kubescape/httphandler/examples/microservice

Kubescape as a Microservice

This guide explains how to deploy Kubescape as a microservice in your Kubernetes cluster, enabling API-driven security scanning.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Prerequisites
• Deployment
• API Usage
• Configuration
• Troubleshooting

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Overview

Running Kubescape as a microservice allows you to:

• Trigger security scans via REST API
• Integrate with CI/CD pipelines
• Build custom dashboards and automation
• Schedule and manage scans programmatically

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Prerequisites

• Kubernetes cluster with kubectl access
• Cluster admin permissions (for RBAC setup)
• Network access to the Kubescape service endpoint

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Deployment

1. Deploy Kubescape Microservice

kubectl apply -f ks-deployment.yaml

Note

: Review and modify ks-deployment.yaml to match your cluster configuration:

• serviceType (ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer)
• Namespace
• Resource limits
• Service account permissions

2. Verify Deployment

# Check pod status
kubectl get pods -l app=kubescape

# Check service
kubectl get svc kubescape

3. Access the Service

# Port-forward for local access
kubectl port-forward svc/kubescape 8080:8080

# Or get the external IP (if using LoadBalancer)
kubectl get svc kubescape -o jsonpath='{.status.loadBalancer.ingress[0].ip}'

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API Usage

Trigger a Scan

curl --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --request POST \
  --data '{
    "account": "XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX",
    "targetType": "framework",
    "targetNames": ["nsa", "mitre"]
  }' \
  http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/scan

Response:

{
  "id": "scan-12345",
  "type": "busy",
  "response": "scanning in progress"
}

Trigger Scan and Wait for Results

curl --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --request POST \
  --data '{"targetType": "framework", "targetNames": ["nsa"]}' \
  "http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/scan?wait=true" \
  -o results.json

Check Scan Status

curl --request GET "http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/status?id=scan-12345"

Get Scan Results

curl --request GET "http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/results?id=scan-12345" -o results.json

Get Latest Results

curl --request GET http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/results -o results.json

Delete Cached Results

# Delete specific results
curl --request DELETE "http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/results?id=scan-12345"

# Delete all cached results
curl --request DELETE "http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/results?all=true"

---

Configuration

Scan Request Options

Field	Type	Description
account	string	Kubescape SaaS account ID (optional)
accessKey	string	Kubescape SaaS access key (optional)
targetType	string	"framework" or "control"
targetNames	array	List of frameworks/controls to scan
excludedNamespaces	array	Namespaces to exclude
includeNamespaces	array	Namespaces to include
format	string	Output format (default: "json")
keepLocal	boolean	Don't submit results to backend
useCachedArtifacts	boolean	Use cached artifacts (offline mode)

Query Parameters

Parameter	Description
wait=true	Wait for scan to complete (synchronous)
keep=true	Keep results in cache after returning
id=<scan-id>	Specify a particular scan ID

Environment Variables

Configure the microservice using environment variables in your deployment:

Variable	Description
KS_ACCOUNT	Default account ID
KS_EXCLUDE_NAMESPACES	Default namespaces to exclude
KS_INCLUDE_NAMESPACES	Default namespaces to include
KS_FORMAT	Default output format
KS_LOGGER_LEVEL	Log level (debug, info, warning, error)

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Example Workflows

CI/CD Integration

#!/bin/bash
# Trigger scan and wait for results
RESULT=$(curl -s --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --request POST \
  --data '{"targetType": "framework", "targetNames": ["nsa"]}' \
  "http://kubescape:8080/v1/scan?wait=true")

# Extract compliance score
SCORE=$(echo $RESULT | jq '.response.summaryDetails.complianceScore')

# Fail pipeline if score is below threshold
if (( $(echo "$SCORE < 80" | bc -l) )); then
  echo "Compliance score $SCORE is below threshold (80)"
  exit 1
fi

Scheduled Scanning

Use a Kubernetes CronJob to trigger regular scans:

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: kubescape-scheduled-scan
spec:
  schedule: "0 */6 * * *"  # Every 6 hours
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          containers:
          - name: scanner
            image: curlimages/curl
            command:
            - /bin/sh
            - -c
            - |
              curl -X POST http://kubescape:8080/v1/scan \
                -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
                -d '{"targetType": "framework", "targetNames": ["nsa", "mitre"]}'
          restartPolicy: OnFailure

---

Troubleshooting

Service Not Accessible

# Check pod logs
kubectl logs -l app=kubescape

# Check service endpoints
kubectl get endpoints kubescape

# Verify network policies
kubectl get networkpolicies

Scan Times Out

For large clusters, use asynchronous scanning:

# Trigger scan (returns immediately)
curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/scan \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"targetType": "framework", "targetNames": ["nsa"]}'

# Poll for status
while true; do
  STATUS=$(curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/status | jq -r '.type')
  if [ "$STATUS" != "busy" ]; then
    break
  fi
  sleep 10
done

# Get results
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/results -o results.json

Permission Errors

Ensure the service account has sufficient RBAC permissions to read cluster resources.

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Related Documentation

• HTTP Handler API Reference
• Kubescape CLI Reference
• Prometheus Integration
• Getting Started Guide