API Overview

Kubernetes Dashboard API overview, architecture, and getting started

Introduction

The Kubernetes Dashboard API is a RESTful API that provides programmatic access to Kubernetes cluster resources through a unified interface. The API acts as a proxy between clients and the Kubernetes API server, offering enhanced features like metrics aggregation, resource management, and web terminal access.

Base URL

All API endpoints are prefixed with:

/api/v1

Example

https://dashboard.example.com/api/v1/pod

Architecture

The Dashboard API consists of several key components:

• API Handler: Core request routing and processing (apihandler.go)
• Resource Handlers: Kubernetes resource-specific endpoints
• Integration Manager: Metrics and external service integration
• Authentication: Bearer token-based authentication
• WebSocket Support: Real-time terminal and log streaming via SockJS

Server Configuration

The API server can be configured with the following options:

--bind-address · string · default: "0.0.0.0"

The IP address on which to serve HTTPS (set to 0.0.0.0 for all interfaces)

--port · number · default: "8443"

The secure port to listen on for HTTPS

--insecure-bind-address · string

The IP address on which to serve HTTP (disabled by default)

--insecure-port · number · default: "8080"

The port to listen on for HTTP

--metrics-provider · string · default: "sidecar"

Metrics provider for resource metrics (options: sidecar, none)

--sidecar-host · string

The metrics-scraper sidecar host URL

OpenAPI Documentation

When enabled, the API provides OpenAPI/Swagger documentation at:

/apidocs.json

Enable OpenAPI documentation with the --enable-openapi flag.

Common Query Parameters

Many list endpoints support the following query parameters for filtering, sorting, and pagination:

filterBy · string

Comma-delimited string for filtering: propertyName,filterValue

Example: filterBy=name,nginx

sortBy · string

Column name to sort by

Example: sortBy=creationTimestamp

itemsPerPage · number · default: "10"

Number of items to return per page

page · number · default: "1"

Page number for pagination

metricNames · string

Comma-separated list of metric names to download

Example: metricNames=cpu/usage,memory/usage

aggregations · string

Aggregation methods for metrics (default: sum)

Options: sum, avg, min, max

Response Format

All API responses are in JSON format with the following general structure:

Success Response

{
  "listMeta": {
    "totalItems": 100
  },
  "items": [...],
  "errors": []
}

Error Response

{
  "status": "Failure",
  "message": "Error message",
  "reason": "BadRequest",
  "code": 400
}

Content Types

The API accepts and returns the following content types:

• Accept: application/json
• Content-Type: application/json

Rate Limiting

The API implements client-side rate limiting with configurable QPS (queries per second) and burst settings:

• Default QPS: Follows Kubernetes client-go defaults
• Configurable via server startup parameters

CSRF Protection

POST requests require CSRF token validation. Obtain a CSRF token using:

GET /api/v1/csrftoken/{action}

token · string

One-time CSRF token for the specified action

Include the token in the X-CSRF-TOKEN header for POST requests.

Metrics Integration

The API supports metrics collection through the metrics-scraper sidecar:

• CPU usage: cpu/usage
• Memory usage: memory/usage
• Custom metrics: Extensible through integrations

Proxy Mode

The API can run in proxy mode for development and testing, bypassing in-cluster authentication.

Next Steps

Authentication

Learn about API authentication mechanisms

Resources

Explore Kubernetes resource endpoints

Handlers

Discover special handlers for terminal and logs

Metrics

Access metrics and monitoring data