atmos kubernetes diff

Check what would change in the cluster before you deploy. diff renders the component, asks Kubernetes to validate the update with server-side dry run, and reports which objects would be created, changed, or left alone.

atmos kubernetes diff --help

Configure Kubernetes Components

diff uses the same stack inputs as deployment: provider, paths, manifests, vars, env, Auth, hooks, and dependencies.

Stack Configuration

Usage

atmos kubernetes diff <component> --stack <stack>
atmos kubernetes diff --affected --base origin/main

diff renders the final manifests, sends each object through Kubernetes server-side dry-run apply, reads the live object through the dynamic client, normalizes volatile metadata, and reports whether each object would be created, changed, or left unchanged.

The command does not require the kubectl binary and does not run kubectl diff.

Example

atmos kubernetes diff argocd -s plat-ue2-dev

Example output (each created or changed object is followed by its unified diff; no-change objects and Secret objects show only the action line):

create v1/Namespace argocd
--- a/v1/Namespace_argocd.yaml
+++ b/v1/Namespace_argocd.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  name: argocd
changed apps/v1/Deployment argocd/argocd-server
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
   replicas: 2
-  image: argocd-server:2.10.0
+  image: argocd-server:2.11.0
no-change v1/Service argocd/argocd-server

When run in CI (ci.enabled: true), the same diff is also written to the job summary as a collapsible Kubernetes Diff block. See Job Summaries. Secret objects are omitted from the diff so their data is never printed or written to the summary.

Flags

--stack, -s (required)

Atmos stack.

--all (optional)

Diff all Kubernetes components in dependency order.

--affected (optional)

Diff affected Kubernetes components and their dependencies.

--include-dependents (optional)

With --affected, include dependent Kubernetes components.