Regenerate your project with (alpha generate)

Overview

The kubebuilder alpha generate command re-scaffolds your project using the currently installed CLI and plugin versions.

It regenerates the full scaffold based on the configuration specified in your PROJECT file. This allows you to apply the latest layout changes, plugin features, and code generation improvements introduced in newer Kubebuilder releases.

You may choose to re-scaffold the project in-place (overwriting existing files) or in a separate directory for diff-based inspection and manual integration.

When to Use It?

You can use kubebuilder alpha generate to upgrade your project scaffold when new changes are introduced in Kubebuilder. This includes updates to plugins (for example, go.kubebuilder.io/v3 → go.kubebuilder.io/v4) or the CLI releases (for example, 4.3.1 → latest) .

This command is helpful when you want to:

• Update your project to use the latest layout or plugin version
• Regenerate your project scaffold to include recent changes
• Compare the current scaffold with the latest and apply updates manually
• Create a clean scaffold for reviewing or testing changes

Use this command when you want full control of the upgrade process. It is also useful if your project was created with an older CLI version and does not support alpha update.

This approach allows you to compare changes between your current branch and upstream scaffold updates (e.g., from the main branch), and helps you overlay custom code atop the new scaffold.

How to Use It?

Upgrade your current project to CLI version installed (i.e. latest scaffold)

kubebuilder alpha generate

After running this command, your project will be re-scaffolded in place. You can then compare the local changes with your main branch to see what was updated, and re-apply your custom code on top as needed.

Generate Scaffold to a New Directory

Use the --input-dir and --output-dir flags to specify input and output paths.

kubebuilder alpha generate \
  --input-dir=/path/to/existing/project \
  --output-dir=/path/to/new/project

After running the command, you can inspect the generated scaffold in the specified output directory.

Flags

Further Resources

• Video demo on how it works
• Design proposal documentation