Kubernetes CRD Design for the Long Haul: Tips, Tricks, and... Christian Schlotter & Fabrizio Pandini
Christian Schlotter, Fabrizio Pandini
KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2025 · Session
In this insightful KubeCon EU talk, Christian Schlotter and Fabrizio Pandini, both maintainers of **Cluster API**, delve into the intricacies of designing robust and extensible **Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs)** for Kubernetes. Their presentation, "Kubernetes CRD Design for the Long Haul: Tips, Tricks, and...", addresses the critical challenge of evolving APIs gracefully within the Kubernetes ecosystem, drawing heavily from their extensive experience with Cluster API. The core message revolves around strategies to prevent common design pitfalls that often necessitate unplanned, breaking API version changes, which are notoriously difficult and disruptive to manage.
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This talk by Cluster API maintainers Christian Schlotter and Fabrizio Pandini delivers unvarnished, high-value technical guidance on designing robust Kubernetes CRDs. It’s a deep dive into avoiding common pitfalls that lead to painful API version bumps, drawing directly from years of hard-won experience. The speakers provide actionable strategies for ensuring CRDs are stable, extensible, and maintainable, making it essential viewing for anyone building or operating custom resources in Kubernetes.