Originally published at harshit.cloud on 2024-12-10.

Today I discovered kubectl neat - a plugin that removes all the clutter from Kubernetes YAML output.

the problem

When you run kubectl get pod my-pod -o yaml, you get tons of noise:

metadata:
 creationTimestamp: "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z"
 managedFields:
 - apiVersion: v1
 fieldsType: FieldsV1
 fieldsV1:
 # 200 lines of garbage

the solution

Install kubectl-neat:

kubectl krew install neat

Now run:

kubectl get pod my-pod -o yaml | kubectl neat

Clean, readable YAML with just the stuff you care about.

bonus

Make it even easier:

alias kgn='kubectl get -o yaml | kubectl neat'

Now kgn pod my-pod gives you clean output instantly.

Saves the copy-paste-and-strip routine every time I pull a Kubernetes config.