Quick Start

Quick Start

Podex is a local, visual Kubernetes cluster examiner and interactive playground. Start exploring your cluster in minutes.

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose installed
• A running local Kubernetes cluster (e.g. Kind, Minikube, Docker Desktop K8s, or OrbStack)
• A valid ~/.kube/config file

Step 1: Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/Hritikraj8804/podex.git
cd podex

Step 2: Start with Docker Compose

docker compose up --build

This builds and launches two services:

1. Frontend UI reachable at http://localhost:3000
2. Backend Daemon reachable at http://localhost:8000

Step 3: Open Your Browser

Navigate to http://localhost:3000. Podex automatically detects your active Kubernetes context from ~/.kube/config and loads your cluster dashboard.

That's It!

You're now looking at your cluster through Podex's visual interface. Explore pods, stream logs, or open the Arena to start designing cluster architectures visually.

Local Development (Without Docker)

Backend:

cd backend
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # or .venv\Scripts\activate on Windows
pip install -r requirements.txt
uvicorn main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000 --reload

Frontend:

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

The frontend dev server runs on http://localhost:3000 and connects directly to your local kubeconfig without container network address overrides.