# kubernetes-sigs/aws-iam-authenticator

A tool to use AWS IAM credentials to authenticate to a Kubernetes cluster

Repository: https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/aws-iam-authenticator
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/aws-iam-authenticator
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: kubernetes, iam, aws, auth, k8s-sig-aws
Last push: 2026-08-24T13:07:42+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 99/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 99, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3319, "days_push": 9, "days_rel": 7, "gap_med": 25.5, "n_releases_24m": 25}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2332, forks 453 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:37.827217+00:00)

## What it is
A tool that lets users authenticate to Kubernetes clusters using AWS IAM credentials instead of separate certificates or tokens. It runs as a server (typically a DaemonSet) that validates IAM-signed tokens for the Kubernetes API server, and ships a client for generating those tokens for kubectl.

## Use cases
- authenticate to kubernetes cluster with aws iam credentials
- avoid managing separate kubernetes admin certificates on eks
- map aws iam roles to kubernetes users and groups
- get cloudtrail audit trail for kubernetes api access
- bootstrap kubernetes cluster admin access during provisioning
- enforce mfa for kubernetes cluster access

## When to choose
- your kubernetes cluster runs on aws and you already manage iam credentials
- you want centralized identity and audit logging via cloudtrail
- you are building a kubernetes installer on aws and want to avoid smuggling initial admin credentials

## When to avoid
- your cluster is not on aws or you do not use aws iam
- you need authentication against other identity providers like oidc, ldap, or github
- you want a general-purpose kubernetes auth proxy rather than iam-specific token validation

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: auth, security, cli
- domain: security, cloud-computing, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cloud, go, cli
- tags: kubernetes, aws-iam, eks, authentication, kubectl, cloudtrail, daemonset, containers, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- kubernetes-sigs/aws-iam-authenticator (main) score 99

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:37.827217+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:37:57.111689+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/aws-iam-authenticator (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:37.827217+00:00, sha 7210c0bde639)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.