# kubernetes-sigs/metrics-server

Scalable and efficient source of container resource metrics for Kubernetes built-in autoscaling pipelines.

Repository: https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/metrics-server
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/metrics-server
Homepage: https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/debug-application-cluster/resource-metrics-pipeline/
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: k8s-sig-instrumentation
Last push: 2026-08-24T12:35:48+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 95/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 86, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3389, "days_push": 9, "days_rel": 14, "gap_med": 84.0, "n_releases_24m": 7}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 6710, forks 2040 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:47.951924+00:00)

## What it is
Metrics Server is a scalable, efficient source of container CPU and memory resource metrics for Kubernetes built-in autoscaling pipelines. It collects metrics from Kubelets and exposes them via the Metrics API for use by the Horizontal and Vertical Pod Autoscalers and kubectl top.

## Use cases
- enable cpu/memory-based horizontal pod autoscaling in kubernetes
- view pod and node resource usage with kubectl top
- feed resource metrics to the vertical pod autoscaler
- debug autoscaling pipelines in a kubernetes cluster
- collect resource metrics from kubelets at scale up to 5000 nodes

## When to choose
- you need CPU/memory autoscaling (HPA/VPA) on a Kubernetes cluster
- you want a lightweight single-deployment metrics source with low resource overhead
- you want kubectl top to work in your cluster

## When to avoid
- you need accurate metrics for monitoring solutions like Prometheus
- you need autoscaling based on custom or non-CPU/memory resources
- you are not running Kubernetes

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: stable
- function: monitoring, api-framework
- domain: monitoring, cloud-computing
- platform: go, self-hosted, cloud
- tags: kubernetes, metrics-server, hpa, vpa, autoscaling, resource-metrics, kubectl-top, cncf, containers, devops, docker

## Member repositories
- kubernetes-sigs/metrics-server (main) score 95

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:47.951924+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 2026-08-29T17:42:56.511453+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/metrics-server (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:47.951924+00:00, sha 8297ad4b3966)
  - homepage: https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/debug-application-cluster/resource-metrics-pipeline/ (fetched 2026-08-29T08:39:14.494517+00:00, sha dab77486b8c9)
  - site_page: https://kubernetes.io/docs/home (fetched 2026-08-29T08:39:14.504542+00:00, sha a361c9f2ae4a)
  - site_page: https://kubernetes.io/zh-cn/docs/tasks/debug/debug-cluster/resource-metrics-pipeline (fetched 2026-08-29T08:39:14.508172+00:00, sha 25351f0992ce)
  - site_page: https://kubernetes.io/ja/docs/tasks/debug/debug-cluster/resource-metrics-pipeline (fetched 2026-08-29T08:39:14.509942+00:00, sha ea38116c48ce)
  - site_page: https://kubernetes.io/ko/docs/tasks/debug/debug-cluster/resource-metrics-pipeline (fetched 2026-08-29T08:39:14.511736+00:00, sha 8392f5c8339c)
  - site_page: https://kubernetes.io/pt-br/docs/tasks/debug/debug-cluster/resource-metrics-pipeline (fetched 2026-08-29T08:39:14.513361+00:00, sha fa6a44444bd3)
  - site_page: https://kubernetes.io/es/docs/tasks/debug/debug-cluster/resource-metrics-pipeline (fetched 2026-08-29T08:39:14.514833+00:00, sha 0a9bfa1ba9e2)
  - site_page: https://kubernetes.io/bn/docs/concepts (fetched 2026-08-29T08:39:14.516288+00:00, sha 321821147f83)
  - site_page: https://kubernetes.io/releases (fetched 2026-08-29T08:39:14.506353+00:00, sha b09acd589ea9)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.