perses/perses-operator

Perses Operator is a Kubernetes operator that manages Perses observability dashboards and related resources on Kubernetes clusters.

The operator solves the problem of deploying and managing Perses instances and their associated dashboards and datasources in Kubernetes environments. It works by extending Kubernetes with custom resource definitions that represent Perses servers, dashboards, datasources, and global datasources. When you declare these resources in Kubernetes, the operator watches the API server for changes and automatically reconciles the actual state of your Perses deployments to match your desired configuration. This enables dashboard-as-code workflows where dashboards and datasources are managed declaratively alongside other infrastructure.

The tool suits teams running Perses on Kubernetes who want to manage dashboards and datasources through Kubernetes manifests rather than manual API calls. It is particularly valuable for multi-instance deployments where you need to sync dashboards across multiple Perses servers, since it supports instance selectors and namespace-to-project mapping for isolation. The operator handles storage flexibility by supporting both SQL databases and file-based storage with persistent volumes or ephemeral storage. It also provides native support for TLS, mTLS, and multiple authentication methods including BasicAuth, OAuth, and Kubernetes-native authentication. Built-in Prometheus metrics and alerting rules make it compatible with Prometheus Operator for monitoring the operator itself.

The project is under active development with an unstable API that changes frequently. The maintainers explicitly encourage usage for testing and development but recommend caution in mission-critical environments until the API stabilizes. Development activity shows consistent engagement with the codebase, regular updates to address issues and features, and responsiveness to community contributions. The project maintains comprehensive documentation including a user guide and API reference, indicating a commitment to helping users understand and adopt the operator effectively.