Python 3.9+
• pyte
• pexpect

It is recommended to use a virtual environment to avoid polluting your system Python:

python3 -m venv /tmp/kdash-uat-venv
/tmp/kdash-uat-venv/bin/pip install pyte pexpect

To prevent shell injection attacks, KDash validates all arguments passed to kubectl (including resource kind, name, namespace, and context).

An argument is considered invalid if it contains any of the following characters:

• Newlines (\n, \r)
• Null bytes (\0)
• Shell operators: ;, |, &, `, $, $(, etc.