When using Kubernetes,kubectl is the command we use the most to visualize and debug objects.

However, it currently does not support colored output, though there isa feature request opened for this.

Let's see how we can add color support. I'll be using zsh withoh my zsh.

Edit: this feature wasmerged in oh my zsh, so it is now standard.

Zsh plugin

Let's make this extension into a zsh plugin calledkubectl_color:

❯mkdir-p ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/kubectl_color❯touch ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/kubectl_color/kubectl_color.plugin.zsh

Now we need to fill in this plugin.

JSON colorizing

Let's start with JSON, by adding an alias that colorizes JSON output using the infamousjq:

kj(){  kubectl"$@"-o json | jq}compdefkj=kubectl

Thecompdef line ensures thekj function gets autocompleted just likekubectl.

Edit: I've added another wrapper forfx, which provides a dynamic way to parse JSON:

kjx(){  kubectl"$@"-o json | fx}compdefkjx=kubectl

YAML colorizing

Just like for JSON, we can useyh to colorize YAML output:

ky(){  kubectl"$@"-o yaml | yh}compdefky=kubectl

Energize!

Our plugin is now ready, we only need to activate it in~/.zshrc by adding it to the list of plugins, e.g.:

plugins=(git ruby kubectl kubectl_color)

and withfx: