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In this guide, you’ll learn how to imperatively update your kustomization.yaml using the kustomize edit subcommands. Anything you normally declare in YAML—adding or removing labels, prefixes, namespaces, modifying images or replica counts—can also be done directly via the CLI. Before you start, check the help output for available subcommands: 
kustomize edit --help
You’ll see usage examples and commands such as: 
# Adds a ConfigMap to the kustomization file
kustomize edit add configmap NAME --from-literal=k=v

# Sets the nameprefix field
kustomize edit set nameprefix <prefix-value>

# Sets the namesuffix field
kustomize edit set namesuffix <suffix-value>

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Key Subcommands

SubcommandAction
edit setModify existing fields
edit addAdd generators, resources, or plugins
edit removeRemove items from the kustomization

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edit set

Use kustomize edit set to change fields in your kustomization.yaml without editing it by hand.

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Change an image tag

kustomize edit set image nginx=nginx:1.2.2
Resulting entry: 
images:
- name: nginx
  newTag: 1.2.2

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Set or update a namespace

kustomize edit set namespace staging
Produces: 
namespace: staging
This command only updates your kustomization.yaml. It does not apply changes to your cluster.

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Add common labels

kustomize edit set label org=KodeKloud env=staging
Yields: 
commonLabels:
  org: KodeKloud
  env: staging

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Set replica count for a Deployment

kustomize edit set replicas nginx-deployment=5
Adds: 
replicas:
- name: nginx-deployment
  count: 5

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edit add

The add subcommands let you generate ConfigMaps, Secrets, and include additional resources.

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Add a ConfigMap generator

kustomize edit add configmap db-creds \
  --from-literal=password=password1 \
  --from-literal=username=root
Generates: 
configMapGenerator:
- name: db-creds
  literals:
  - password=password1
  - username=root

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Add a Secret generator

kustomize edit add secret my-secret \
  --from-literal=login=user1 \
  --from-literal=password=mypassword
Produces: 
secretGenerator:
- name: my-secret
  type: Opaque
  literals:
  - login=user1
  - password=mypassword

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Add a resource

Include external YAML manifests in your kustomization: 
kustomize edit add resource db/db-depl.yaml
Results in: 
resources:
- db/db-depl.yaml

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Which kustomization.yaml Gets Updated?

If your project uses multiple overlays or bases, the file modified depends on where you run the command: 
cd k8/base
kustomize edit set label org=KodeKloud
cd ../overlays/prod
kustomize edit set namespace prod
# Updates k8/overlays/prod/kustomization.yaml
If there’s no kustomization.yaml in your current directory, you’ll see an error.

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