= Kiali image:https://img.shields.io/twitter/url/http/shields.io.svg?style=social["Tweet about Kiali", link="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Learn%20what%20your%20Istio-Mesh%20is%20doing.%20Visit%20https://www.kiali.io/%20and%20@kialiProject"]
:toc: macro
:toc-title:

image:https://img.shields.io/badge/license-Apache2-blue.svg["Apache 2.0 license", link="LICENSE"]

== Introduction

link:https://kiali.io/[kiali] is a management console for Istio service mesh. Kiali can be quickly installed as an Istio add-on or integrated as a trusted component within a production environment.

=== Table of contents

toc::[]

=== Contributing

First, check the link:https://kiali.io/community/[Community section on kiali.io], which provides a brief introduction on contributing, how to report issues and request features, and how to reach us.

For those interested in making code contributions, please also check the link:./CONTRIBUTING.md[Contribution Guide].

=== Getting Started

The target audience of this README are developers. For those who are not developers but wish to learn more about Kiali, the link:https://kiali.io/docs[Kiali documentation] should be more helpful. For instructions on installing Kiali, please read the link:https://kiali.io/docs/installation/[Installation] page.

=== AI Documentation (Dev Preview)

Kiali includes a Chat AI integration in developer preview. The APIs and configuration are still evolving and may change without notice. See link:./ai/README.md[AI README] for details.

=== How and where Kiali is released?

Read the link:./RELEASING.adoc[RELEASING.adoc] file.

== Developer setup

Ensure the following tools are available:

• The link:http://golang.org/doc/install[Go Programming Language]

Kiali releases are built with a specified minimum version of Go, as indicated in the link:https://github.com/kiali/kiali/blob/master/Makefile#L31[Makefile]. While Kiali may compile with other versions, using the version specified in the Makefile is recommended for consistent builds.

• link:http://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git[git]
• gcc
• link:https://docs.docker.com/installation/[Docker] or link:https://podman.io[Podman]

If using podman, set the environment variable DORP=podman.

• link:https://nodejs.org[NodeJS] (Node.js >= 20 with the NPM command)

link:https://nodejs.org/api/corepack.html[Corepack] is used to manage the Yarn version. Enable it with corepack enable. The exact Yarn version is pinned in frontend/package.json via the packageManager field.

• The _GNU make_ (or a compatible alternative)

Once the required developer tools are available, the code can be obtained and built using the following script:

[source,shell]
----

Checkout the source code

mkdir kiali_sources
cd kiali_sources
export KIALI_SOURCES=$(pwd)

git clone https://github.com/kiali/kiali.git
git clone https://github.com/kiali/kiali-operator.git
git clone https://github.com/kiali/helm-charts.git

ln -s $KIALI_SOURCES/kiali-operator kiali/operator

Build the front-end

make build-ui

Build the back-end

cd $KIALI_SOURCES/kiali make build

Go test flags can be passed via the GO_TEST_FLAGS environment variable.

make -e GO_TEST_FLAGS="-race -v -run=\"TestCanConnectToIstiodReachable\"" test

----

[NOTE]
The rest of this README assumes the directory tree created by the previous commands:

-- kiali_sources
|- kiali
|- kiali-operator
\- helm-charts

=== Create a Kubernetes cluster and install a Service Mesh

To use Kiali, a management console for Istio-based service meshes, an Istio-compatible service mesh is required. Istio meshes are installed on Kubernetes clusters.

We provide a few unsupported scripts that can help to get started. The scripts below are already in the Kiali Repository. Ensure that the correct path is being used to run the scripts without issues.

• One way to setup your development environment locally is to run the link:hack/run-integration-tests.sh[run-integration-tests.sh] script. This will start a local cluster, install Istio and Bookinfo, and then start Kiali. It supports every deployment scenario including multi-cluster, external Kiali, etc. It is also run as part of the CI pipeline so there's a high chance it will work for you. The multi-cluster suites currently do not** work with podman and you must have docker engine installed on your system.
• The link:hack/crc-openshift.sh[crc-openshift.sh] script allows creation of an OpenShift cluster on a local machine.
• For those familiar with minikube, the link:hack/k8s-minikube.sh[k8s-minikube.sh] script can be used. This script includes an option to install Dex, which is helpful for testing with OpenID.
• Alternatively, the link:hack/start-kind.sh[start-kind.sh] script can be used to create a single-node KinD cluster with MetalLB enabled, allowing Kiali to be tested in a real environment.
• Finally, the link:hack/istio/install-istio-via-istioctl.sh[install-istio-via-istioctl.sh] and the link:hack/istio/install-bookinfo-demo.sh[install-bookinfo-demo.sh] scripts can assist in installing Istio and the Bookinfo sample application in the cluster, respectively. Trying to run these scripts without any arguments is also an option.

