DEMO Flux User Interface

In this guide, we’ll explore two open-source graphical interfaces for managing Flux CD:

• VS Code GitOps Tools for Flux – a lightweight VS Code extension
• Weaveworks GitOps UI – a full-featured web dashboard

Both solutions let you inspect clusters, sources, workloads, and more without manual kubectl commands or hand-editing YAML.

Comparison at a Glance

1. VS Code GitOps Extension for Flux

The GitOps Tools for Flux extension brings Flux CD insights directly into Visual Studio Code.

Install the Extension

1. Open Extensions (⇧⌘X or Ctrl+Shift+X).
2. Search for GitOps Tools for Flux.
3. Click Install.

Once installed, you’ll see a new GitOps icon in the Activity Bar:

Navigating the GitOps Pane

Click the GitOps icon to reveal four sections:

• Clusters – view all Flux controllers
• Sources – inspect GitRepositories, HelmRepositories, Buckets, OCIRepositories
• Workloads – check Kustomizations & HelmReleases
• Documentation – quick links to Flux docs

Clusters

Select your Kubernetes context (e.g., Docker Desktop) to see live YAML for each controller:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: helm-controller
  namespace: flux-system
  labels:
    app.kubernetes.io/part-of: flux
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app.kubernetes.io/component: helm-controller
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        control-plane: controller
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: manager
          image: ghcr.io/fluxcd/helm-controller:v0.41.2

Sources

Browse all configured Sources in the flux-system namespace:

• GitRepository
• HelmRepository
• Bucket
• OCIRepository

Workloads

Inspect Kustomizations and HelmReleases in one place. For example, clicking a HelmRelease reveals its specification:

apiVersion: helm.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v2beta1
kind: HelmRelease
metadata:
  name: 2-demo-kustomize-git-bb-app
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  sourceRef:
    kind: GitRepository
    name: 2-demo-source-git-bb-app
    targetNamespace: 2-demo
  path: ./manifests
  interval: 10s
  prune: true
  force: false

Adding New Sources or Kustomizations

Create new Git sources or Kustomizations via an intuitive form:

2. Weaveworks GitOps User Interface

The Weaveworks GitOps UI (part of Weave GitOps) provides a standalone web dashboard for Flux.

Prerequisites

• Kubernetes cluster with Flux installed
• kubectl configured

Install the Weave GitOps CLI

curl -sSL \
  "https://github.com/weaveworks/weave-gitops/releases/download/v0.20.0/gitops-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m).tar.gz" \
  | tar xz -C /tmp
sudo mv /tmp/gitops /usr/local/bin/gitops
gitops version

Deploy the Dashboard

Generate and apply the dashboard manifest:

export PASSWORD="your-password"
gitops create dashboard ww-gitops \
  --password="$PASSWORD" \
  --export > weave-gitops-dashboard.yaml

kubectl apply -f weave-gitops-dashboard.yaml

You should see:

Creating GitOps Dashboard objects ...
Generated GitOps Dashboard manifests
Checking for a cluster in the kube config ...
Flux v0.41.2 (flux-system) is already installed
Applying GitOps Dashboard manifests
HelmRepository/flux-system/ww-gitops created
HelmRelease/flux-system/ww-gitops created
GitOps Dashboard ww-gitops is ready

Expose & Access the Dashboard

List the GitOps service and pod:

kubectl -n flux-system get po,svc | grep gitops

Patch the service to use NodePort:

kubectl -n flux-system patch svc www-gitops-weave-gitops \
  -p '{"spec": {"type": "NodePort"}}'
kubectl -n flux-system get svc www-gitops-weave-gitops

Forward to localhost or browse directly:

kubectl port-forward svc/www-gitops-weave-gitops -n flux-system 9001:9001

Open your browser at:
http://localhost:9001
Login with admin and your password.

Dashboard Overview

Sources

Monitor all Git and Helm sources, their sync status, intervals, and last reconciliation:

Applications

Inspect Kustomizations and HelmReleases along with dependency graphs, events, and raw YAML:

Image Automation & Notifications

Manage image repositories, policies, automation events, and notification controllers—all from the UI.

Flux Runtime

View the status of all Flux controllers and custom resources in one panel:

Whether you embed GitOps directly in VS Code or operate via a standalone dashboard, these tools streamline your Flux workflows and improve observability.

Links and References

• Flux CD Documentation
• Weave GitOps Documentation
• Kubernetes Concepts
• VS Code Marketplace: GitOps Tools for Flux