PatchKit
Patch yourself into the cluster
A desktop Kubernetes development environment that does what kubectl wishes it could. Shell into pods, stream logs, capture network traffic, and redirect production services to your local machine - all without leaving the app.
Why PatchKit?
Patch Me In
The killer feature: redirect cluster traffic to your local development machine. Test your changes against real production traffic without deploying. When you're done, one click restores everything.
No kubectl Required
Visual interface for everything you'd normally do with kubectl. Browse namespaces, select pods, open shells, stream logs - no terminal gymnastics required.
Multi-Context Support
Switch between clusters and contexts with a dropdown. Paste kubeconfig from clipboard or load from file. All configs stored locally and encrypted.
Features
Pod Terminal
Full terminal emulator with xterm.js. Shell into any container with proper TTY support and themes.
Log Streaming
Real-time log streaming with filtering. Download logs for offline analysis. Multi-container support.
ConfigMap Editor
Edit ConfigMaps with syntax highlighting. Push changes to pods or sync back to the cluster.
Network Capture
Built-in tcpdump interface. View active connections, capture packets, filter by protocol or port.
Message Queue Inspector
Subscribe to MQTT topics or STOMP queues. View messages in real-time with payload inspection.
IDE Integration
Open projects in VS Code, IntelliJ, or GoLand directly. Environment variables auto-configured.
How "Patch Me In" Works
Traditional Kubernetes development is painful. You make a change, build a container, push to a registry, update the deployment, wait for rollout, check logs, realize you made a typo, repeat.
PatchKit's "Patch Me In" feature cuts through all of that. Select a service you want to replace, point to your local port, and click the button. PatchKit scales down the original workload and redirects all traffic to your machine.
Your local service receives real requests from the cluster - other services, ingress traffic, everything. When you're done, click "Cut Me Loose" and PatchKit restores the original deployment. Zero downtime, zero cleanup.
System Requirements
Desktop
- Windows 10+, macOS 10.14+, or Linux
- 4 GB RAM minimum (8 GB recommended)
- 200 MB disk space
- kubectl not required (uses internal client)
- Cluster access via kubeconfig