Installation

About 384 wordsAbout 1 min

2026-07-10

kush ships as a single Go binary. Install it with Krew, Homebrew, go install, or a prebuilt release binary. kush is unix-only in v1: no Windows binaries, no cmd.exe/PowerShell support.

Krew

Install kush as a kubectl plugin:

kubectl krew index add kush https://github.com/SpechtLabs/kush.git
kubectl krew install kush/kush

Krew exposes the plugin as kubectl kush, so you can enter a context with kubectl kush <context>.

Homebrew

The quickest way on macOS or Linux is the Specht Labs tap:

brew install spechtlabs/tap/kush

That adds the tap and installs kush in one step, so brew upgrade keeps it current. The cask ships an unsigned binary and clears the macOS quarantine flag for you, so it runs without a Gatekeeper prompt.

go install

Build it yourself straight from the module:

go install github.com/spechtlabs/kush/cmd/kush@latest

Release binary

Grab a prebuilt binary for your platform from the GitHub releases page, then move it onto your PATH.

Nix (Flakes)

Run kush directly or build it using the provided Nix Flake:

nix run github:spechtlabs/kush -- version

To add kush to your NixOS configuration, add the input:

inputs.kush = {
  url = "github:spechtlabs/kush";
  inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs";
};

nixpkgs.follows is optional but recommended — without it, kush pulls in its own separate nixpkgs evaluation instead of reusing the one your system already has, which costs extra build time and store space.

And install the package:

environment.systemPackages = [
  inputs.kush.packages.${pkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform.system}.default
];

Optional: fzf

kush ships a built-in picker (charm/huh TUI) that works out of the box with no extra dependencies. If you have fzf on your PATH, kush uses it instead for context selection; fzf inherits your full environment, so your FZF_DEFAULT_OPTS, colors, and keybindings all apply. You don't need to configure anything; kush detects fzf automatically.

Verify

$ kubectl kush version
# prints the installed version and exits 0

If that prints a version instead of "unknown command" or "command not found," you're set up. If you installed with Homebrew, go install, or a release binary, kush version works too. Head to the quick start to enter your first context.