@nogoo9/no-crd

@nogoo9/no-crd

Agent-Driven, On-Demand Pod Orchestration in Kubernetes — Without Custom Resource Definitions.

@nogoo9/no-crd is a lightweight, cross-runtime Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that empowers AI agents and APIs to dynamically spawn, route to, and manage ephemeral containerized sandboxes on standard Kubernetes (k8s/k3s) clusters — without requiring Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs), cluster-level operators, or elevated RBAC permissions.

It provides JupyterHub-like dynamic pod lifecycle management but is completely agnostic to actual workloads and supports multi-runtime execution under Bun, Deno, and Node.js.

📚 For detailed guides, API reference, and configuration options, visit the public Documentation Website or access the built-in documentation served directly at /docs/ (e.g. http://localhost:3000/docs/) when running the server.

🗺️ Choose Your Path

To get started with @nogoo9/no-crd, select the track that matches your goals:

• Track A: AI Agent & MCP Users $\rightarrow$ MCP Client Setup Guide
  • Best for: Connecting no-crd to Cursor, Claude Desktop, Cline, or Roo Code to let your agent manage pods.
• Track B: Platform & Service Deployers $\rightarrow$ SSO & Routing Deployment Guide
  • Best for: Deploying a multi-tenant sandbox service in your Kubernetes cluster with Keycloak OIDC, stateless cookies, and reverse proxy routing.
• Track C: SDK & Code Contributors $\rightarrow$ SDK & Contributor Guide
  • Best for: Programmatically controlling pods via the TypeScript SDK or contributing to the core runtime codebase.

🚀 Key Features

• No CRDs Required: Runs directly against core Kubernetes resources (Pods, ConfigMaps, ServiceAccounts). Highly portable, secure, and compatible with restricted/managed environments (EKS, GKE, K3s).
• Agent Sandbox Spawner: Specialized spawner tools that automate workspace provisioning with context validation, init containers, IAM roles, pre-stop hooks, and lifecycle sync.
• ConfigMap-Based Templates: Store, version, and load reusable pod templates stored as standard Kubernetes ConfigMaps.
• Local Filesystem Templates: Bake YAML/JSON pod templates into Docker images or mount them from host paths — with built-in defaults shipped in the package.
• Isomorphic Multi-Runtime SDK: Imports seamlessly as a composable programmatic SDK or MCP server running under Node.js, Bun, or Deno.
• Workspace Routing Proxy (Experimental): Built-in reverse proxy routing that dynamically pipes traffic to running container IPs with secure user token ownership verification, path-scoped session cookies (nocr_token and nocr_sess), and automatic HMAC-signed session management for short-lived token resilience.
• Experimental JWT Authentication: Built-in OAuth token validation engine supporting HS256, RS256, ES256, JWKS endpoints, and OAuth 2.0 Token Introspection (RFC 7662).
• Embedded Web UI App: Exposes an interactive web-based Pod Manager interface featuring a light/dark theme toggle, client-side PKCE OIDC login with proactive silent token refresh, and workspace file preview rendering (supporting HTML sandboxed iframes and custom Markdown rendering).

⚡ Quick Start

Run Standalone via NPX (No Installation)

# Option 1: Start HTTP/SSE server on port 3000
npx @nogoo9/no-crd --transport http --port 3000

# Option 2: Run over standard input/output (stdio) for local IDE agents
npx @nogoo9/no-crd --transport stdio --mode cluster

Install Globally

npm install -g @nogoo9/no-crd
nocrd9 --transport stdio --mode cluster

Run via Docker

docker run -d -p 3000:3000 \
  -v "$HOME/.kube/config:/app/.kube/config:ro" \
  -e KUBECONFIG=/app/.kube/config \
  ghcr.io/nogoo9/no-crd:latest

⚙️ Configuration & Environment Variables

The server and command-line utility are configurable using CLI options or environment variables. Below is the quick reference table of all settings:

🔌 Server Configuration

CLI Option	Environment Variable	Default	Allowed Values	Description
-t, --transport	TRANSPORT	http	http, stdio, both	Server transport mode. both fires up both transports simultaneously.
-p, --port	PORT	3000	Number	HTTP server port for SSE transport.
-H, --host	HOST	0.0.0.0	String	Host interface to bind the HTTP/SSE server to.
--base-url	BASE_URL	""	Path string	Base URL path prefix for hosting behind a reverse proxy (e.g. /gateway/no-crd).
-	STATELESS	false	true, false	Enable stateless request handling (no session affinity).
-l, --log-level	LOG_LEVEL	info	debug, info, warning, error, fatal	Logging verbosity filter.
-	LOG_FILE	nogoo9-mcp.log	String	Output file path for file logging.
-	RATE_LIMIT_MAX	100	Number	Maximum requests allowed per window for rate limited routes.
-	RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW	60000	Number	Time window in milliseconds for rate limited routes.
--proxy-timeout	PROXY_TIMEOUT	120000	Number	Timeout in milliseconds for the routing proxy upstream requests.
--proxy-keep-alive	PROXY_KEEP_ALIVE	true	true, false	Enable TCP keep-alive for the routing proxy upstream requests.

🔒 TLS Configuration

CLI Option	Environment Variable	Default	Allowed Values	Description
--tls-cert	TLS_CERT	-	Path string	Path to TLS certificate file to enable HTTPS.
--tls-key	TLS_KEY	-	Path string	Path to TLS private key file to enable HTTPS.
--tls-ca	TLS_CA	-	Path string	Path to TLS CA certificate file for HTTPS client/verification.
-	NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED	true	0 (false), 1 (true)	Set to 0 to bypass TLS verification (for development/testing only).

🌐 CORS Configuration

CLI Option	Environment Variable	Default	Allowed Values	Description
--cors-origin	CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGIN, CORS_ORIGIN	*	String	CORS Allowed Origin header.
--cors-methods	CORS_ALLOWED_METHODS, CORS_METHODS	GET, POST, OPTIONS	String	CORS Allowed Methods header.
--cors-headers	CORS_ALLOWED_HEADERS, CORS_HEADERS	Content-Type, Authorization, mcp-protocol-version, mcp-session-id	String	CORS Allowed Headers header.
--cors-allow-credentials	CORS_ALLOW_CREDENTIALS, CORS_CREDENTIALS	false	true, false	Enable CORS Access-Control-Allow-Credentials header.
--cors-expose-headers	CORS_EXPOSED_HEADERS, CORS_EXPOSED	mcp-session-id, x-refreshed-token	String	Custom CORS Access-Control-Expose-Headers header.
--cors-max-age	CORS_MAX_AGE	-	Number	Custom CORS Access-Control-Max-Age header in seconds.

☸️ Kubernetes Configuration

CLI Option	Environment Variable	Default	Allowed Values	Description
-m, --mode	MODE	cluster	cluster, namespaced	Kubernetes access scope. namespaced locks operations to a single namespace.
-n, --namespace	NAMESPACE, DEFAULT_NAMESPACE	nogoo9	String	Default Kubernetes namespace for operations.
--disable-permission-checks	DISABLE_PERMISSION_CHECKS	false	true, false	Disable Kubernetes RBAC permission checks and assume all tools are enabled.
--managed-only	MANAGED_ONLY	true	true, false	When true, pod tools only operate on pods managed by this server (nogoo9/managed-by label). No one bypasses this, not even admins. See ADR-008.
--default-workspace-port	DEFAULT_WORKSPACE_PORT	-	Number	Default target port inside the workspace pods to proxy traffic to.
-	REGISTRY_URL	-	URL string	Target container registry URL to query for images (e.g. http://localhost:5001).
-	TEMPLATES_DIR	-	Path string	Path to local directory containing pod template files (YAML/JSON). See ADR-001.
-	BUILTIN_TEMPLATES	true	true, false	Set to false to disable built-in templates shipped with the package.

