Debugging Kubernetes control plane components can be challenging, especially when you need to quickly understand the runtime state of a component or verify its configuration. With Kubernetes 1.35, we're enhancing the z-pages debugging endpoints with structured, machine-parseable responses that make it easier to build tooling and automate troubleshooting workflows.

What are z-pages?

z-pages are special debugging endpoints exposed by Kubernetes control plane components. Introduced as an alpha feature in Kubernetes 1.32, these endpoints provide runtime diagnostics for components like kube-apiserver, kube-controller-manager, kube-scheduler, kubelet and kube-proxy. The name "z-pages" comes from the convention of using /*z paths for debugging endpoints.

Currently, Kubernetes supports two primary z-page endpoints:

/statusz

Displays high-level component information including version information, start time, uptime, and available debug paths

/flagz

Shows all command-line arguments and their values used to start the component (with confidential values redacted for security)

These endpoints are valuable for human operators who need to quickly inspect component state, but until now, they only returned plain text output that was difficult to parse programmatically.

What's new in Kubernetes 1.35?

Kubernetes 1.35 introduces structured, versioned responses for both /statusz and /flagz endpoints. This enhancement maintains backward compatibility with the existing plain text format while adding support for machine-readable JSON responses.

Backward compatible design

The new structured responses are opt-in. Without specifying an Accept header, the endpoints continue to return the familiar plain text format:

$ curl --cert /etc/kubernetes/pki/apiserver-kubelet-client.crt \
--key /etc/kubernetes/pki/apiserver-kubelet-client.key \
--cacert /etc/kubernetes/pki/ca.crt \
https://localhost:6443/statusz
kube-apiserver statusz
Warning: This endpoint is not meant to be machine parseable, has no formatting compatibility guarantees and is for debugging purposes only.
Started: Wed Oct 16 21:03:43 UTC 2024
Up: 0 hr 00 min 16 sec
Go version: go1.23.2
Binary version: 1.35.0-alpha.0.1595
Emulation version: 1.35
Paths: /healthz /livez /metrics /readyz /statusz /version

Structured JSON responses

To receive a structured response, include the appropriate Accept header:

Accept: application/json;v=v1alpha1;g=config.k8s.io;as=Statusz

This returns a versioned JSON response:

{
 "kind": "Statusz",
 "apiVersion": "config.k8s.io/v1alpha1",
 "metadata": {
 "name": "kube-apiserver"
 },
 "startTime": "2025-10-29T00:30:01Z",
 "uptimeSeconds": 856,
 "goVersion": "go1.23.2",
 "binaryVersion": "1.35.0",
 "emulationVersion": "1.35",
 "paths": [
 "/healthz",
 "/livez",
 "/metrics",
 "/readyz",
 "/statusz",
 "/version"
 ]
}

Similarly, /flagz supports structured responses with the header:

Accept: application/json;v=v1alpha1;g=config.k8s.io;as=Flagz

Example response:

{
 "kind": "Flagz",
 "apiVersion": "config.k8s.io/v1alpha1",
 "metadata": {
 "name": "kube-apiserver"
 },
 "flags": {
 "advertise-address": "192.168.8.4",
 "allow-privileged": "true",
 "authorization-mode": "[Node,RBAC]",
 "enable-priority-and-fairness": "true",
 "profiling": "true"
 }
}

Why structured responses matter

The addition of structured responses opens up several new possibilities:

1. Automated health checks and monitoring

Instead of parsing plain text, monitoring tools can now easily extract specific fields. For example, you can programmatically check if a component has been running with an unexpected emulated version or verify that critical flags are set correctly.

2. Better debugging tools

Developers can build sophisticated debugging tools that compare configurations across multiple components or track configuration drift over time. The structured format makes it trivial to diff configurations or validate that components are running with expected settings.

3. API versioning and stability

By introducing versioned APIs (starting with v1alpha1), we provide a clear path to stability. As the feature matures, we'll introduce v1beta1 and eventually v1, giving you confidence that your tooling won't break with future Kubernetes releases.

