# uswitch/kiam

Integrate AWS IAM with Kubernetes

Repository: https://github.com/uswitch/kiam
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/kiam
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: kubernetes, iam, aws-iam, iam-role
Archived: true
Last push: 2024-03-05T11:39:28+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3381, "days_push": 911, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1143, forks 233 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:44.902521+00:00)

## What it is
Kiam is a Kubernetes agent that lets pods assume AWS IAM roles by intercepting EC2 Metadata API requests and serving STS credentials per-pod. It runs split server and agent processes and is now officially abandoned in favor of AWS IAM Roles for Service Accounts.

## Use cases
- assign IAM roles to kubernetes pods
- give pods AWS credentials without modifying code
- secure metadata API access in kubernetes on AWS
- assume IAM roles across multiple AWS accounts from pods
- scope AWS permissions per pod in a cluster

## When to choose
- you are stuck on an old cluster already using kiam and cannot migrate yet
- you run a legacy Kubernetes setup on AWS without IRSA support

## When to avoid
- starting any new project - it is abandoned
- you can use AWS IAM Roles for Service Accounts (IRSA), the official and superior solution
- you need maintained software with security updates

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: abandoned
- function: auth, security, cloud
- domain: cloud-computing, security
- platform: go, cloud
- tags: aws-iam, iam-roles, pods, metadata-api, sts-assumerole, kubernetes-agent, containers, devops, kubernetes, docker, linux

## Member repositories
- uswitch/kiam (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:44.902521+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 2026-08-30T06:34:59.032043+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/uswitch/kiam (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:44.902521+00:00, sha 6e9856c0a74e)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.