name: Crossplane Kubernetes API Capabilities
description: >-
  Workflow capabilities exposed by Crossplane's Kubernetes API extension for
  defining composite resources, composing infrastructure, and managing
  Crossplane packages on a control plane cluster.
url: https://docs.crossplane.io/latest/api/
version: '1.0'
modified: '2026-04-28'
api: Crossplane Kubernetes API
baseURL: https://kubernetes.default.svc
capabilities:
  - name: Composite Resource Definition Management
    description: >-
      Create, update, list, and delete CompositeResourceDefinitions (XRDs)
      that extend the Kubernetes API with new composite resource types and
      optional namespaced claim types.
    operations:
      - listCompositeResourceDefinitions
      - createCompositeResourceDefinition
      - getCompositeResourceDefinition
      - replaceCompositeResourceDefinition
      - deleteCompositeResourceDefinition
    inputs:
      - XRD manifest
    outputs:
      - CompositeResourceDefinition object
      - installed CRDs
  - name: Composition Authoring
    description: >-
      Author and version Compositions that map composite resources to
      composed managed resources or Composition Functions through patches
      and transforms.
    operations:
      - listCompositions
      - createComposition
      - getComposition
      - replaceComposition
      - deleteComposition
    inputs:
      - Composition manifest
    outputs:
      - Composition object
      - CompositionRevision history
  - name: Provider Lifecycle
    description: >-
      Install, upgrade, and remove Crossplane Providers and ProviderConfigs
      that supply managed resources for cloud infrastructure.
    operations:
      - listProviders
      - createProvider
      - getProvider
      - replaceProvider
      - deleteProvider
    inputs:
      - Provider manifest
      - package OCI reference
    outputs:
      - Provider object
      - installed ProviderRevisions
  - name: Configuration Package Management
    description: >-
      Install bundled Crossplane Configurations that group XRDs and
      Compositions into distributable units.
    operations:
      - listConfigurations
      - createConfiguration
      - getConfiguration
      - replaceConfiguration
      - deleteConfiguration
    inputs:
      - Configuration manifest
    outputs:
      - Configuration object
      - ConfigurationRevisions
  - name: Environment Configuration
    description: >-
      Manage EnvironmentConfigs that supply shared configuration values to
      Compositions via environment patches.
    operations:
      - listEnvironmentConfigs
      - createEnvironmentConfig
      - getEnvironmentConfig
      - replaceEnvironmentConfig
      - deleteEnvironmentConfig
    inputs:
      - EnvironmentConfig manifest
    outputs:
      - EnvironmentConfig object
useCases:
  - name: Platform API Definition
    description: Define a self-service platform API by authoring an XRD plus a Composition that hides cloud complexity behind a custom resource.
    capabilities:
      - Composite Resource Definition Management
      - Composition Authoring
  - name: Multi-Cloud Provider Onboarding
    description: Install AWS, GCP, and Azure Providers and bind them via ProviderConfigs to enable cross-cloud composition.
    capabilities:
      - Provider Lifecycle
  - name: Reusable Platform Distribution
    description: Bundle XRDs and Compositions into Configurations that platform teams can install on any Crossplane control plane.
    capabilities:
      - Configuration Package Management
      - Composite Resource Definition Management
      - Composition Authoring
  - name: Environment-Aware Composition
    description: Use EnvironmentConfigs to inject region, project, and account values into Compositions without hard-coding.
    capabilities:
      - Environment Configuration
      - Composition Authoring