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- KUBECON_RESPONSE_TEMPLATES.md: 8 platform-specific response templates with trigger conditions * Pre-conference, main event, post-event coverage * Twitter/X, Bluesky, Mastodon, LinkedIn platforms * Timing guidance for day-of monitoring and engagement - FAQ_OBSERVABILITY_OPERATORS.md: 20+ real operator questions with honest answers * Plugin-specific guidance (when to use, when not to) * Vulnerability acknowledgment (we're young, not enterprise-grade yet) * Serves as reference for KubeCon conversations and post-conference follow-up These assets reduce day-of friction during the conference March 23-26. All responses are pre-approved tone and strategy, ready to deploy as conversation patterns appear.
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FAQ: Headlamp Plugins for Kubernetes Operators
Context: For operators who are thinking about observability, visibility, and management during/after KubeCon. Answer real questions with real context, not marketing language.
Observability & Visibility
Q: I have a Prometheus stack already. Why do I need Headlamp plugins?
A: You probably don't need them. Prometheus is good at what it does: metrics. But Prometheus is not a dashboard. You still need to see your cluster in human terms — what's running, where, and why it matters.
Headlamp plugins show you the cluster state in the UI. Your Prometheus metrics live somewhere else. They're complementary, not competitive.
If you're happy with kubectl and Prometheus graphs, keep going. If you find yourself switching between tools, Headlamp might fit.
Q: Is this "observability"? I thought we needed traces, metrics, logs...
A: You're thinking of the marketing definition. In practice, operators need:
- To see what's running (cluster state)
- To understand if it's healthy (metrics)
- To know what went wrong (logs, events)
Headlamp handles #1. Your existing stack handles #2 and #3. The magic is in integrating them, not replacing them.
Our plugins sit in the UI where you're already looking. That's the whole point.
Individual Plugins
Q: When should I use the Rook plugin?
A: When you're running Rook/Ceph and you're tired of bouncing between Ceph's CLI tools and Kubernetes dashboards to understand cluster health.
The Rook plugin shows:
- Cluster status (capacity, degradation, health warnings)
- Pool health (replication status, PG states)
- OSD states (up/down, full/nearfull)
- Filesystem status
Instead of ceph osd tree, ceph df, rook ceph osd status... you look at one place.
Not for: Teams that want deep Ceph debugging. For that, you still need Ceph's native tools.
Q: What's the GPU plugin actually for?
A: Seeing which nodes have GPUs, how much capacity you have, and which workloads are using them.
If you're running ML workloads, inference servers, or anything with accelerators, you need to know:
- Which nodes have what hardware
- What's currently running on those nodes
- Whether utilization is balanced
Kubectl doesn't show you that easily. Prometheus might have the metrics if you instrument everything correctly. The GPU plugin shows it at a glance.
Not for: Teams not using GPUs. This is a specialized tool.
Q: Why a sealed-secrets plugin? Isn't that a security risk — showing secrets in a UI?
A: The plugin doesn't show the secret values. It shows:
- Which secrets exist
- Which workloads reference them
- Where they're mounted
- Rotation status (if you implement that)
That's visibility without exposure. It answers "what secrets are in my cluster?" not "what are the passwords?"
Teams using sealed-secrets are usually the ones who care about secret governance. This plugin gives you governance visibility without breaking the security model.
Q: What's the difference between your plugins and Rancher/Lens/other dashboards?
A: They're trying to be the entire dashboard. We're building plugins for the gaps.
If you like Headlamp's design but want specific functionality (Rook management, GPU visibility, sealed-secrets governance), our plugins slot in.
If you prefer Rancher's philosophy, great. Use Rancher. Our plugins are built for people who want a lightweight UI + specialized functionality, not an all-in-one platform.
Operational Questions
Q: Do I need to run Headlamp to use these plugins?
A: Yes. Our plugins extend Headlamp. Headlamp is lightweight (single container), but you need to be running it.
If you're not using Headlamp, these plugins don't help. If you are, they extend what you can see.
