kubectx: Rename and Delete Contexts

kubectx NEW=OLD renames a context (e.g. the auto-generated EKS ARN) to a short name, and kubectx -d removes one.

Cloud providers generate enormous context names like an EKS ARN. Aliasing them once makes every later switch and script readable.

What it does

kubectx edits the kubeconfig in place. NEW=OLD renames a context and updates current-context if it pointed there. -d deletes one or more contexts. . as the OLD name renames the current context.

Common usage

Terminal

kubectx prod=arn:aws:eks:us-east-1:123:cluster/prod
kubectx dev=.                 # rename the current context to "dev"
kubectx -d old-staging        # delete a stale context
kubectx -d ctx-a ctx-b        # delete several at once

Options

Form	What it does
<new>=<old>	Rename context <old> to <new>
<new>=.	Rename the current context to <new>
-d <name>...	Delete the named context(s)
-u, --unset	Unset the current context

Common errors in CI

error: No context exists with the name: "old-staging" on -d means it was already removed or never present. Renaming with <new>=<old> where <new> already exists fails with context "<new>" already exists; delete or pick another alias. Edits write to the first file in KUBECONFIG; a read-only mounted kubeconfig fails with permission denied.

Related guides

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