> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kubestarterkit.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Kube Starter Kit

> From zero to production Kubernetes in days, not months.

# The Kubernetes platform you'd build if you had the time

Getting Kubernetes right is hard. Not the “spin up a cluster” part, that’s easy. The hard part is everything else: infrastructure as code and automation, implementing GitOps and deployments, managing secrets securely, establishing observability, meeting compliance requirements, and making it all work across multiple environments without spending months on it.

I've built and maintained Kubernetes platforms at multiple companies. Each time, I found myself solving the same problems, making the same architectural decisions, and wishing I had a solid starting point instead of building from scratch.

**Kube Starter Kit is that starting point.**

It's an opinionated, production-ready platform for **AWS and EKS** that gives you everything you need to run applications on Kubernetes: infrastructure, deployment pipelines, and baseline components, all wired together and ready to go.

## What's Included

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Terraform Infrastructure" icon="cube" href="/features/01-terraform">
    Modular, well-structured Terraform for AWS with multi-environment support via Terramate
  </Card>

  <Card title="Terraform Orchestration" icon="robot" href="/features/02-terramate">
    Stack-based Terraform orchestration with Terramate; change detection, outputs sharing, and CI/CD
  </Card>

  <Card title="AWS Architecture" icon="cloud" href="/features/03-aws-architecture">
    Multi-account setup with VPC, EKS, and secure account boundaries
  </Card>

  <Card title="User Management" icon="users" href="/features/04-user-management">
    Terraform-managed GitHub and AWS IAM Identity Center users and permissions
  </Card>

  <Card title="GitOps Deployment" icon="code-branch" href="/features/05-gitops">
    ArgoCD-based GitOps for declarative, auditable deployments
  </Card>

  <Card title="Kubernetes Baseline" icon="layer-group" href="/features/06-k8s-baseline">
    Curated set of components: ingress, cert-manager, external-dns, secrets, observability, and more
  </Card>

  <Card title="CI/CD Pipelines" icon="arrows-spin" href="/features/07-ci-cd-pipeline">
    Automated container builds and staging deployments on every merge to main
  </Card>

  <Card title="Image CVE Scanning" icon="shield-halved" href="/features/08-image-scanning">
    Automated vulnerability scanning for container images with daily scheduled scans
  </Card>

  <Card title="Release Management" icon="tag" href="/features/09-release-management">
    Automated release PRs with release-please and controlled production deployments
  </Card>

  <Card title="Demo Applications" icon="flask" href="/features/10-demo-applications">
    Fully functional example applications demonstrating end-to-end patterns
  </Card>

  <Card title="Local Development" icon="laptop-code" href="/features/11-local-development">
    KinD, Tilt, and mirrord for fast local Kubernetes development
  </Card>

  <Card title="SOC2 & Compliance" icon="shield-check" href="/features/12-compliance-frameworks">
    How Kube Starter Kit features map to SOC2 controls and other compliance requirements
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Who This Is For

Kube Starter Kit is built for **engineering teams at early-stage companies** who:

* Are confident Kubernetes is the right choice for their infrastructure
* Want to get to production quickly without cutting corners
* Value having an opinionated path from someone who's done this before
* Would rather customize a working system than build one from scratch

## What to Expect

**You own the infrastructure.** This is your platform running in your AWS account. No managed service dependency, no third-party with access to your environment. Full control, full responsibility.

**Standard tools, no abstraction layer.** Unlike OpenShift or Tanzu, there's no proprietary UI or vendor lock-in. It's standard Kubernetes with standard tools. Your team's existing knowledge transfers directly.

**A starting point you make your own.** Fork the repo and customize it to fit your needs. All future updates to the kit are available to you, but you're also free to diverge. It's a foundation, not a constraint.

## Get Started

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Explore Features" icon="magnifying-glass" href="/features/01-terraform">
    Learn about each component and the decisions behind them
  </Card>

  <Card title="Purchase a License" icon="key" href="/license-pricing">
    Get access to the kit and optional consulting support
  </Card>
</CardGroup>