# kubectl top

kubectl topSynopsisDisplay resource (CPU/memory) usage.This command provides a view of recent resource consumption for nodes and pods. It fetches metrics from the Metrics Server, which aggregates this data from the kubelet on each node. The Metrics Server must be installed and running in the cluster for this command to work.The metrics shown are specifically optimized for Kubernetes autoscaling decisions, such as those made by the Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA) and Vertical Pod Autoscaler (VPA). Because of this, the values may not match those from standard OS tools like 'top', as the metrics are designed to provide a stable signal for autoscalers rather than for pinpoint accuracy.When to use this command:For on-the-fly spot-checks of resource usage (e.g. identify which pods are consuming the most resources at a glance, or get a quick sense of the load on your nodes)Understand current resource consumption patternsValidate the behavior of your HPA or VPA configurations by seeing the metrics they use for scaling decisions.It is not intended to be a replacement for full-featured monitoring solutions. Its primary design goal is to provide a low-overhead signal for autoscalers, not to be a perfectly accurate monitoring tool. For high-accuracy reporting, historical analysis, dashboarding, or alerting, you should use a dedicated monitoring solution.kubectl top [flags] Options-h, --helphelp for topParent Options Inherited--as stringUsername to impersonate for the operation. User could be a regular user or a service account in a namespace.--as-group stringsGroup to impersonate for the operation, this flag can be repeated to specify multiple groups.--as-uid stringUID to impersonate for the operation.--cache-dir string Default: "$HOME/.kube/cache"Default cache directory--certificate-authority stringPath to a cert file for the certificate authority--client-certificate stringPath to a client certificate file for TLS--client-key stringPath to a client key file for TLS--cluster stringThe name of the kubeconfig cluster to use--context stringThe name of the kubeconfig context to use--disable-compressionIf true, opt-out of response compression for all requests to the server--insecure-skip-tls-verifyIf true, the server's certificate will not be checked for validity. This will make your HTTPS connections insecure--kubeconfig stringPath to the kubeconfig file to use for CLI requests.--kuberc stringPath to the kuberc file to use for preferences. This can be disabled by exporting KUBECTL_KUBERC=false feature gate or turning off the feature KUBERC=off.--match-server-versionRequire server version to match client version-n, --namespace stringIf present, the namespace scope for this CLI request--password stringPassword for basic authentication to the API server--profile string Default: "none"Name of profile to capture. One of (none|cpu|heap|goroutine|threadcreate|block|mutex)--profile-output string Default: "profile.pprof"Name of the file to write the profile to--request-timeout string Default: "0"The length of time to wait before giving up on a single server request. Non-zero values should contain a corresponding time unit (e.g. 1s, 2m, 3h). A value of zero means don't timeout requests.-s, --server stringThe address and port of the Kubernetes API server--storage-driver-buffer-duration duration Default: 1m0sWrites in the storage driver will be buffered for this duration, and committed to the non memory backends as a single transaction--storage-driver-db string Default: "cadvisor"database name--storage-driver-host string Default: "localhost:8086"database host:port--storage-driver-password string Default: "root"database password--storage-driver-secureuse secure connection with database--storage-driver-table string Default: "stats"table name--storage-driver-user string Default: "root"database username--tls-server-name stringServer name to use for server certificate validation. If it is not provided, the hostname used to contact the server is used--token stringBearer token for authentication to the API server--user stringThe name of the kubeconfig user to use--username stringUsername for basic authentication to the API server--version version[=true]--version, --version=raw prints version information and quits; --version=vX.Y.Z... sets the reported version--warnings-as-errorsTreat warnings received from the server as errors and exit with a non-zero exit codeSee Alsokubectl - kubectl controls the Kubernetes cluster managerkubectl top node - Display resource (CPU/memory) usage of nodeskubectl top pod - Display resource (CPU/memory) usage of podsThis page is automatically generated.If you plan to report an issue with this page, mention that the page is auto-generated in your issue description. The fix may need to happen elsewhere in the Kubernetes project.