How to use structured z-pages

Prerequisites

Both endpoints require feature gates to be enabled:

• /statusz: Enable the ComponentStatusz feature gate
• /flagz: Enable the ComponentFlagz feature gate

Example: Getting structured responses

Here's an example using curl to retrieve structured JSON responses from the kube-apiserver:

# Get structured statusz response
curl \
 --cert /etc/kubernetes/pki/apiserver-kubelet-client.crt \
 --key /etc/kubernetes/pki/apiserver-kubelet-client.key \
 --cacert /etc/kubernetes/pki/ca.crt \
 -H "Accept: application/json;v=v1alpha1;g=config.k8s.io;as=Statusz" \
 https://localhost:6443/statusz | jq .

# Get structured flagz response
curl \
 --cert /etc/kubernetes/pki/apiserver-kubelet-client.crt \
 --key /etc/kubernetes/pki/apiserver-kubelet-client.key \
 --cacert /etc/kubernetes/pki/ca.crt \
 -H "Accept: application/json;v=v1alpha1;g=config.k8s.io;as=Flagz" \
 https://localhost:6443/flagz | jq .

Important considerations

Alpha feature status

The structured z-page responses are an alpha feature in Kubernetes 1.35. This means:

• The API format may change in future releases
• These endpoints are intended for debugging, not production automation
• You should avoid relying on them for critical monitoring workflows until they reach beta or stable status

Security and access control

z-pages expose internal component information and require proper access controls. Here are the key security considerations:

Authorization: Access to z-page endpoints is restricted to members of the system:monitoring group, which follows the same authorization model as other debugging endpoints like /healthz, /livez, and /readyz. This ensures that only authorized users and service accounts can access debugging information. If your cluster uses RBAC, you can manage access by granting appropriate permissions to this group.

Authentication: The authentication requirements for these endpoints depend on your cluster's configuration. Unless anonymous authentication is enabled for your cluster, you typically need to use authentication mechanisms (such as client certificates) to access these endpoints.

Information disclosure: These endpoints reveal configuration details about your cluster components, including:

• Component versions and build information
• All command-line arguments and their values (with confidential values redacted)
• Available debug endpoints

Only grant access to trusted operators and debugging tools. Avoid exposing these endpoints to unauthorized users or automated systems that don't require this level of access.

Future evolution

As the feature matures, we (Kubernetes SIG Instrumentation) expect to:

• Introduce v1beta1 and eventually v1 versions of the API
• Gather community feedback on the response schema
• Potentially add additional z-page endpoints based on user needs

Try it out

We encourage you to experiment with structured z-pages in a test environment:

1. Enable the ComponentStatusz and ComponentFlagz feature gates on your control plane components
2. Try querying the endpoints with both plain text and structured formats
3. Build a simple tool or script that uses the structured data
4. Share your feedback with the community

Learn more

• z-pages documentation
• KEP-4827: Component Statusz
• KEP-4828: Component Flagz
• Join the discussion in the #sig-instrumentation channel on Kubernetes Slack

Get involved

We'd love to hear your feedback! The structured z-pages feature is designed to make Kubernetes easier to debug and monitor. Whether you're building internal tooling, contributing to open source projects, or just exploring the feature, your input helps shape the future of Kubernetes observability.

If you have questions, suggestions, or run into issues, please reach out to SIG Instrumentation. You can find us on Slack or at our regular community meetings.

Happy debugging!

Celebrate the public domain with the Internet Archive in the following ways:

• Register for our Public Domain Day celebrations on January 21 – both virtual and in-person.
• Submit a short film to our Public Domain Film Remix contest. Deadline January 7, 2026 @11:59 PM Pacific.
• Explore the works that have entered the public domain in 2026, below.

On January 1, 2026, we celebrate published works from 1930 and published sound recordings from 1925 entering the public domain! Their arrival marks another chapter in our shared cultural heritage: the freedom to breathe new life into overlooked works, remix enduring classics, and circulate the oddities we discover in thrift stores, family attics, and forgotten corners of the internet.

For the first time since the 1970s, works from a new decade have entered the public domain after their long copyright term. This milestone builds on the momentum that began when the public domain reopened in 2019. The works of 1930 reflect a world grappling with enormous change: the early years of the Great Depression, anxieties about banks and tariffs (sound familiar?), and a cultural landscape still humming with the last heartbeats of the 1920s.