🔑 Authentication Configuration

CLI Option	Environment Variable	Default	Allowed Values	Description
--auth-enabled	AUTH_ENABLED	false	true, false	Enables JWT token authentication on MCP tools and route proxy.
-	JWT_VERIFICATION_REQUIRED	true	true, false	Enable/disable JWT signature verification (signature checks).
-	JWT_SECRET	-	String	Symmetric HMAC-SHA256 secret for token verification.
-	JWT_PUBLIC_KEY	-	String	PEM encoded RSA/ECDSA public key for asymmetric token verification.
-	JWKS_URI	-	URL string	Remote JWKS endpoint URL to dynamically retrieve verification keys.
-	INTROSPECTION_ENDPOINT, JWT_INTROSPECTION_ENDPOINT	-	URL string	Endpoint for token introspection/validation.
-	OAUTH_CLIENT_ID	-	String	OAuth client ID for auth configuration.
-	OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET	-	String	OAuth client secret for auth configuration.
-	JWT_AUDIENCE	-	String	Expected token audience. Falls back to OAUTH_CLIENT_ID if set.
-	AUTH_ISSUER, JWT_ISSUER	""	URL string	Identifier URL for the Authorization Server advertised in metadata discovery.
-	AUTH_SUB_JSONPATH	$.sub	JSONPath	Payload path to extract unique user identity from JWT payload.
--auth-scope-jsonpath	AUTH_SCOPE_JSONPATH	$.scope	JSONPath	Payload path to extract scopes claim from JWT payload.
--auth-roles-jsonpath	AUTH_ROLES_JSONPATH, AUTH_ADMIN_JSONPATH	$.realm_access.roles	JSONPath	Payload path to extract user roles from JWT payload.
-	AUTH_ADMIN_ROLE	admin	String	Role name signifying administrator access.
--auth-required-read-scope	AUTH_REQUIRED_READ_SCOPE	nogoo9:read	String	OAuth scope required for read operations. If not set, read scope check is bypassed.
--auth-required-write-scope	AUTH_REQUIRED_WRITE_SCOPE	nogoo9:write	String	OAuth scope required for write/mutation operations. If not set, write scope check is bypassed.
--auth-required-admin-scope	AUTH_REQUIRED_ADMIN_SCOPE	nogoo9:admin	String	OAuth scope required for administrator operations. If not set, admin scope check is bypassed.
-	AUTH_ADMIN_USERS	``	Comma-separated list of user subject IDs (sub)	Comma-separated list of user subject IDs (sub) granted admin privileges without requiring OIDC scope/role claims (workaround fallback).
--auth-required-read-role	AUTH_REQUIRED_READ_ROLE	viewer	String	User role required for read operations. If not set, read role check is bypassed.
--auth-required-write-role	AUTH_REQUIRED_WRITE_ROLE	user	String	User role required for write/mutation operations. If not set, write role check is bypassed.
-	PROXY_SESSION_TTL	1800	Number	Session cookie expiration lifetime in seconds (sliding window duration).
-	PROXY_REFRESH_COOKIE_TTL	604800	Number	Default Max-Age for the encrypted refresh token cookie (nocr_refresh). Overridden by the IdP's refresh_expires_in when available.
-	PROXY_TOKEN_COOKIE_TTL	86400	Number	Default Max-Age for the access token cookie (nocr_token). Overridden by the JWT exp claim when available.
-	PROXY_SESSION_SECRET	""	String	HMAC secret key used to sign stateless session cookies. Falls back to JWT_SECRET if not configured.
-	OAUTH_SCOPES	openid profile email offline_access	Space-separated scope string	OAuth scopes to request during authorization. Include 'offline_access' for refresh tokens.
-	OAUTH_AUTHORIZATION_URL	-	URL string	Direct OAuth authorization URL.
-	OAUTH_SERVER_DISCOVERY_URL, OAUTH_DISCOVERY_URL	-	URL string	Discovery URL for the OAuth server used by the backend gateway. Falls back to OAUTH_DISCOVERY_URL.
-	OAUTH_SERVER_TOKEN_URL, OAUTH_TOKEN_URL	-	URL string	Direct OAuth token exchange endpoint for the backend server.
-	OAUTH_END_SESSION_URL	-	URL string	Direct OAuth logout endpoint.
--auth-inject-workspace-jwt	AUTH_INJECT_WORKSPACE_JWT	true	true, false	Determines if the custom 'x-workspace-jwt' header containing the raw token is injected into proxy requests.
-	AUTH_DEFAULT_ROLE	viewer	String	Fallback role if the token does not provide scopes/roles.
--max-workspaces-per-user	MAX_WORKSPACES_PER_USER	0	Number	Maximum number of concurrent active workspaces a non-admin user can own (0 for unlimited).

🖥️ UI & Themes Configuration

CLI Option	Environment Variable	Default	Allowed Values	Description
-	UI_ENABLED	true	true, false	Enables the embedded HTML Pod Manager UI resource.
-	THEMES_DIR	themes	Path string	Local directory path containing custom CSS UI themes.
-	THEMES_CONFIGMAP	-	String	Name of Kubernetes ConfigMap containing custom UI theme configurations.
-	DOCS_DIR	/app/docs (Docker) or docs/.vitepress/dist (Local)	Path string	Base directory from which static documentation files are served.
-	OAUTH_DISCOVERY_URL	""	URL string	Discovery URL for the OAuth authorization server used by the UI client.
-	OAUTH_CLIENT_ID	""	String	OAuth client ID for UI authorization.
-	OAUTH_LOGIN_METHOD	redirect	redirect, popup	Login interaction mode for UI OAuth client.
-	UI_TITLE	nogoo9 Pod Manager	String	Custom title shown in the dashboard header.
-	UI_SUBTITLE	On-demand Kubernetes pod orchestration and agent-sandbox management without CRDs.	String	Custom subtitle shown below the dashboard title.

