stern
Apache-2.0 multi-pod Kubernetes log tail
DevOps / Kubernetes · Apache-2.0 · 4.9k
Reviewed 2026-09-13 · last push 2026-10-18 · repo checked 2026-10-19
What's Good
Apache-2.0. stern/stern — friendly fork of discontinued wercker/stern. Regex/label/resource queries (`deployment/nginx`), multi-container tails, color per pod, auto-follow as pods come and go. Go binary. Source github.com/stern/stern.
The Catch
Vs k9s (full Kubernetes *TUI*): stern is the *multi-pod log tail CLI*, not a cluster navigator, not Helm, not a dashboard. Needs kubeconfig and RBAC to read logs. Not Loki/Vector (log pipelines).
Verdict
Apache-2.0 K8s log tail. Free forever; follow the fleet, not one pod at a time.
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Markdown
[](https://stackgems.com/gems/stern)
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