The Jazz Age and flapper style persisted through Nancy Drew’s illustrations and Betty Boop’s design; Buster Keaton’s first talkie signaled the twilight of the silent era; and the Gershwins continued to shake-up musical culture with “I Got Rhythm” and “Embraceable You”. The Interwar period left its mark, too—the first filmed adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front won Best Picture. Audiences sought escapism in the Marx Brothers’ Animal Crackers, in 19 new Disney cartoons, and in the gender-bending glamour of the pre-Hays Code film Morocco.

Culture was everywhere—and now, it belongs to everyone.

Musical Compositions

1930 saw the introduction of many standards into the Great American Songbook including the wistful “Dream A Little Dream of Me”, “Georgia on My Mind”, and “It Happened in Monterey”. The latter of those songs being a cultural curiosity as the spelling reflects the California city while the song is about the Mexican city. Hoagy Charmichael’s loving refrain for the state of Georgia with Georgia on My Mind would become the state’s official song in 1979. 

Even inspiration for later 20th Century works bubbled up with “Beyond the Blue Horizon” which would serve as inspiration for the original Star Trek theme. At the Internet Archive the song reminds us of the blinking blue lights that help to power the 1 Trillion webpages saved.

Check out this list of more musical compositions from the year.

• On the Sunny Side of the Street lyrics by Dorothy Fields, music by Jimmy McHugh
• Just A Gigolo (first English translation), original German lyrics by Julius Brammer, English translation by Irving Caesar, music by Leonello Casucci 
• You’re Driving Me Crazy! What Did I Do?, lyrics and music by Walter Donaldson 
• Livin’ in the Sunlight, Lovin’ in the Moonlight lyrics by Al Sherman, music by Al Lewis
• Body and Soul lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, Frank Eyton, music by John W. Green
• I’ve Got a Crush on You; But Not for Me, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, music by George Gershwin

Literature

If we thought that detectives had a field day in 1929 then we just hadn’t seen what 1930 had to offer yet. Miss Marple, Nancy Drew, Harriet Vane, and Sam Spade all featured in iconic works of the year respectively: The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, The Secret of the Old Clock, Strong Poison, and the published novel edition of The Maltese Falcon. Nancy Drew appeared in four different stories this year giving readers and creatives plenty of stories and mysteries to dig into. But be careful and make sure you’re reading the original editions from 1930 and not the rewrites from the late 1950s. Luckily the Archive has the 1930 editions ready for you here in our collections!

While detective fiction dominated we also got bold works from other authors including As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner which blends multiple perspectives and bold narrative experimentation to chronicle a family’s turbulent journey to honor their mother’s final request. Groundwork was also laid for another Best Picture winner with Edna Farber’s Cimarron. Children had works to entertain themselves with Dick and Jane’s introduction in Elson Basic Readers and a 1930 retelling of the folktale, The Little Engine That Could.

Dive into Archive’s literary collection to unearth more classics from 1930.

Film

A favorite film of this author is the King of Jazz, a stunning Technicolor musical revue featuring Paul Whiteman, Bing Crosby, and elaborate song and dance numbers. 

It wasn’t the only musical of the year as the Marx Brothers adapted their stage show Animal Crackers to the big screen in a film of the same name. Their comedic antics would absurdly riff on the culture of the time with Groucho directly parodying a monologue from Eugene O’Neill’s 1928 play, Strange Interlude.

While past the heyday of his filmic output, Buster Keaton was still on the scene with his first talkie, Free and Easy, entering the public domain this year. If you’ve never heard his voice before then it might surprise you! Another iconic comedy is Soup to Nuts, a vehicle for Rube Goldberg to share crazy contraptions on screen. It was also the debut of actors that would form The Three Stooges group a few years later.

In another reminder of how copyright expires on a yearly basis we’re talking about All Quiet on the Western Front for the third year in a row, but this time as the adaptation that won the 3rd Academy Award for Best Picture. The film is a sobering reminder and depiction of the horrors of war, and showcased how audiences in 1930 were still reeling from the first World War. It is also a very engaging and well rounded film that is still great cinema nearly 100 years later.

Even more icons made headway in 1930 with Alfred Hitchcock’s Murder!, John Wayne’s first leading role in The Big Trail, and Greta Garbo’s moving performance in Anna Christie.