☸️ Kubernetes Setup & RBAC Permissions

For the @nogoo9/no-crd MCP server to interact with Kubernetes, it must run with appropriate RBAC permissions. Depending on your configuration, you can deploy it with Cluster-Wide (ClusterRole) access or Namespace-Scoped (Role) access.

Tool-to-Permission Mapping

Below is the mapping showing which Kubernetes API resources and verbs each MCP tool requires. The server dynamically checks these permissions at startup (via SelfSubjectAccessReview) and only registers tools that the active identity is authorized to use.

Resource: configmaps

Required Verb	Associated MCP Tools	Description / Purpose
create	create_template	Save a new pod template definition as a ConfigMap.
delete	delete_template	Delete a stored pod template ConfigMap.
get	create_pod_from_template	Read template pod specifications stored in ConfigMaps.
update	update_template	Modify metadata, annotations, or specifications of an existing template.

Resource: events

Required Verb	Associated MCP Tools	Description / Purpose
list	get_workspace_events

Resource: namespaces

Required Verb	Associated MCP Tools	Description / Purpose
list	list_namespaces	Discover namespaces in the cluster (only required in cluster access mode).

Resource: pods

Required Verb	Associated MCP Tools	Description / Purpose
create	create_pod, create_pod_from_template, spawn_workspace, upgrade_all_workspaces, upgrade_workspace	Provision and deploy new pods or workspace sandboxes.
delete	delete_pod, stop_workspace, upgrade_all_workspaces, upgrade_workspace	Terminate and clean up pods or workspace sandboxes.
get	get_pod, get_workspace, upgrade_workspace	Retrieve detailed JSON spec for a specific pod.
list	list_pods, list_workspaces, upgrade_all_workspaces	Retrieve lists of pods or agent workspace pods.
patch	patch_pod	Strategic merge patch labels, annotations, or resource requests/limits.

Resource: pods/log

Required Verb	Associated MCP Tools	Description / Purpose
get	get_pod_logs	Retrieve standard output/error logs from pod containers.

1. Cluster-Wide Mode (MODE=cluster)

Use this mode if you want the MCP server to manage sandboxes across any namespace in the cluster.

Create a ClusterRole and ClusterRoleBinding:

apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRole
metadata:
  name: nogoo-mcp
rules:
  - apiGroups: [""]
    resources: ["pods"]
    verbs: ["get", "list", "watch", "create", "delete", "patch", "update"]
  - apiGroups: [""]
    resources: ["pods/log"]
    verbs: ["get"]
  - apiGroups: [""]
    resources: ["namespaces"]
    verbs: ["get", "list"]
  - apiGroups: [""]
    resources: ["configmaps"]
    verbs: ["get", "list", "create", "update", "patch", "delete"]
  - apiGroups: [""]
    resources: ["serviceaccounts"]
    verbs: ["get", "list", "create", "update", "patch", "delete"]
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: nogoo-mcp
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: nogoo-mcp
subjects:
  - kind: ServiceAccount
    name: nogoo-mcp
    namespace: nogoo9 # Change to the namespace where your MCP server runs

2. Namespace-Scoped Mode (MODE=namespaced)

Use this mode if the MCP server should be restricted to a single namespace (e.g. nogoo9). In this mode, no cluster-level or administrative permissions are needed.

Create a Role and RoleBinding in the target namespace:

apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: Role
metadata:
  name: nogoo-mcp
  namespace: nogoo9
rules:
  - apiGroups: [""]
    resources: ["pods"]
    verbs: ["get", "list", "watch", "create", "delete", "patch", "update"]
  - apiGroups: [""]
    resources: ["pods/log"]
    verbs: ["get"]
  - apiGroups: [""]
    resources: ["configmaps"]
    verbs: ["get", "list", "create", "update", "patch", "delete"]
  - apiGroups: [""]
    resources: ["serviceaccounts"]
    verbs: ["get", "list", "create", "update", "patch", "delete"]
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: RoleBinding
metadata:
  name: nogoo-mcp
  namespace: nogoo9
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: Role
  name: nogoo-mcp
subjects:
  - kind: ServiceAccount
    name: nogoo-mcp
    namespace: nogoo9

(Note: In namespace-scoped mode, the list_namespaces tool will only return the target namespace, and namespace parameter inputs to all tools will default to the target namespace.)

