# kubernetes/kube-state-metrics

Add-on agent to generate and expose cluster-level metrics.

Repository: https://github.com/kubernetes/kube-state-metrics
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/kube-state-metrics
Homepage: https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/kube-state-metrics/
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: kubernetes, prometheus, monitoring, observability, prometheus-exporter, metrics, kubernetes-monitoring, kubernetes-exporter
Last push: 2026-08-23T19:07:25+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 95/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 86, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3771, "days_push": 10, "days_rel": 15, "gap_med": 87, "n_releases_24m": 8}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 6184, forks 2194 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:38.735780+00:00)

## What it is
kube-state-metrics is a Kubernetes add-on agent that listens to the Kubernetes API server and generates Prometheus-compatible metrics about the state of cluster objects such as deployments, nodes, and pods. It exposes raw, unmodified API object data on an HTTP /metrics endpoint for consumption by Prometheus or compatible scrapers.

## Use cases
- monitor kubernetes cluster object state with prometheus
- export pod and deployment metrics from kubernetes api
- set up alerting on kubernetes object states
- query how many pods are not ready per namespace
- scrape kubernetes cluster metrics endpoint
- track kubernetes resource states like node and container status
- generate metrics from kubernetes custom resources

## When to choose
- you need Prometheus metrics about Kubernetes API objects like pods, deployments, and nodes
- you want raw, unmodified cluster state data for querying and alerting
- you run Prometheus or a compatible scraper in a Kubernetes cluster
- you need metrics for custom resources via custom resource state metrics

## When to avoid
- you need health metrics of Kubernetes components themselves (use kubelet/cAdvisor or node exporters)
- you need application-level or runtime metrics rather than object state
- you are not running Kubernetes
- you need a full metrics pipeline rather than an exporter

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: stable
- function: monitoring, http-server
- domain: monitoring, cloud-computing
- platform: go, self-hosted
- tags: prometheus-exporter, kubernetes, observability, cluster-metrics, prometheus, metrics-export, containers, devops, docker

## Member repositories
- kubernetes/kube-state-metrics (main) score 95

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:38.735780+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 2026-08-29T17:47:23.760018+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/kubernetes/kube-state-metrics (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:38.735780+00:00, sha d2be3c18644d)
  - homepage: https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/kube-state-metrics/ (fetched 2026-08-29T08:44:12.181836+00:00, sha 041b9f09ecb9)
  - site_page: https://kubernetes.io/docs/home (fetched 2026-08-29T08:44:12.191037+00:00, sha a361c9f2ae4a)
  - site_page: https://kubernetes.io/zh-cn/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/kube-state-metrics (fetched 2026-08-29T08:44:12.194683+00:00, sha 2e1d5892339d)
  - site_page: https://kubernetes.io/ja/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/kube-state-metrics (fetched 2026-08-29T08:44:12.196261+00:00, sha 1840776a7c69)
  - site_page: https://kubernetes.io/ko/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/kube-state-metrics (fetched 2026-08-29T08:44:12.197980+00:00, sha 2751946ce661)
  - site_page: https://kubernetes.io/bn/docs/concepts (fetched 2026-08-29T08:44:12.200049+00:00, sha 321821147f83)
  - site_page: https://kubernetes.io/zh-cn/docs/concepts (fetched 2026-08-29T08:44:12.201714+00:00, sha 03ee81612cf7)
  - site_page: https://kubernetes.io/fr/docs/concepts (fetched 2026-08-29T08:44:12.203390+00:00, sha 8e3b2ac7b3ee)
  - site_page: https://kubernetes.io/releases (fetched 2026-08-29T08:44:12.193005+00:00, sha b09acd589ea9)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.