Overview

PVC Explorer Operator is a suite of open-source Kubernetes tools for browsing, managing, and exploring PersistentVolumeClaims — safely, scoped, and on demand.

The suite consists of three projects that work together:

Projects

pvc-explorer (Operator)

A Kubernetes-native operator (Kubebuilder v4) that manages ephemeral agent pods for browsing PVCs. It validates PVCs, computes safe mount strategies, enforces read-only fallback when workloads are active, and scales agents to zero when idle.

• Getting Started — install and first run
• Architecture — runtime internals
• API Reference — REST, WebSocket, and CRD APIs

pvc-explorer-agent

A lightweight HTTP file-browser that mounts a PVC and exposes its contents over a REST API. It has an embedded Vue UI and automatically detects conflicts — if another workload is using the same PVC, write endpoints are disabled.

This is the container image deployed by the operator. You don't run it directly — the operator creates agent pods from this image.

• Agent Overview

kubectl-pvc-explorer

A kubectl plugin for exploring PVCs from the command line. List files, view contents, upload/download, execute commands, and even FUSE-mount PVCs — all without the web UI.

• CLI Overview

How They Fit Together

User Space

kubectl pvc

CLI plugin · kubeconfig

Web Dashboard

Vue UI

Auth

Control Plane

Operator

pvc-explorer

• Validates PVCs and consumers
• Creates and scales agent pods
• Enforces RBAC and mount guardrails

creates & manages

Data Plane

Pod

pvc-explorer-agent

• Mounts the target PVC
• Serves REST file-browser API
• Detects conflicts → read-only

mounts & serves

PVC

Kubernetes storage

Getting Started

1. Install the operator in your cluster: Install Guide
2. Define scopes to control which PVCs are accessible
3. Use the web UI or install the CLI plugin to browse PVCs
4. Let the operator handle lifecycle — agents scale to zero when idle