Q: How do you handle RBAC? Can my developers see things they shouldn't?
A: Headlamp respects your cluster's RBAC. If a developer can't run kubectl get secrets, they can't see them in the plugin either.
Your security boundaries are your security boundaries. Our tools don't bypass them.
Q: What's the upgrade path? Will my existing configuration break?
A: We try not to break things. Honest answer: we're still young. Check release notes before upgrading. If you find a breaking change, file an issue and we'll help.
If you need stability guarantees, we're not there yet. We're a small team shipping useful things, not a enterprise product with backwards-compatibility promises.
Q: Can I run Headlamp + plugins in an air-gapped environment?
A: Yes. If you can run Headlamp, you can run the plugins. No external dependencies, no phone-home telemetry.
The only requirement: your cluster can reach the Headlamp instance (network security is your problem).
Adoption & Getting Started
Q: How do I know if these plugins are worth the effort?
A: Try one. Pick the one that solves a problem you're actually having.
Rook users: Use the Rook plugin for a week. See if it saves time. If not, delete it. GPU users: Use the GPU plugin. See if you'd miss it. Sealed-secrets users: Use the plugin for secret governance.
Don't add plugins "just in case." Add them when they're solving a real problem.
Q: What's the support story? If something breaks, what happens?
A: GitHub issues. We're responsive (usually within 24-48 hours). If it's a security issue, email the maintainers directly (see repo).
We're not a SaaS with SLAs. We're open source with humans behind it who care. That's the tradeoff.
Q: Where do I submit feature requests?
A: GitHub issues with the feature-request label. Be specific. "Make it faster" doesn't help. "Show OSD versions in the Rook plugin" does.
Technical Depth
Q: How much overhead do these plugins add?
A: Minimal. Plugins are JavaScript that runs in your browser. They query your cluster API, same as kubectl does.
If you're running Headlamp already, adding plugins is negligible overhead.
Q: Can I modify the plugins for my own use?
A: Yes. All plugins are Apache-2.0 licensed. Fork, modify, deploy. We appreciate improvements back in PRs, but no obligation.
Q: Do these plugins work with managed Kubernetes (EKS, GKE, AKS)?
A: If Headlamp works with your platform, the plugins work. Headlamp just needs API access.
We develop against standard Kubernetes. If you hit a managed-service-specific issue, let us know.
When to Say No
Q: Should I use these in production?
A: Depends on what you mean by "production." If you mean "will it crash my cluster," no. Headlamp + plugins are read-only.
If you mean "is this enterprise-grade," probably not yet. We're under 1 year old. We're useful, not bulletproof.
Try it. Monitor it. Have a fallback (you do have kubectl, right?). If it fails, switch back.
Q: Can these plugins replace my existing monitoring stack?
A: No. Don't try. This is visibility, not comprehensive monitoring.
You still need logs, metrics, traces, alerting. We're the UI layer for cluster state + specialized views.
Getting Help
Q: I found a bug. What do I do?
A: GitHub issue with:
- What you were doing
- What happened
- What you expected to happen
- Your Kubernetes version
- Your Headlamp version
- Plugin version
Specificity helps. "It doesn't work" doesn't. "When I click the Rook tab, I get a 403 error" does.
Q: I want to contribute. Where do I start?
A: GitHub issues with good first issue label. Read the CONTRIBUTING.md in each repo. Start small.
We're a small team. contributions that improve things make a real difference.
The Honest Version
Headlamp plugins are for people who:
- Are already running Kubernetes in production
- Understand their observability gaps
- Want small, focused tools instead of monolithic platforms
- Are comfortable with "good enough" software from small teams
If you need enterprise support, SLAs, and hand-holding, we're not it (yet). If you want useful tools that respect your workflow and don't try to be everything, we might be.
Try us. If we don't fit, no hard feelings. There are plenty of other dashboards. Find the one that works for your team.
Last updated: March 13, 2026 Audience: Kubernetes operators, platform engineers, storage admins Tone: Honest, not salesy, specific, realistic about limitations