September 28, 2026

Operator SDK
An SDK for building Kubernetes applications, providing high-level APIs, abstractions, and project scaffolding tools.
Product facts
- Type
- API, SDK & Library
- Category
- Development & Engineering › Cloud Infrastructure
- Pricing
- Open source
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Launched
- Sep 28, 2026
- Listed
- Sep 28, 2026
- Website
- github.com
Overview
Operator SDK is a component of the Operator Framework—an open-source toolkit for managing Kubernetes-native applications (Operators) in an automated and scalable way. Writing Operators typically involves challenges such as working with low-level APIs, writing extensive boilerplate code, and duplicating effort due to a lack of modularity. Built on the controller-runtime library, Operator SDK is designed to reduce these difficulties. ### Key Capabilities - **High-Level APIs and Abstractions**: Provides more intuitive interfaces for writing operational logic, reducing the complexity of directly interacting with low-level Kubernetes APIs. - **Scaffolding and Code Generation**: Offers tools to quickly bootstrap and scaffold new project structures, accelerating development startup. - **Extension Support**: Covers common Operator use cases. ### Dependencies and Platform Support - **Go Version**: Released binaries are built using the Go compiler version specified in the developer guide. The Go version for a Go Operator project can be found in its `go.mod` file. - **Kubernetes Version**: Refer to the compatibility guide to determine which Kubernetes versions are supported by an Operator project or its related binaries. - **Platforms**: Supported platforms for all binaries and images are listed in the platform support table in the official documentation. ### Notes The project has deprecated `kube-rbac-proxy` in favor of Controller-Runtime's `WithAuthenticationAndAuthorization` feature for similar authentication and authorization protection. If your project uses the `gcr.io/kubebuilder/kube-rbac-proxy` image, migrate as soon as possible, as this image registry is expected to be shut down in early 2025. This project is licensed under Apache-2.0 and written in Go.
Key features
- High-Level APIs and Abstractions: Provides more intuitive interfaces for writing operational logic, reducing the complexity of directly interacting with low-level Kubernetes APIs.
- Scaffolding and Code Generation: Offers tools to quickly bootstrap and scaffold new project structures, accelerating Operator project initialization.
- Common Use Case Extensions: Built-in extension mechanisms covering common Operator use cases.
- Built on controller-runtime: Uses the controller-runtime library under the hood, leveraging its ecosystem and capabilities.
Releases
Notify meQ&A
- What is Operator SDK?AI-generated
- Operator SDK is a component of the Operator Framework, an open-source framework built on the controller-runtime library that simplifies writing Kubernetes Operators. It provides high-level APIs, abstractions, scaffolding tools, and code generation capabilities.
- Why use Operator SDK?AI-generated
- Writing Operators involves challenges such as working with low-level APIs, writing extensive boilerplate code, and duplicating effort due to a lack of modularity. Operator SDK reduces these difficulties by providing high-level abstractions and code generation tools.
- What are the important changes regarding kube-rbac-proxy?AI-generated
- Operator SDK and Kubebuilder have deprecated kube-rbac-proxy in favor of Controller-Runtime's WithAuthenticationAndAuthorization feature for authentication and authorization protection. Images under gcr.io/kubebuilder/ will be shut down in early 2025, so affected projects should migrate as soon as possible.
- How do I check which Kubernetes versions a project supports?AI-generated
- You can refer to the compatibility guide in the official documentation to determine which Kubernetes versions are supported by an Operator project or its related binaries.
- What programming language is Operator SDK written in?AI-generated
- According to the repository information, Operator SDK is written in Go. The Go version for a Go Operator project can be found in its go.mod file.
- What license does Operator SDK use?AI-generated
- Operator SDK is licensed under Apache-2.0.
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