Kubernetes Resource Orchestrator (KRO)

Kubernetes Resource Orchestrator (KRO). We assess it under Tool in the garden.

Blurb

Build declarative, secure, and verifiable Kubernetes abstractions

Summary

What it does: A ResourceGraphDefinition (RGD) describes multiple Kubernetes resources, dependencies between them, and a SimpleSchema for the instance API. kro validates the RGD, materializes a CRD, and runs dedicated controllers to reconcile instances. Wiring uses CEL expressions, validated at creation time.

When to use: platform teams publishing internal building blocks (app + IAM + networking); compositions that mix core resources with third-party CRDs; EKS shops that want managed kro via EKS Capabilities.

When to skip: a single Deployment/Service pair (Kustomize overlays are enough); packaged third-party charts (Helm); complex admission or multi-step imperative logic (a full operator or Shell Operator hooks may fit better).

Ecosystem notes: kro lives in kubernetes-sigs/kro and is a SIG Cloud Provider subproject. AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud collaborate on it. EKS documents kro for composing ACK-managed AWS resources into higher-level APIs.

Details

Core CRDs: ResourceGraphDefinition defines the graph; instances of the generated CRD create the underlying objects.

Install: Helm chart or raw manifests from the kro release artifacts; on EKS, optional EKS Capability for a managed controller.

Docs: kro.run, kubernetes-sigs/kro, EKS kro guide.