Check out more films from the year here:

• Hell’s Angels (dir. Howard Hughes & James Whale)
• Holiday (the first adaptation of the Philip Barry play)
• Monte Carlo (An early Lubitsch)
• The Divorcee (Norma Shearer’s Academy Award winning performance)
• The Unholy Three (Lon Chaney’s final film and only talkie)

Our film remix contest is ongoing until January 7, 2026, so please upload your submissions! Read more here.

Comics and Cartoons

Only a year removed from the 1920s, culture didn’t change overnight. Debuting on September 8, 1930, the Blondie comic strip by Chic Young was steeped in flapper style. Originally named Blondie Boopadoop, she drew on the singing persona of Helen Kane—who also inspired aspects of Betty Boop. For more on Betty Boop, read Jennifer Jenkins’ write-up at Duke Law’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain.

Mickey Mouse expanded from the screen to the page with 303 daily comic strips, sending him on western adventures, robber-chasing escapades, and more.

In 2026, we now have another 19 Disney shorts (9 Mickey, 10 Silly Symphonies) to help fill out this creative world. The Silly Symphonies rounded out their celebration of the seasons by following up 1929’s Springtime with Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

Meanwhile, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit—Mickey’s older brother—continued his prolific output even after Disney lost the rights to him in 1928. Under Walter Lantz, Oswald starred in 24 shorts this year, nearly 2.5 times Mickey’s total. Two of these, My Pal Paul and Africa, cross-promoted the film King of Jazz, proving that cinematic tie-ins have long been part of studio strategy.

Recap

The arrival of these works into the public domain is a reminder of our shared cultural heritage—of the stories, sounds, and images that shaped earlier generations and now become fair game for creative reuse. Many of these works have already been reimagined under copyright: Nancy Drew’s rewrites, the many adaptations of All Quiet on the Western Front, Mickey Mouse’s leap into comics, and more.

Now, in 2026, these works pass into a space where everyone can study them, remix them, preserve them, and carry them forward.

The public domain belongs to all of us. Let’s explore it together.

Additional resources

• Learn more about what’s moving into the public domain in 2026 from Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle of Duke Law’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain.
• Public Domain Review highlights the materials moving into the public domain in 2026.
• Read the recaps from John Mark Ockerbloom’s Everybody’s Libraries of works that have joined the public domain.
• Check out the Public Domain Game Jam from Techdirt.

Writers Write shares writing prompts and writing resources. Use these 31 writing prompts for January 2026 to get you writing.

January – Getting Unstuck

Month 1: Starting is the hardest part

Hello Writer

We have a whole new year ahead of us, and that means another 365 writing prompts. In the coming months, I want to focus on the most common challenges we face as writers.

Every month, along with a prompt for every day, I’d like to share an exercise that helps us deal with challenges like writer’s block, perfectionism, procrastination, and imposter syndrome.

Getting started

This month I want to start at, well, the start. This is often the hardest part, just starting. The blank page, the blinking cursor. Sometimes it feels insurmountable, so the idea for this month is just to start.

Exercise:

Set a timer for five minutes and write: Try to write a little bit every day. Sit at your desk. Set your timer for five minutes and write. That is all. Use the prompts. Don’t use the prompts. Write a description of your garden. Write a character bio. Write a grocery list, if you must. Just start building a small habit every day. That is the goal, not the finished product. Not yet. Just get the words on the page.

Why does this work?

When you start with small tasks that you do regularly, you take away the pressure. You focus on building the habit and not writing a brilliant story. That comes later. It happens when you don’t even realise it, but the first stop is just showing up to the page.

Next month, we will discuss perfectionism.

Good luck, writer.

31 Writing Prompts For January 2026

Download your prompts here: Writing Prompts January 2026

Do you want a daily prompt?

If you would rather have a free daily writing prompt from us, sign up here: Join Our Newsletter

Make the most of your writing prompts. Read How To Use Writing Prompts

Happiness
Mia

by Mia Botha

Looking for more prompts?

1. 31 Writing Prompts For December 2025
2. 30 Writing Prompts For November 2025
3. 31 Writing Prompts For October 2025
4. 30 Writing Prompts For September 2025
5. 31 Writing Prompts For August 2025
6. 31 Writing Prompts For July 2025
7. 30 Writing Prompts For June 2025
8. 31 Writing Prompts For May 2025
9. 30 Writing Prompts For April 2025
10. 31 Writing Prompts For March 2025

Top Tip: Find out more about our workbooks and online courses in our shop.

The post 31 Writing Prompts For January 2026 appeared first on Writers Write.

I'm writing this in the train station waiting for my very (very, very) delayed train. Delays are part of life, I never feel like I'm making my own deadlines. I think in the next year I'm not going to sweat getting there a tad slower, as long as I'm getting there. Lots of interesting bits in this one, if you liked something, let me know in the comments. And a huge thank you to everyone who has subscribed this year! It really means a lot to me to know people are reading all of this. Here's to more writing about writing about writing in 2026. Happy reading! ~EM

Writing Bits and Bobs

• WriterUnboxed - Donald Maass on adding color commentary to your fiction
• DraftingThroughLife - 5 essential strategies for writing more
• Jane Friedman - The case for shrinking your novel

End of Year Flow

• Try a Yearly Theme instead of a resolution you won't keep.
• Courtney Milan - Seal Flow

"I am both a person who felt like I did nothing in law school and got ridiculously good grades and also a person who failed out of college twice. I am economy of motion and also a big old blob of ambulatory seal meat. Both are necessarily part of me..."

• Sabletone - Creating an Evening Rhythm

"Shadows stretch across the walls as the sun exhales its last golden breath, and a single candle flickers awake. You draw your journal close, fingers grazing its textured cover, and for the first time in hours, the day loosens its grip. The room offers you not another task or obligation, but a quiet return to yourself—a small aperture in time where your breath slows and the world recedes."

• Amanda Litman - A Year of Saturday Dinners

“A true & earnest thing: Despite the fact that I live & breathe politics professionally, voted in two elections, subscribe to lots of media, engage in political discourse, and gave to campaigns, I think our weekly dinners may have been my most meaningful political act of the year.”

Longreads

• Wrecka.ge - Landslide: A ghost story - one of the most interesting things I've read this year. Starts with an earthquake ends with some important thoughts for the future.

"Most of the explanations that I think are in my brain are actually dotted lines in the shape of real explanations, but with very little inside them. They are ghosts of knowledge. And I won’t know what I don’t know until I fuck around and find out."

• 92nd Street Y's poetry center has released their entire archive online.
• Chat GPT is Eating the World - Stay up to date on the anthropic lawsuits

Short reads

• Kate Francia - 8 cozy knitting SF short stories 
• Transfer Orbit - Table of Contents for December - List of short fiction released this month, lots of free links.

Future Thinking

• Nature.com - Lightfastness of fountain pen inks - tldr: document inks win out over general use inks if you want your words to last
• Duke Law’s annual list of works entering public Domain on Jan 1 - Including Betty Boop, The Maltese Falcon, As I Lay Dying, and the Little Engine that Could.

December books read/reading

• Tears of the Wolf, Oath of the Wolf - Tore through these after Christmas (did I mention I was stuck in a train station for several hours?) extremely necessary viking inflected slowish-burn fluffy murder romance with psychic hounds.
• Driving the Deep, The Scavenger Door, Ghostdrift - the continuation of the Finder series. These were really fun and different and headed nowhere I was expecting. Pom-pom spider aliens! Future Scotland! Found Family!
• All Accounts Settled - the last in the Fred the Vampire Accountant series. A satisfying ending, if perhaps a bit cheesy on the power scale. But that’s in keeping with the entire series. 
• The Sound on the Page - Ben Yagoda interviews 40 writers on how they developed their style. Full review scheduled for early Jan. 
• Started - The Starving Saints - billed to me as lesbian romance surviving a siege (with lots of cannibalism?), best book of the year for several publishing friends
• Started - Meditations for Mortals - from the author of 4k weeks, a one-month read a chapter a day “reset”, nothing revolutionary so far but lots of good reminders 

Accountability

• 4 Chapters of (?) revised on "Lich"
• 1 rejection for "Monuments"
• Fantabulosa! submission still pending.