Swap Kubernetes pods with your local dev environment

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CodePier CLI lets you develop locally against live Kubernetes clusters. Swap any running pod with your local machine — your code syncs in real-time, ports forward automatically, and everything cleans up when you're done.

No containers to rebuild. No waiting for CI. Just code and reload.

Features

• Hot-reload development — Bidirectional file sync via Mutagen keeps your local code in the cluster
• Pod swap & restore — Seamlessly replace Deployments or StatefulSets, restore originals with one command
• SSH access — Drop into any running pod instantly
• Log streaming — Tail pod logs in real-time from your terminal
• HTTPS proxy — Local reverse proxy with auto-generated TLS certificates for K8s services
• Port forwarding — Forward cluster ports to localhost
• Self-updating — Built-in update mechanism, no package manager needed
• Interactive UX — Guided prompts for namespace, deployment, and container selection

Installation

Download the latest binary for your platform from Releases:

# macOS (Apple Silicon)
curl -fsSL https://github.com/codepier/codepier-cli/releases/latest/download/codepier-darwin-arm64 -o /usr/local/bin/codepier
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/codepier

# macOS (Intel)
curl -fsSL https://github.com/codepier/codepier-cli/releases/latest/download/codepier-darwin-x64 -o /usr/local/bin/codepier
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/codepier

# Linux (x64)
curl -fsSL https://github.com/codepier/codepier-cli/releases/latest/download/codepier-linux-x64 -o /usr/local/bin/codepier
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/codepier

# Linux (ARM64)
curl -fsSL https://github.com/codepier/codepier-cli/releases/latest/download/codepier-linux-arm64 -o /usr/local/bin/codepier
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/codepier

To update later, just run:

codepier update

Quick Start

1. Create a codepier.yaml in your project root:

namespaces: my-namespace
deployment: my-api

sync:
  - "./src:/app/src"

forward:
  - "3000:3000"

image: node:20-alpine

ignore:
  - "node_modules"
  - ".git"

cache:
  - "npm:node_modules"

env:
  - name: NODE_ENV
    value: development

2. Swap and develop:

codepier up

Your local ./src folder is now live inside the cluster pod. Edit files locally, and changes appear instantly in the running container.

3. When you're done:

codepier down

The original deployment is restored — no trace left behind.

Commands

Command	Description
codepier up	Swap a K8s pod with your local dev environment
codepier down	Stop dev swaps and restore original deployments
codepier ssh	SSH into a running pod
codepier tail	Stream pod logs in real-time
codepier proxy	Start an HTTPS reverse proxy to K8s services
codepier clean	Remove orphaned sync folders from cluster nodes
codepier mutagen	Debug or control the Mutagen file sync layer
codepier sync-status	Display current file sync status
codepier update	Update the CLI to the latest version

Global Options

Option	Description
--config <path>	Path to kubeconfig file
--context <name>	Kubernetes context to use
--namespace <name>	Skip namespace selection prompt
--deployment <name>	Skip deployment selection prompt
--container <name>	Skip container selection prompt
--temp-dir	Use emptyDir instead of hostPath for sync volumes

Configuration

The codepier.yaml file configures how your local environment maps to the cluster:

Field	Type	Description
namespaces	string | string[]	Kubernetes namespace(s) to target
deployment	string | string[]	Deployment or StatefulSet name(s)
kind	string	Workload kind: Deployment (default) or StatefulSet
sync	string[]	Folder mappings, e.g. "./src:/app/src"
image	string | object	Container image to use for the swap
forward	string[]	Port forwards, e.g. "3000:3000"
ignore	string[]	File patterns to exclude from sync
cache	string[]	Persistent cache paths, e.g. "npm:node_modules"
workdir	string	Working directory inside the container
supplemental	boolean	Add as a sidecar instead of replacing the main container
env	array	Environment variables (static values or forwarded from host)
proxy	array	HTTPS proxy route definitions

Requirements

• A running Kubernetes cluster with kubectl configured

Links

• CodePier Desktop App — The visual command center for Kubernetes
• Website — Learn more about CodePier