📑 Workspace Templates & Spawner Annotations

Templates in @nogoo9/no-crd can be loaded from three sources (highest to lowest priority):

• Kubernetes ConfigMaps — labeled with nogoo9/pod-template: "true" (original mechanism)
• Custom local directory — set via TEMPLATES_DIR env var (YAML or JSON files)
• Built-in templates — shipped with the npm package (disable with BUILTIN_TEMPLATES=false)

See ADR-001 for format details.

1. How to Define a Template

To register a template with the spawner, create a ConfigMap meeting the following requirements:

• Discovery Label: Must be labeled with nogoo9/pod-template: "true".
• Spec Key: The data block must contain a key named spec whose value is a JSON string conforming to the PodSpecSchema (e.g. containers, volumes, restartPolicy).
• Behavior Customization: Set annotations on the ConfigMap metadata to configure advanced spawner integrations (like IAM role binding, init containers, and pre-stop lifecycle hooks).

Example Template Definition:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: node-workspace-template
  namespace: nogoo9
  labels:
    nogoo9/pod-template: "true"
  annotations:
    nogoo9/description: "A standard Node.js development sandbox with S3 storage sync"
    nogoo9/tag: "node-20"
    nogoo9/required-context: "PROJECT_NAME,REPO_URL"
    nogoo9/iam-role-arn: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/workspace-s3-access"
    nogoo9/init-image: "alpine/git"
    nogoo9/init-command: "git clone $REPO_URL /workspace/$PROJECT_NAME"
    nogoo9/pre-stop-command: "aws s3 sync /workspace s3://my-workspace-backups/$PROJECT_NAME"
    nogoo9/default-grace-period: "120"
data:
  spec: |
    {
      "containers": [
        {
          "name": "workspace",
          "image": "node:20-alpine",
          "command": ["sleep", "infinity"],
          "volumeMounts": [
            {
              "name": "workspace-storage",
              "mountPath": "/workspace"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "volumes": [
        {
          "name": "workspace-storage",
          "emptyDir": {}
        }
      ]
    }

2. Supported Spawner Annotations

The spawner inspects ConfigMap metadata annotations (and custom inline annotations passed during spawn_workspace) to customize the workspace lifecycle:

