# aws/karpenter-provider-aws

Karpenter is a Kubernetes Node Autoscaler built for flexibility, performance, and simplicity.

Repository: https://github.com/aws/karpenter-provider-aws
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/karpenter-provider-aws
Homepage: https://karpenter.sh
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-26T21:31:38+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 95/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 86, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2246, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 12, "gap_med": 0, "n_releases_24m": 124}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 7706, forks 1318 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:02.525543+00:00)

## What it is
Karpenter is an open-source Kubernetes node autoscaler that watches for unschedulable pods, provisions right-sized nodes to meet their scheduling constraints, and removes nodes when no longer needed. This repository is the AWS provider implementation, integrating Karpenter with EC2, spot instances, and EKS.

## Use cases
- automatically scale kubernetes nodes based on pending pods
- reduce eks cluster compute costs with spot instances and consolidation
- replace cluster autoscaler with faster just-in-time node provisioning
- automatically remove underutilized nodes from kubernetes clusters
- provision nodes matching pod affinities taints and resource requests
- optimize aws ec2 instance selection for kubernetes workloads

## When to choose
- you run Kubernetes on AWS (EKS or self-managed EC2) and need fast, flexible node autoscaling
- you want workload consolidation and spot-instance support to lower compute costs
- cluster autoscaler node groups are too slow or rigid for your workloads

## When to avoid
- your cluster runs on a non-AWS cloud or on-premises without a compatible Karpenter provider
- you need simple fixed node groups rather than dynamic just-in-time provisioning
- you cannot grant Karpenter the cloud IAM permissions required to manage EC2 instances

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: active
- function: container-orchestration, deployment, cloud, scheduling
- domain: cloud-computing, infrastructure-as-code, microservices
- platform: go, cloud
- tags: kubernetes-autoscaler, node-provisioning, aws, cost-optimization, autoscaling, eks, devops, containers, kubernetes

## Member repositories
- aws/karpenter-provider-aws (main) score 95

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:02.525543+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 2026-08-29T17:35:26.653191+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/aws/karpenter-provider-aws (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:02.525543+00:00, sha 291b986ae568)
  - homepage: https://karpenter.sh (fetched 2026-08-29T08:31:28.440851+00:00, sha 3714a4d4e8a3)
  - site_page: https://karpenter.sh/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T08:31:28.443506+00:00, sha 3661f1d5bf3e)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.