What is openshell-k8s-operator?

OpenShell Kubernetes Operator is a tool that lets teams manage OpenShell sandboxes using standard Kubernetes configuration files. OpenShell sandboxes are isolated computing environments, and this operator lets you create and control them by writing declarative YAML definitions instead of sending commands directly to a separate gateway service. The operator acts as a bridge between Kubernetes and the OpenShell gateway's API. You describe what you want in configuration files, and the operator translates those instructions into gateway calls. It also reports the current state of each resource back into Kubernetes, so you can check status with familiar commands. The project is in early development and currently implements five resource types: sandboxes with full lifecycle management, providers for handling credentials, policies for setting constraints, workspaces for defining tenancy boundaries, and provider profiles for defining provider types. Installation requires the Agent Sandbox project from the Kubernetes SIG community as a prerequisite. This provides the underlying infrastructure the gateway needs to create sandbox pods. Once that is in place, a single Helm command installs the complete stack: the gateway, an identity issuer, and the operator, all wired together. The default bundled setup is intended for development and demos, using self-signed TLS and temporary storage. For production use, you can bring your own gateway and configure external identity providers or custom authentication secrets. The operator supports high availability through leader election. You can run multiple replicas, and only one actively manages resources at a time while the others stand by. If the active instance fails, another takes over cleanly. Health and readiness checks are configured so that standby instances report as ready without blocking deployments. A typical setup involves defining a credential Secret, a provider that references it, a policy that constrains the sandbox, and finally a sandbox resource that ties everything together. You can specify the container image, environment variables, compute resources, GPU settings, storage volumes, and labels. The operator provisions declared volumes and can retain them across sandbox recreations. The full README is longer than what was shown.