# kcp-dev/kcp

Kubernetes-like control planes for form-factors and use-cases beyond Kubernetes and container workloads.

Repository: https://github.com/kcp-dev/kcp
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/kcp-dev-kcp
Homepage: https://kcp.io
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: k8s, kubernetes, multitenancy, kcp
Last push: 2026-08-21T04:54:07+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 96/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 92, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1981, "days_push": 12, "days_rel": 58, "gap_med": 11, "n_releases_24m": 26}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2816, forks 458 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:23.834320+00:00)

## What it is
kcp is a horizontally scalable, Kubernetes-like control plane that provides many isolated 'workspaces', each acting as its own lightweight Kubernetes-style cluster with its own APIs and RBAC. It is a CNCF Sandbox project written in Go, designed as a building block for massively multi-tenant SaaS platforms offering Kubernetes-native APIs beyond container workloads.

## Use cases
- run many isolated Kubernetes-like clusters cheaply without full cluster overhead
- build a multi-tenant SaaS platform exposing Kubernetes-native APIs to thousands of tenants
- offer APIs centrally as a service provider with multi-tenant operators
- give teams their own workspace with custom CRDs and RBAC
- host Kubernetes-like APIs for form factors beyond container orchestration
- shard workspaces across instances for global scale

## When to choose
- you need massively multi-tenant Kubernetes-style APIs without provisioning a real cluster per tenant
- you are a SaaS or platform team building on Kubernetes APIs at scale
- you want isolated workspaces as cheap and fast as namespaces
- you want to complement, not replace, existing Kubernetes clusters

## When to avoid
- you need workload scheduling or running pods, since kcp intentionally has no compute primitives
- you just need a single standard Kubernetes cluster
- you need the removed syncer/TMC workload synchronization features
- you are not comfortable with a CNCF Sandbox-stage project

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: active
- function: api-framework, microservices, cloud, self-hosted, developer-tools
- domain: cloud-computing, infrastructure-as-code, microservices, self-hosted, apis
- platform: go, cross-platform, self-hosted
- tags: kubernetes, control-plane, multitenancy, workspaces, saas, platform-engineering, cncf-sandbox, api-management, devops, linux, macos, docker

## Member repositories
- kcp-dev/kcp (main) score 96

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:23.834320+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 2026-08-30T08:13:27.892004+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/kcp-dev/kcp (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:23.834320+00:00, sha 2fa1badca5f1)
  - homepage: https://kcp.io (fetched 2026-08-29T09:53:54.811160+00:00, sha a6771fabde44)
  - site_page: https://docs.kcp.io/kcp/latest (fetched 2026-08-29T09:53:54.820218+00:00, sha 14b4575a2c9f)
  - site_page: https://docs.kcp.io/kcp/latest/setup/quickstart (fetched 2026-08-29T09:53:54.822040+00:00, sha 6cc5673403d8)
  - site_page: https://docs.kcp.io (fetched 2026-08-29T09:53:54.823777+00:00, sha 44136fa355b3)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.