k3d-io/k3d
Little helper to run CNCF's k3s in Docker observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
90/100
- Activity 99
- Release rhythm 74
- Longevity 100
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-02. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: 38.0
- age_days: 2710
- days_rel: 92
- days_push: 8
- n_releases_24m: 7
Adoption not part of the score
6536 stars · 534 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded
k3d is a CLI tool written in Go that runs Rancher's lightweight k3s Kubernetes distribution inside Docker containers. It lets you spin up multi-node Kubernetes clusters on a single machine for local development and testing.
Use cases
- run a local kubernetes cluster in docker
- spin up multi-node k3s cluster on my laptop
- test kubernetes manifests locally before deploying
- set up lightweight kubernetes for CI pipelines
- create disposable kubernetes clusters for development
- learn kubernetes without a cloud provider
When to choose
- you need fast, lightweight local Kubernetes clusters for development or testing
- you want multi-node clusters on a single machine without heavy VMs
- you're working with k3s or edge Kubernetes workloads
When to avoid
- you need a production-grade cluster with full Kubernetes features
- you require multi-machine or cloud-managed Kubernetes
- you don't have Docker installed or available
Facets
cli-tool · maturity active
container-orchestration cli developer-tools deployment developer-tools cloud-computing windows go cli kubernetes k3s local-development docker lightweight-kubernetes rancher devops containers linux macos
2 sources
- readme: https://github.com/k3d-io/k3d · fetched 2026-08-28 · d9316bcc746b
- homepage: https://k3d.io/ · fetched 2026-08-29 · 0cc59130a56d
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| k3d-io/k3d | main | 90 |
For agents
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem