Does Flask Work With Kubernetes?
Flask applications run seamlessly in Kubernetes via containerization; they're a natural fit for cloud-native deployments.
Quick Facts
How Flask Works With Kubernetes
Flask and Kubernetes work together perfectly because Kubernetes doesn't care about the application framework—it orchestrates containerized workloads. You package your Flask app in a Docker image, then Kubernetes manages deployment, scaling, and networking. The typical workflow involves creating a Dockerfile, pushing the image to a registry, and defining Kubernetes manifests (Deployment, Service, Ingress) that tell the cluster how many replicas to run and how to expose them. Flask's lightweight nature actually makes it ideal for Kubernetes: it has minimal dependencies, starts quickly, and scales horizontally with ease. The developer experience is straightforward—you write Flask as normal, but add health check endpoints (liveness and readiness probes) so Kubernetes can manage your pods intelligently. Multi-instance deployments work well because Flask is stateless by design, though you'll want to externalize session storage to Redis or a database for production use.
Best Use Cases
Flask App with Kubernetes Health Checks
pip install flask gunicorn# app.py
from flask import Flask, jsonify
import os
app = Flask(__name__)
@app.route('/health')
def health():
"""Kubernetes liveness and readiness probe endpoint"""
return jsonify({'status': 'healthy'}), 200
@app.route('/api/hello')
def hello():
return jsonify({'message': 'Hello from Kubernetes!'}), 200
if __name__ == '__main__':
app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=5000)
# Dockerfile
FROM python:3.11-slim
WORKDIR /app
COPY requirements.txt .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
COPY app.py .
EXPOSE 5000
CMD ["gunicorn", "--bind", "0.0.0.0:5000", "--workers", "4", "app:app"]
# k8s-deployment.yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: flask-app
spec:
replicas: 3
selector:
matchLabels:
app: flask-app
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: flask-app
spec:
containers:
- name: flask
image: myregistry/flask-app:latest
ports:
- containerPort: 5000
livenessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /health
port: 5000
initialDelaySeconds: 10
periodSeconds: 10
readinessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /health
port: 5000
initialDelaySeconds: 5
periodSeconds: 5Known Issues & Gotchas
Flask's development server (flask run) is single-threaded and unsuitable for Kubernetes production deployments
Fix: Use a production WSGI server like Gunicorn or uWSGI in your Dockerfile; configure it with multiple worker processes matching your CPU requests
Readiness probes failing because health check endpoints aren't implemented
Fix: Add a simple /health endpoint that returns 200 OK; configure Kubernetes probes to hit this endpoint with appropriate delays
Session data lost across pod restarts when stored in-process
Fix: Use Flask-Session with Redis or Memcached as the backend; ensure the backing service is accessible from all pods
Container images bloated with unnecessary dependencies increase startup time and pod density
Fix: Use multi-stage Docker builds; pin dependency versions; consider Alpine Linux as base image for smaller footprints
Alternatives
- •Django + Kubernetes: More batteries-included than Flask, better for complex applications with built-in ORM and admin panel
- •FastAPI + Kubernetes: Modern async Python framework with automatic API documentation, faster than Flask for high-concurrency workloads
- •Spring Boot + Kubernetes: JVM-based framework with native Kubernetes support and excellent observability tooling
Resources
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