Cert-Manager

aid: cert-manager
name: Cert-Manager
description: cert-manager is a powerful and extensible X.509 certificate controller for Kubernetes and OpenShift workloads.
  It obtains certificates from a variety of issuers, including Let's Encrypt, HashiCorp Vault, and Venafi, and ensures certificates
  are valid and up-to-date, attempting to renew them before expiry. It supports certificate issuance for Ingress, Gateway
  API, and arbitrary workloads via Certificate resources.
url: https://cert-manager.io
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
tags:
- Certificates
- Cloud Native
- Graduated
- Kubernetes
- Security
- TLS
created: '2026-03-16'
modified: '2026-04-23'
specificationVersion: '0.19'
type: Index
apis:
- aid: cert-manager:cert-manager-api
  name: cert-manager Kubernetes API
  description: The cert-manager API extends the Kubernetes API with custom resources including Certificate, Issuer, ClusterIssuer,
    CertificateRequest, and Order. These resources allow declarative management of TLS certificates, automatic renewal, and
    integration with ACME and other certificate authorities directly through kubectl and Kubernetes manifests.
  humanURL: https://cert-manager.io/docs/
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://cert-manager.io/docs/
  - type: Reference
    url: https://cert-manager.io/docs/reference/api-docs/
  - type: GettingStarted
    url: https://cert-manager.io/docs/getting-started/
  - type: GitHubRepository
    url: https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager
  - type: ChangeLog
    url: https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/releases
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/cert-manager-certificate-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/cert-manager-issuer-schema.json
  tags:
  - Certificates
  - Kubernetes API
  - TLS
- aid: cert-manager:cmctl-cli
  name: cert-manager CLI (cmctl)
  description: cmctl is the command-line tool for managing cert-manager resources. It provides commands for checking certificate
    status, manually triggering renewals, approving or denying certificate requests, and converting cert-manager resources
    between API versions.
  humanURL: https://cert-manager.io/docs/reference/cmctl/
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://cert-manager.io/docs/reference/cmctl/
  - type: GitHubRepository
    url: https://github.com/cert-manager/cmctl
  - type: ChangeLog
    url: https://github.com/cert-manager/cmctl/releases
  tags:
  - Certificate Management
  - CLI
- aid: cert-manager:trust-manager
  name: trust-manager
  description: trust-manager is a cert-manager companion project for managing TLS trust bundles in Kubernetes and OpenShift
    clusters. It distributes CA bundles via a Bundle custom resource to namespaces and workloads, ensuring that applications
    have access to an up-to-date set of trusted CA certificates without manual maintenance.
  humanURL: https://cert-manager.io/docs/trust/trust-manager/
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://cert-manager.io/docs/trust/trust-manager/
  - type: GettingStarted
    url: https://cert-manager.io/docs/trust/trust-manager/installation/
  - type: GitHubRepository
    url: https://github.com/cert-manager/trust-manager
  - type: ChangeLog
    url: https://github.com/cert-manager/trust-manager/releases
  tags:
  - Kubernetes
  - TLS
  - Trust Bundles
- aid: cert-manager:approver-policy
  name: cert-manager approver-policy
  description: approver-policy is a cert-manager policy plugin that automatically approves or denies CertificateRequest resources
    based on defined CertificateRequestPolicy custom resources. It provides fine-grained control over which certificate requests
    are permitted, including constraints on allowed DNS names, key usages, and issuers.
  humanURL: https://cert-manager.io/docs/policy/approval/approver-policy/
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://cert-manager.io/docs/policy/approval/approver-policy/
  - type: GitHubRepository
    url: https://github.com/cert-manager/approver-policy
  - type: ChangeLog
    url: https://github.com/cert-manager/approver-policy/releases
  tags:
  - Certificate Approval
  - Policy
  - Security
- aid: cert-manager:csi-driver
  name: cert-manager csi-driver
  description: csi-driver is a Kubernetes Container Storage Interface plugin that works alongside cert-manager to seamlessly
    request and mount certificate key pairs as ephemeral volumes directly into pods. It enables workloads to automatically
    obtain short-lived certificates at pod startup without requiring manual secret management.
  humanURL: https://cert-manager.io/docs/usage/csi-driver/
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://cert-manager.io/docs/usage/csi-driver/
  tags:
  - Certificate Management
  - CSI
  - Kubernetes
- aid: cert-manager:csi-driver-spiffe
  name: cert-manager csi-driver-spiffe
  description: csi-driver-spiffe is a Kubernetes CSI plugin that works alongside cert-manager to transparently deliver SPIFFE
    SVIDs as X.509 certificate key pairs to mounted pods using ephemeral volumes. It allows all pods running in a Kubernetes
    cluster to automatically receive SPIFFE identity documents from a configured Trust Domain.
  humanURL: https://cert-manager.io/docs/usage/csi-driver-spiffe/
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://cert-manager.io/docs/usage/csi-driver-spiffe/
  - type: GettingStarted
    url: https://cert-manager.io/docs/usage/csi-driver-spiffe/installation/
  tags:
  - CSI
  - Identity
  - Kubernetes
  - SPIFFE
common:
- type: Website
  url: https://cert-manager.io
- type: Documentation
  url: https://cert-manager.io/docs/
- type: GettingStarted
  url: https://cert-manager.io/docs/getting-started/
- type: Reference
  url: https://cert-manager.io/docs/reference/
- type: Community
  url: https://cert-manager.io/docs/contributing/
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/cert-manager
- type: GitHubRepository
  url: https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager
- type: ChangeLog
  url: https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/releases
- type: JSONSchema
  url: json-schema/cert-manager-certificate-schema.json
- type: JSONSchema
  url: json-schema/cert-manager-issuer-schema.json
- type: JSONLD
  url: json-ld/cert-manager-context.jsonld
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com