terraform-kubestack
A Terraform framework for Kubernetes platform engineering teams to define and evolve their entire cloud native stack through GitOps.
What is terraform-kubestack?
Kubestack is a Terraform framework specifically built for Kubernetes platform engineering teams. It allows these teams to define their entire cloud native stack—from clusters to services—in a single Terraform codebase and manage continuous, safe evolution through GitOps practices. It solves the problem of fragmented infrastructure management by unifying platform definition and deployment.
Kubernetes platform engineers, SREs, and DevOps teams responsible for building, maintaining, and evolving internal Kubernetes platforms and cloud native infrastructure.
Developers choose Kubestack because it provides a structured, convention-over-configuration framework that reduces complexity, enforces safe GitOps workflows, and creates a maintainable, single-source-of-truth Terraform codebase for the entire platform, unlike managing disparate scripts or tools.
Overview
Kubestack is a framework for Kubernetes platform engineering teams to define the entire cloud native stack in one Terraform code base and continuously evolve the platform safely through GitOps.
Use Cases
Best For
- Teams building internal Kubernetes platforms as a product for their engineering organization
- Implementing GitOps workflows for Kubernetes infrastructure management
- Unifying cluster, node pool, and service definitions in a single Terraform project
- Reducing platform engineering complexity through strong conventions
- Integrating Kustomize for Kubernetes manifest management within Terraform
- Enabling safe, collaborative evolution of Kubernetes infrastructure across teams
Not Ideal For
- Teams managing a small number of static Kubernetes clusters with infrequent changes and no need for GitOps
- Organizations heavily invested in alternative IaC tools like Pulumi or AWS CDK that prefer different workflows
- Projects requiring rapid prototyping or experimentation without the overhead of framework conventions and setup
- Environments with strict compliance or regulatory needs that require vendor-supported, enterprise-grade tooling instead of open-source frameworks
Pros & Cons
Pros
The convention-over-configuration framework standardizes platform engineering, reducing complexity and making it accessible to entire teams, as emphasized in the README's highlights.
Built-in GitOps workflows allow safe iteration by all team members while protecting application environments, a core feature described in the documentation.
Enables defining clusters, node pools, and services in a single Terraform project, reducing fragmentation and improving maintainability, which is a key value proposition.
Includes a dedicated Terraform provider for Kustomize, seamlessly integrating Kubernetes manifest management into infrastructure code, as noted in the key features.
Cons
The framework is in beta, so users may face breaking changes or unstable features, as indicated in the contributing section about interface stability goals.
Requires deep familiarity with Terraform, Kubernetes, and Kubestack's conventions, making it less accessible for teams new to platform engineering.
The structured, convention-over-configuration approach can feel restrictive for teams with highly unique or non-standard infrastructure requirements that don't fit the framework.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Projects
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typhoonMinimal and free Kubernetes distribution with Terraform
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