# kubectl explain

kubectl explainSynopsisDescribe fields and structure of various resources.This command describes the fields associated with each supported API resource. Fields are identified via a simple JSONPath identifier: &lt;type&gt;.&lt;fieldName&gt;[.&lt;fieldName&gt;] Information about each field is retrieved from the server in OpenAPI format.Use "kubectl api-resources" for a complete list of supported resources.kubectl explain TYPE [--recursive=FALSE|TRUE] [--api-version=api-version-group] [-o|--output=plaintext|plaintext-openapiv2] Examples # Get the documentation of the resource and its fields kubectl explain pods # Get all the fields in the resource kubectl explain pods --recursive # Get the explanation for deployment in supported api versions kubectl explain deployments --api-version=apps/v1 # Get the documentation of a specific field of a resource kubectl explain pods.spec.containers # Get the documentation of resources in different format kubectl explain deployment --output=plaintext-openapiv2 Options--api-version stringGet different explanations for particular API version (API group/version)-h, --helphelp for explain-o, --output string Default: "plaintext"Format in which to render the schema (plaintext, plaintext-openapiv2)--recursivePrint the fields of fields (Currently only 1 level deep)Parent 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 managerThis 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.