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Alex Spinov
Alex Spinov

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Tilt Has a Free API: Smart Rebuilds for Kubernetes Development

#kubernetes #developer #devops #productivity

Why Tilt Exists

Developing on Kubernetes is slow — build image, push to registry, update deployment, wait for rollout, check logs. Tilt watches your code and automatically rebuilds and deploys in seconds.

Install 

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tilt-dev/tilt/master/scripts/install.sh | bash
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Create a Tiltfile 

# Tiltfile
docker_build("myapp", ".")
k8s_yaml("k8s/deployment.yaml")
k8s_resource("myapp", port_forwards="8080:8080")
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tilt up
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That is it. Tilt watches your files, rebuilds the image, and updates the pod — all in seconds.

Live Update (No Rebuild) 

# Tiltfile — sync files directly into running container
docker_build(
    "myapp",
    ".",
    live_update=[
        sync("./src", "/app/src"),
        run("pip install -r requirements.txt", trigger=["requirements.txt"]),
    ],
)
k8s_yaml("k8s/deployment.yaml")
k8s_resource("myapp", port_forwards="8080:8080")
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File changes sync into the container WITHOUT rebuilding the image — sub-second updates.

Multi-Service Setup 

# Tiltfile for microservices
for svc in ["api", "worker", "web"]:
    docker_build(
        f"myorg/{svc}",
        f"./services/{svc}",
        live_update=[sync(f"./services/{svc}/src", "/app/src")],
    )

k8s_yaml("k8s/")

k8s_resource("api", port_forwards="8080:8080")
k8s_resource("web", port_forwards="3000:3000")
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Tilt Extensions 

# Use community extensions
load("ext://helm_resource", "helm_resource")
helm_resource("redis", "bitnami/redis")

load("ext://namespace", "namespace_create")
namespace_create("dev")
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Key Features

  • Smart rebuilds — only rebuild what changed
  • Live update — sync files without image rebuild
  • Port forwarding — automatic, no kubectl needed
  • Web UI — dashboard at localhost:10350
  • Multi-service — manage entire stack in one Tiltfile
  • Extensions — Helm, namespaces, restart, and more

Tilt vs Alternatives

Feature Tilt Skaffold DevSpace
Config Starlark YAML YAML
Live update Yes Yes Yes
Web UI Yes No No
Extensions Yes Limited Plugins
Learning curve Low Medium Medium

Resources

Need to extract Kubernetes deployment data, container metrics, or development workflow info? Check out my Apify tools or email spinov001@gmail.com for custom solutions.

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