Annotation / Label Key	Type	Description
nogoo9/workspace-auth-mode	Annotation (Comma-separated)	Configures authorization modes for the workspace proxy. Comma-separated list of: token-api (exposes token retrieval endpoints at _auth/token & _auth/authorize for SPAs), inject-headers (rewrites headers to forward user identity like x-user-sub and JWTs to container; enabled by default if AUTH_ENABLED=true), no-auth (bypasses all auth/owner checks for public workspaces). (Available from v0.6.0, no-auth from v0.8.0)
nogoo9/auth-require-token	Annotation ("true"	"false")
nogoo9/template-version	Annotation (String)	Specifies the version of the pod template. Used to track if workspaces are outdated. (Available from v0.8.0)
nogoo9/workspace-name	Annotation (String)	Stores the user-defined display name of the workspace. (Available from v0.4.0)
nogoo9/template-ref	Annotation (String)	The reference to the pod template used to spawn the workspace (e.g. default/workspace-terminal). (Available from v0.4.0)
nogoo9/managed-by	Label (String)	Used to label workspace pods created by this MCP server to restrict operational scope. (Available from v0.5.0)
nogoo9/pod-template	Label ("true")	Identifies a Kubernetes ConfigMap as a reusable pod template.
nogoo9/type	Label ("workspace")	Applied automatically by the spawner to identify running agent workspace pods.
nogoo9/workspace-id	Label	Identifies the unique agent session / workspace ID associated with the running pod.
nogoo9/user-sub	Label / Annotation	Represents the authenticated user subject (owner) of the workspace pod, used for access control validation and ServiceAccount labeling.
nogoo9/description	Annotation (String)	A friendly, human-readable summary of the template's purpose and contents.
nogoo9/tag	Annotation (String)	A version or tag associated with the template environment (e.g. node-20).
nogoo9/required-context	Annotation (Comma-separated)	Validates that target environment variables are provided in the tool call's context parameter (e.g. GITHUB_TOKEN,DATABASE_URL).
nogoo9/iam-role-arn	Annotation (AWS Role ARN)	Instructs the spawner to provision a dedicated Kubernetes ServiceAccount annotated for EKS IAM Role mapping (IRSA).
nogoo9/init-image	Annotation (Image string)	The container image to run in the dynamic spawner-init init-container.
nogoo9/init-command	Annotation (Shell command)	The shell command to run in the init-container. It automatically shares the main container's volume mounts.
nogoo9/init-share-volumes	Annotation ("true"	"false")
nogoo9/pre-stop-command	Annotation (Shell command)	A shell command executed in a Kubernetes preStop lifecycle exec hook when the workspace is terminated (e.g. to save/push state).
nogoo9/pre-stop-sidecar-image	Annotation (Image string)	If specified alongside pre-stop-command, runs the pre-stop command inside a dedicated sidecar container instead of the main container.
nogoo9/default-grace-period	Annotation (Number in seconds)	Overrides the Pod's terminationGracePeriodSeconds (defaults to 60 if a pre-stop command is defined) to give cleanup commands time to finish.
nogoo9/workspace-port	Annotation (Number)	The port inside the container to proxy traffic to. Defaults to DEFAULT_WORKSPACE_PORT or 3000.
nogoo9/workspace-path	Annotation (String)	The default URL subpath mapping for the workspace web interface (defaults to /).
nogoo9/workspace-type	Annotation (String)	The format specification of the main entry point (e.g. iframe, novnc).
nogoo9/preview-path	Annotation (String)	The default folder or file subpath to render in the UI files preview tab.
nogoo9/preview-type	Annotation (String)	Fallback preview rendering mode for the preview tab (e.g. markdown, html).
nogoo9/api.<api-name>.port	Annotation (Number)	Defines an additional HTTP service port exposed by the workspace.
nogoo9/api.<api-name>.visibility	Annotation (String)	Specifies access visibility for the custom API endpoint. Supported values: private (accessible only by the workspace owner), internal (accessible by any logged-in user), admin (accessible by the owner or users with the admin scope and role), scope:<scope_name> (accessible by users possessing the specified OIDC scope), role:<role_name> (accessible by users possessing the specified user role), or a comma-separated list of allowed user subjects.
nogoo9/api.<api-name>.path	Annotation (String)	Defines the subpath routing prefix for this specific API (e.g. /terminal).
nogoo9/api.<api-name>.desc	Annotation (String)	A short description of this additional API, shown in the UI interface.
nogoo9/api.<api-name>.method	Annotation (String)	Comma-separated list of supported HTTP methods (e.g. GET,POST, *, defaults to any method).
nogoo9/api.<api-name>.refresh	Annotation (Duration)	Sets the refresh frequency for custom stats/activity or other mini API views in the dashboard cards (e.g. 10s, 1m, or init to query only once on startup).
nogoo9/api.stats.refresh	Annotation (Duration)	Explicitly configures the reload frequency for the reserved stats API metrics on the workspace dashboard card (e.g., 10s, 30s, init).
nogoo9/api.last_activity.refresh	Annotation (Duration)	Explicitly configures the reload frequency for the reserved last_activity epoch timestamp API on the workspace dashboard card (e.g., 30s, 1m, init).
nogoo9/allowed-roles	Annotation (Comma-separated)	Comma-separated list of user roles allowed to spawn workspaces from this template (e.g., developer,lead-dev). Admins always bypass role restrictions.
nogoo9/allowed-scopes	Annotation (Comma-separated)	Comma-separated list of OAuth scopes allowed to spawn workspaces from this template (e.g., nogoo9:write). Admins always bypass scope restrictions.

📦 Programmatic SDK & API Proxy Services

@nogoo9/no-crd provides a complete programmatic SDK and dynamic cluster routing proxy to allow developers to build custom pod orchestrators and route workspace traffic natively.

