What is Kubernetes Manifest Validator?
A comprehensive validation tool that checks your Kubernetes YAML manifests for syntax errors, schema violations, security issues, and best practice deviations. The validator understands all standard Kubernetes resources (Deployments, Services, ConfigMaps, Secrets, StatefulSets, DaemonSets, etc.) and validates them against official Kubernetes API schemas for your target cluster version.
The tool performs multi-level validation: YAML syntax checking, Kubernetes API schema validation, security policy enforcement (Pod Security Standards), resource limit verification, and best practice recommendations. It catches errors before deployment, identifies potential security vulnerabilities, and suggests improvements. All validation happens client-side in your browser for complete privacy.
Why Use Kubernetes Manifest Validator?
Deploying invalid manifests wastes time with kubectl errors and failed deployments. Manual validation is error-prone and can't catch all issues. This tool provides instant, comprehensive validation that goes beyond kubectl's basic checks, identifying security risks, resource misconfigurations, and anti-patterns before they reach your cluster.
Platform teams use this to enforce standards before manifests enter CI/CD pipelines. Developers use it to catch errors early and learn Kubernetes best practices. Security teams use it to verify Pod Security Standards and identify privilege escalation risks. The tool acts as a pre-deployment safety net, reducing failed deploys and security incidents.
Common Use Cases
Pre-Deployment Validation: Check manifests for errors and security issues before applying them to dev, staging, or production clusters to prevent deployment failures.
Security Auditing: Validate against Pod Security Standards, check for privileged containers, host path mounts, and other security risks before deploying to production.
CI/CD Integration: Validate manifests automatically in your pipeline to catch issues early and prevent invalid configurations from reaching clusters.
Learning Kubernetes: Understand Kubernetes resource schemas, required fields, and best practices through instant validation feedback and recommendations.
Policy Enforcement: Ensure all manifests meet your organization's standards for resource limits, labels, security contexts, and deployment patterns.
How to Use Kubernetes Manifest Validator
Paste your Kubernetes YAML manifest into the validator and select your target Kubernetes version. The tool will instantly check YAML syntax, validate against the API schema, verify required fields, check security configurations, and provide best practice recommendations. Multi-document YAML files with --- separators are fully supported.
The validator shows errors (must fix), warnings (should fix), and info (consider fixing) with line numbers and specific guidance for each issue. It checks common problems like missing resource limits, privileged containers, host network usage, and improper label selectors. Review all findings, fix critical issues, and optionally address warnings before deploying to your cluster.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What Kubernetes versions are supported? A: The validator supports Kubernetes 1.19 through 1.30, with schemas for all standard resources including apps/v1, v1, batch/v1, networking.k8s.io/v1, and policy/v1. Select your cluster version for accurate validation.
Q: Can it validate CRDs (Custom Resource Definitions)? A: Currently, the validator focuses on standard Kubernetes resources. CRD validation requires the custom schema, which varies by installation. Basic YAML syntax and structure validation still applies.
Q: Does it check Pod Security Standards? A: Yes! The validator checks against Baseline and Restricted Pod Security Standards, identifying issues like privileged containers, host namespaces, insecure capabilities, and missing security contexts.
Q: What about multi-document YAML files? A: Fully supported. Use --- separators between documents, and the validator will check each resource individually, reporting issues per document.
Q: Can it validate Helm charts? A: Not directly. First render your Helm chart to YAML using 'helm template', then validate the rendered manifests. The validator works on final YAML output.
Q: Is my manifest data secure? A: Absolutely. All validation happens in your browser using JavaScript. Your manifests are never sent to any server, stored, or logged. Completely private.