These scripts are written to rely on the minimum dependencies as possible and will try to download any required tools.

Based on the type of cluster in use, define the CLUSTER_TYPE environment variable in the shell. Set it to openshift (default if not specified), minikube or kind so the Makefiles can assist with additional operations. For other cluster types, set CLUSTER_TYPE=local.

[NOTE]
For minikube it is recommended to enable the registry and ingress add-ons, which can be configured by the k8s-minikube.sh script.

[NOTE]
When using docker with Minikube's registry add-on or any custom non-secure registry, ensure the link:https://docs.docker.com/registry/insecure/[Docker daemon is properly configured to use your registry].

=== Running Kiali from your local kubeconfig (with hot-reload)

This is the simplest way to get started developing on Kiali. You will startup the backend which reads from your local kubeconfig file and connects to the cluster set as your current context by default. Kiali uses link:air[https://github.com/air-verse/air] to enable hot reloads for the backend server.

[source,shell]
----
make build-ui
make run-backend

To pass additional arguments to the backend, set the KIALI_RUN_ARGS environment variable.

For example:

make KIALI_RUN_ARGS="--log-level debug" run-backend

#

To pass additional contexts from your kubeconfig for multi-cluster Kiali:

make KIALI_RUN_ARGS="--remote-cluster-contexts kind-mesh --cluster-name-overrides kind-mesh=mesh" run-backend

The kube context name must match the Istio cluster name otherwise you must provide a cluster name override as shown above.

----

In a separate terminal, start the frontend dev server. This will start the frontend dev server that connects to the backend running in the other terminal. It will also open the Kiali UI in your default browser.

[source,shell]
----
make run-frontend
----

Now kiali will be rebuilt and reloaded automatically when you make changes to either the backend or the frontend.

=== Building the Container Image and deploying to a cluster

Assuming the following conditions:

• The back-end and front-end have been successfully built. Note that the front-end assets need to be built before the back-end, as the back-end will embed the front-end assets during its build process.
• A Kubernetes cluster with an Istio-based Service Mesh has been created
• The CLUSTER_TYPE=local environment variable is not being used

The commands below will deploy a development build of Kiali to the cluster.

[source,shell]
----
cd $KIALI_SOURCES/kiali

Build the Kiali-server and Kiali-operator container images and push them to the cluster

make cluster-push

To build and push only the Kiali-server container images:

make cluster-push-kiali

To build and push only the Kiali-operator container images:

make cluster-push-operator

Deploy the operator to the cluster

make operator-create

Create a KialCR to instruct the operator to deploy Kiali

make kiali-create ----

When using the CLUSTER_TYPE=local environment variable, additional environment variables must be declared to specify the container registry for pushing container images. The make container-push* targets should be used instead of the cluster-push* targets. For example, if the container registry is localhost:5000:

[source,shell]
----
export QUAY_NAME=localhost:5000/kiali/kiali
export CONTAINER_NAME=localhost:5000/kiali/kiali
export OPERATOR_QUAY_NAME=localhost:5000/kiali/kiali-operator
export OPERATOR_CONTAINER_NAME=localhost:5000/kiali/kiali-operator

cd $KIALI_SOURCES/kiali

Build the Kiali-server and Kiali-operator container images and push them to the cluster

make container-build container-push

To build and push only the Kiali-server container images:

make container-build-kiali container-push-kiali-quay

To build and push only the Kiali-operator container images:

make container-build-operator container-push-operator-quay

Deploy the operator to the cluster

make operator-create

Create a KialCR to instruct the operator to deploy Kiali

make kiali-create ----

=== Reloading Kiali image

If Kiali is already installed and there is a need to recreate the Kiali server pod, the following command can be run:

[source,shell]
----
cd $KIALI_SOURCES/kiali
make kiali-reload-image
----

This is intended to facilitate development. To quickly build a new Kiali container image and load it to the cluster, run the following command:

[source,shell]
----
cd $KIALI_SOURCES/kiali/frontend
yarn install && yarn build

cd $KIALI_SOURCES/kiali
make clean build cluster-push-kiali kiali-reload-image
----

[NOTE]
No equivalent reload command exists for the operator. The operator must be manually reloaded using kubectl or oc commands.

=== Cluster clean-up

[source,shell]
----
cd $KIALI_SOURCES/kiali

Delete the Kiali CR to let the operator remove Kiali.

make kiali-delete

If the previous command fails to complete, the following command forces removal by bypassing the operator

make kiali-purge

Remove the operator

NOTE: After this is completed, the kiali-create and kiali-delete targets will be ineffective

Until the operator-create target is run to re-deploy the Kiali operator, execute the following command to delete the operator:

make operator-delete ----

=== Code formatting and linting

When changing the back-end code of Kiali, ensure that the changes are properly formatted and no new linting issues are introduced before submitting a pull request by running:

[source,shell]
----

CD to the back-end source code

cd $KIALI_SOURCES/kiali

Install linting tools

make lint-install

Format the code and run linters

make format lint ----

=== Enable tracing

Kiali itself is instrumented with opentelemetry tracing to help provide insights and surface performance issues for the kiali server. To enable, set the server.observability.tracing.enabled and server.observability.tracing.collector_url configuration options.