1. Composable Programmatic SDK

You can import @nogoo9/no-crd in your Bun, Deno, or Node.js codebase to control pod sandboxes and templates programmatically, bypassing the MCP HTTP server.

import { KubeConfig } from "@kubernetes/client-node";
import { 
  initK8sContext, 
  spawnWorkspace, 
  stopWorkspace, 
  listWorkspaces 
} from "@nogoo9/no-crd";

// 1. Initialize Kubernetes API Context (optionally pass custom configuration)
const kc = new KubeConfig();
kc.loadFromDefault();
const ctx = initK8sContext(kc);

// 2. Spawn a workspace sandbox from a template
const spawnResult = await spawnWorkspace(ctx, {
  id: "agent-session-42",
  templateRef: "nogoo9/default-agent-workspace",
  context: {
    "S3_BUCKET": "my-bucket",
    "S3_FOLDER": "session-42"
  }
});
console.log(`Spawned pod: ${spawnResult.podName}`);

// 3. List active workspaces running in the namespace
const list = await listWorkspaces(ctx, {
  namespace: "nogoo9"
});
console.log(`Active workspaces count: ${list.workspaces.length}`);

// 4. Terminate the workspace sandbox
await stopWorkspace(ctx, {
  id: "agent-session-42"
});

2. Workspace Routing Proxy (Experimental)

[!WARNING] The workspace routing proxy and JWT authentication engine are experimental and likely to change in the next version.

The server includes a built-in reverse proxy routing service. HTTP requests targeting: http://<mcp-server-host>/route/<workspace-id>/<subpath> are dynamically proxied directly to the running workspace pod's IP address inside the cluster.

If AUTH_ENABLED is true:

• Token Bootstrapping & Path-Scoped Cookies: Since standard browser navigations (links, iframes) cannot transmit custom HTTP headers, the client passes the active JWT via a ?token= query parameter on initial redirect. The proxy validates it and issues a secure, path-scoped cookie (nocr_token), allowing subsequent resource requests (JS, CSS, images, WebSockets) to authenticate seamlessly without URL parameters.
• Direct Access Redirect (SSO): Accessing a workspace URL directly without active credentials redirects you to the main dashboard's login screen. Once logged in, the dashboard automatically routes you back to the target workspace URL with a fresh bootstrap token.
• Resource Ownership Verification: The workspace pod's nogoo9/user-sub label must match the JWT's subject claim, preventing unauthorized access to other users' workspaces.
• Proxy target port: Inside the workspace pod defaults to 3000 or can be overridden via pod annotation nogoo9/workspace-port or the DEFAULT_WORKSPACE_PORT environment variable.
• Multi-Port / Custom API Routing: You can expose and route additional APIs inside the pod (e.g., a web terminal or secondary service) by defining custom annotations in the template (e.g., nogoo9/api.terminal.port: "7681", nogoo9/api.terminal.path: "/terminal"). The proxy will dynamically handle subpath routing and method checks.
• A stateless signed session cookie (nocr_sess) is minted on first successful JWT validation, enabling workspace traffic to survive short-lived token expiry. (Available from v0.4.0) See ADR-002 and ADR-003 for design details.

For a detailed breakdown of the redirection lifecycle, Keycloak configuration, and JWT claims, see the SSO & OIDC Integration Guide.

3. OAuth Resource Discovery (RFC 9728)

Exposes the standardized metadata endpoint GET /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource returning:

• Supported authorization servers.
• Token format specifications.
• Required scopes.

This allows client interfaces (and MCP clients) to automatically discover security requirements and handle dynamic OAuth authentication flows.

4. Embedded Web UI & Dashboard Themes

When the server runs in HTTP/SSE transport mode, the visual React Pod Manager UI Dashboard is served directly at root / (e.g. http://localhost:3000/).

• Dashboard Themes: The UI includes a system/light/dark toggle and supports custom visual themes.
• Three-Source Theme Merge Engine: CSS stylesheets are dynamically scanned and merged from:
  • Kubernetes ConfigMap (THEMES_CONFIGMAP environment variable).
  • Custom Local Directory (THEMES_DIR environment variable, defaults to themes/).
  • Built-In Catalog (pre-baked styles: Dracula, Nord, Stripe, Slack, Vercel, Apple, Superhuman, Notion, and Antigravity).

Duplicate theme IDs are resolved according to priority: ConfigMap > Local Directory > Built-In Catalog. For detailed customization guidelines and CSS templates, see the Dashboard Themes & Branding Guide.

