Get Context In Kubernetes

In Kubernetes, a context is a combination of a cluster, a user and a namespace, which defines the operational environment for interacting with a Kubernetes cluster.

The short answer

In Kubernetes, to get concise information about all the existing contexts defined in the [.inline-code] kubeconfig[.inline-code]  file, such as their cluster name, user name and namespace, you can use the [.inline-code] kubectl config[.inline-code]  command with the [.inline-code] get-contexts[.inline-code]  subcommand as follows:

 $ kubectl config get-contexts

Once executed, this command will produce an output similar to the following one, where the current context is identified by an asterisk ([.inline-code] *[.inline-code] ):

 CURRENT   NAME                 CLUSTER          AUTHINFO         NAMESPACE
*         dev-context          dev-cluster      dev-user         development
         staging-context    staging-cluster    staging-user     staging
         prod-context         prod-cluster     prod-user        production

[#easily-recall-syntax-with-ai] Easily retrieve this command using Warp’s AI Command Suggestions [#easily-recall-syntax-with-ai]

If you’re using Warp as your terminal, you can easily retrieve this command using the Warp AI Command Suggestions feature:

Entering [.inline-code] list contexts in kubeconfig[.inline-code]  in the AI Command Suggestions will prompt a [.inline-code] kubectl[.inline-code]  command that can then quickly be inserted into your shell by doing [.inline-code] CMD+ENTER[.inline-code] .

[#get-current-context-information] Getting information about the current context [#get-current-context-information]

To get information about the current context, you can use the [.inline-code] current-context[.inline-code]  subcommand as follows:

 $ kubectl config current-context

[#get-specific-context-information] Getting information about a specific context [#get-specific-context-information]

To get information about a specific context, you can use the [.inline-code] get-contexts[.inline-code]  subcommand as follows:

 $ kubectl config get-contexts <context_name>

Where:

• [.inline-code] context_name[.inline-code]  is the name of the context.

For example, the following command will display the information related to the context named [.inline-code] staging-context[.inline-code] :

 $ kubectl config get-contexts staging-context

If you want to learn more about modifying existing contexts in Kubernetes, you can read our other article on how to set a context with kubectl.

[#get-comprehensive-context-information] Getting comprehensive context overview [#get-comprehensive-context-information]

To output a comprehensive overview of the [.inline-code] kubeconfig[.inline-code]  file settings, including information about clusters, users, API servers and more, you can use the [.inline-code] view[.inline-code]  subcommand as follows:

 $ kubectl config view

Note that, by default, this command will output information in the YAML format.

To output it in the JSON format instead, you can use the [.inline-code] -o[.inline-code]  flag (short for [.inline-code] --output[.inline-code] ) as follows:

 $ kubectl config view -o json

[#get-current-context-details] Viewing the details of the current context [#get-current-context-details]

To only output the detailed overview of the current context, you can use the [.inline-code] --minify[.inline-code]  flag as follows:

 $ kubectl config view --minify

[#get-specific-context-details] Viewing the details of a specific context [#get-specific-context-details]

To only output the detailed overview of a specific context, you can combine the [.inline-code] --minify[.inline-code]  flag with the [.inline-code] --context[.inline-code]  flag as follows:

 $ kubectl config view --minify --context=<context_name>

[#retrieve-context-properties] Retrieving context properties [#retrieve-context-properties]

To retrieve a particular property from a specific context, you can use the [.inline-code] -o jsonpath[.inline-code]  flag combined with a JSONPath expression as follows:

 $ kubectl config view --minify -o jsonpath='{..<property>}'

Where:

• [.inline-code] property[.inline-code]  is the name of the property you want to retrieve (e.g., [.inline-code] cluster[.inline-code] , [.inline-code] user[.inline-code] , [.inline-code] namespace[.inline-code] , etc).

[#retrieve-a-context-namespace] Retrieving the namespace of the current context [#retrieve-a-context-namespace]

To retrieve the namespace of the current context, you can use the aforementioned command with the following JSONPath expression:

 $ kubectl config view --minify -o jsonpath='{..namespace}'

[#retrieve-all-contexts-namespaces] Retrieving the namespaces of all contexts [#retrieve-all-contexts-namespaces]

To retrieve the namespaces of all the contexts defined in [.inline-code] kubeconfig[.inline-code]  file in the form of a list, you can use the aforementioned command with the following JSONPath expression:

 $ kubectl config view --minify -o jsonpath='{.contexts[*].context.namespace}'

Alternatively, to also retrieve the name of the context each namespace is associated to, you can use the following [.inline-code] for[.inline-code]  loop instead:

 $ for context in $(kubectl config get-contexts -o name); do
namespace=$(kubectl config view -o jsonpath="{.contexts[?(@.name == \"${context}\")].context.namespace}")
echo "Context: $context, Namespace: ${namespace:-default}"
done

Where:

• The [.inline-code] for[.inline-code]  loop iterates over the list of context names returned by the [.inline-code] kubectl config get-contexts -o name[.inline-code]  command.

• Retrieves the namespace related to that context using the [.inline-code] kubectl config view -o jsonpath="{.contexts[?(@.name == \"${context}\")].context.namespace}"[.inline-code]  command.

• Outputs the context name and namespace using the [.inline-code] echo[.inline-code]  command.

[#get-a-context-resources-information] Getting information about the resources of a specific context [#get-a-context-resources-information]

To get information on a resource type related to a specific context, you can use the [.inline-code] kubectl get[.inline-code]  command with the [.inline-code] --context[.inline-code]  flag as follows:

 $ kubectl get <resource_type> --context <context_name>

Where:

• [.inline-code] resource_type[.inline-code]  is the name of the resource type (e.g., [.inline-code] pods[.inline-code] , [.inline-code] nodes[.inline-code] , [.inline-code] services[.inline-code] , etc).

• [.inline-code] context_name[.inline-code]  is the name of the context.

For example, the following command will output information about the Services related to the context named [.inline-code] staging-context[.inline-code] :

 $ kubectl get services --context staging-context