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kc whoami

Overview

The kc whoami command displays the currently authenticated user information from your kubectl configuration. It extracts and shows the username and optionally the full JWT token payload.

Syntax

kc whoami [options]

Optional Flags

-d, --detailed

Display the full decoded JWT token payload with all claims.

Examples

Basic Usage

kc whoami

Output: 

john

With Token Decoding

kc whoami -d

Output: 

john
JWT Payload:
{
  "accessProfile": "p24x7",
  "at_hash": "xevWqv4MaZ_ft1nYs-wCcg",
  "aud": ["k8s"],
  "auth_time": 1763573723,
  "auth_time_human": "2025-11-19 17:35:23 UTC",
  "authority": "ucrd",
  "azp": "k8s",
  "email": "john@example.com",
  "emails": ["john@example.com"],
  "exp": 1763577323,
  "exp_human": "2025-11-19 18:35:23 UTC",
  "groups": ["developers", "ops"],
  "iat": 1763573723,
  "iat_human": "2025-11-19 17:35:23 UTC",
  "iss": "https://kubauth.example.com",
  "name": "John DOE",
  "office": "208G",
  "rat": 1763573723,
  "rat_human": "2025-11-19 17:35:23 UTC",
  "sub": "john"
}

Prerequisites

kubectl Configuration

The kc whoami command requires:

  1. kubectl configured - With valid kubeconfig
  2. OIDC authentication - Configured via kc config
  3. Active session - You must have authenticated at least once

Setup

# Configure kubectl for OIDC
kc config https://kubeconfig.example.com/kubeconfig

# Trigger initial authentication
kubectl get nodes

# Now whoami will work
kc whoami

Comparison with kubectl

Command Purpose Output
kc whoami Show OIDC username john
kc whoami -d Show full token Username + all claims
kubectl auth whoami Show Kubernetes identity Full auth info including groups

See Also