Thanks for your interest in improving the Kubernetes production readiness checklist.
Learnk8s is now Learnkube, but we continue to maintain this repository because many people still use and link to it. The updated version is also published here:
- GitHub: https://github.com/learnk8s/kubernetes-production-best-practices
- Website: https://learnkube.com/production-best-practices
The checklist is meant to be practical, concise, and opinionated.
A good contribution makes it more accurate, more current, or easier to act on.
That usually means improving technical accuracy, updating guidance that no longer reflects how Kubernetes works, adding a missing production readiness concern, making an existing item clearer, or linking to better references.
When suggesting a new item or changing an existing one, it helps to answer three questions: what should teams check or implement, why does it matter in production, and how can they verify or apply it. If you have a link to official Kubernetes documentation or a trusted source, include it. You do not need to follow this format exactly, but it makes the review process much easier.
This checklist focuses on Kubernetes production readiness, so contributions are most useful when they apply broadly across teams and clusters.
Good topics include reliability, security, networking, observability, resource management, cluster operations, application deployment practices, disaster recovery, and upgrade readiness.
Contributions that are usually out of scope include vendor-specific product comparisons, highly specific internal platform setups, promotional links, and general Kubernetes tutorials that are not related to production readiness.
If you are unsure whether something belongs in the checklist, opening an issue first is a good way to start. It helps to include the problem or gap you noticed, why it matters for teams running Kubernetes in production, and any references or examples that support the suggestion.
Pull requests are welcome.
Before opening one, please check whether there is already an issue or discussion covering the same topic.
Keep changes focused and explain the reasoning behind them. Smaller, targeted updates are easier to review and merge than large ones that touch many things at once.
Write for engineers who are preparing, reviewing, or operating Kubernetes clusters in production. Keep the checklist direct and practical, because clear guidance is more useful than long explanations.