[source,yaml]
----
apiVersion: kiali.io/v1alpha1
kind: Kiali
metadata:
name: kiali
spec:
...
server:
observability:
tracing:
collector_url: http://jaeger-collector.istio-system:14268/api/traces
enabled: true
...
----

=== Running Standalone

For debugging purposes, running Kiali outside of a cluster environment may be desired. To do this, use the link:./hack/run-kiali.sh[run-kiali.sh] script in the
link:./hack[hack] directory. Check the --help output for available options.
By default, the script uses the configuration template file located in the same directory it uses, and can be found in the link:./hack/run-kiali-config-template.yaml[config template file]
also located in the hack directory. For additional information, refer to the comments at the top of both files.

The following command has a typical set of options when running this with a typical "all-in-one" environment (single cluster, co-located Istio and Kiali, default "Kubernetes" cluster name), and
an intent to start a debug server in your IDE (like vscode). It overrides some ports so they don't conflict with defaults:

[source,shell]
----
cd $KIALI_SOURCES/kiali/hack
./run-kiali.sh --enable-server false --tmp-root-dir $HOME/tmp -pg 3005:3005 -cn Kubernetes
----

The following command has a typical set of options when running this in an external Kiali environment, setup using the install-external-kiali.sh hack script. In this
environment you will have two clusters, "mesh" has the Istio and deployed apps, and "mgmt" has Kiali.

[source,shell]
----
cd $KIALI_SOURCES/kiali/hack
./run-kiali.sh --enable-server false --tmp-root-dir $HOME/tmp -pg 3005:3005 -kc mesh -cn mgmt -hkc mgmt
----

=== Running integration tests

There are two sets of integration tests. The first are backend tests that test the Kiali API directly. These can be found at link:./tests/integration/README.md[backend tests]. The second are frontend Cypress tests that test Kiali through the browser. These can be found at link:./frontend/cypress/README.md[frontend tests].

Both tests are executed as part of the CI pipeline. To run these tests locally, link:./hack/run-integration-tests.sh[the script] can be used to setup a local environment and execute the integration tests. Alternatively, the tests can be run against any live environment that meets the following requirements.

Requirements:

• Istio
• Kiali
• bookinfo demo app
• error rates demo app

link:./hack/istio/install-testing-demos.sh[This script] can be used install all necessary demo applications for testing and supports deployments on both Openshift and non-Openshift enviroments.

[source,shell]
----

For frontend development, start the frontend development server, where ` is the URL to the base Kiali UI location, such as http://localhost:20001/kiali:

make -e KIALI_PROXY_URL=http:// yarn-start

Start the cypress tests. The tests will run against the frontend development server by default.

Alternatively, a custom URL can be provided using environment variables:

#

make -e CYPRESS_BASE_URL=http:// cypress-gui

make cypress-gui ----

Note that make cypress-gui runs the Cypress GUI, enabling the selection of individual tests to run. To execute the entire test suite in headless mode, use the cypress-run target instead.

=== AI-Assisted Development Tooling

The link:https://github.com/kiali/ai-tools[kiali/ai-tools] repository contains shared Cursor rules and AI configuration used across Kiali repositories. To use them, clone the repo alongside the other Kiali repositories and create a symlink, similar to how the operator repo is linked:

[source,shell]
----
cd $KIALI_SOURCES
git clone https://github.com/kiali/ai-tools.git
ln -s $KIALI_SOURCES/ai-tools/cursor/.cursor/rules kiali/.cursor/rules
----

This makes the shared Cursor rules (.mdc files) available in the Kiali workspace. The symlink is gitignored — each developer sets it up locally.

==== Code Reviewer Plugin

The project includes configuration for an AI-powered code review pipeline under .cursor/code-reviewer/ and .claude/code-reviewer/. The pipeline runs three parallel review phases — adversarial (bugs, security, architecture), style (convention enforcement against the project's style guide), and testing (coverage gaps, test quality) — then consolidates findings into a single report with structured IDs and a verdict.

For Cursor users, the review pipeline is activated by typing /code-reviewer:review once the ai-tools` symlink above is in place.

For Claude Code users, the code-reviewer plugin must be installed separately from link:https://github.com/openshift-service-mesh/ci-utils/tree/main/plugins/code-reviewer[openshift-service-mesh/ci-utils

…

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