🔌 API Reference (MCP Tools & Resources)

Pod Tools

• list_pods: Retrieve a summary of pods in the namespace. Filters by labelSelector, fieldSelector, and limit.
• get_pod: Fetch full Kubernetes API JSON payload for a target pod name.
• create_pod: Create a custom pod with direct container/volume specifications.
• patch_pod: Apply a Strategic Merge Patch to modify labels, annotations, or container resource limits dynamically.
• delete_pod: Terminate a pod with optional gracePeriodSeconds.
• get_pod_logs: Fetch logs for a container with options like tailLines, sinceSeconds, timestamps, limitBytes, and previous.
• list_namespaces: List all namespaces accessible with current credentials.
• list_registry_images: List catalog images from the configured REGISTRY_URL.

Pod Template Tools

Manage preconfigured pod specifications stored as standard Kubernetes ConfigMaps (labeled nogoo9/pod-template=true).

• list_templates: Show available templates.
• get_template: Get the raw pod template spec.
• create_template: Store a new pod template spec.
• update_template: Update labels, annotations, or specs on an existing template.
• delete_template: Delete a template.
• create_pod_from_template: Spawn a pod using a template, applying container overrides (environment variables, commands, resources) and top-level overrides.

Agent Workspace (Spawner) Tools

Specially designed for AI agents to safely spawn and clean up their own workspace sandboxes.

• list_workspaces: List active agent workspaces (with JWT/owner mapping support).
• spawn_workspace: Spawn a workspace sandbox pod. Features:
  • Context Validation (nogoo9/required-context): Requires the caller to supply critical env variables (e.g. API keys) before spawning.
  • Init Containers (nogoo9/init-image / nogoo9/init-command): Initialize workspace directories/files before main containers start.
  • Pre-Stop Hooks (nogoo9/pre-stop-command): Run custom cleanup commands (e.g., commit/sync code to git or S3) upon termination.
  • IAM Role Mapping (nogoo9/iam-role-arn): Dynamically provisions AWS EKS IAM Role service accounts.
• stop_workspace: Clean up and terminate the workspace pod.

Utilities

• current_namespace: Returns active namespace and access mode.

MCP Resources

• pod-template://{namespace}/{name}: Exposes stored pod templates directly as read-only MCP resources.
• ui://nogoo9/app: Exposes the embedded React/web UI app (if UI_ENABLED=true and built). When the server runs in HTTP/SSE transport mode, the UI is also served directly at / or /ui (e.g. http://localhost:3000/) and automatically falls back to standard HTTP JSON-RPC calls when loaded outside a postMessage-compatible MCP host (such as in a standard browser tab or the MCP Inspector).

🏗️ Architecture

  ┌───────────────────────┐
  │   AI Agent / Client   │
  └───────────┬───────────┘
              │ (Stdio or SSE Transport)
              ▼
  ┌───────────────────────┐
  │      MCP Server       │ <── (Queries ConfigMaps for specs)
  └───────────┬───────────┘
              │ (Kubernetes API - CoreV1)
              ▼
  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │            Kubernetes Cluster            │
  │  ┌────────────────────────────────────┐  │
  │  │         Target Namespace           │  │
  │  │  ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌────┐  │  │
  │  │  │ Agent    │ │ Custom   │ │    │  │  │
  │  │  │ Sandbox  │ │ Workload │ │... │  │  │
  │  │  │ Pod      │ │ Pod      │ │    │  │  │
  │  │  └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └────┘  │  │
  │  └────────────────────────────────────┘  │
  └──────────────────────────────────────────┘

The server interacts directly with the Kubernetes API using @kubernetes/client-node. By using standard Pod and ConfigMap resources, the setup is highly scalable, requires no cluster operator installs, and easily adheres to strict enterprise namespace-level security policies.

🛠️ Development

We use Moon for toolchain management and task running, and Biome for formatting and linting.

Prerequisites

• Bun 1.3.11+
• Node.js 22.14.0+
• Moon 2.1.3+
• k3d (for local Kubernetes cluster)

Setup Environment

# Install dependencies
bun install

# Auto-fix code formatting and linting via Biome
bun run format

# Run TypeScript compilation checks
bun run typecheck

Running Tests

# Run unit tests
moon run mcp:test

# Run full spawner workspace lifecycle tests (requires local k3d)
bun run test:lifecycle

Local Cluster Testing (k3d)

Bootstrap a local k3d Kubernetes cluster complete with a local registry, built-in mock S3, and Traefik:

# Spin up development cluster
moon run k3d:bootstrap

# Rebuild, push, and deploy MCP server to the cluster
moon run mcp:deploy

# Tear down the cluster
moon run k3d:teardown

📄 License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE for details.