Kairos ships two kinds of images. A "core" image is just the immutable OS. A "standard" image is that same core with a Kubernetes layer baked in: the k8s provider plugin, edgevpn, and the k3s or k0s binaries with their service units. Those extra files are added at build time by kairos-init, and once they are in the image they are part of it for the life of that release.

That packaging is convenient, but it ties two things together that do not really need to be tied: the operating system and the Kubernetes distribution running on top of it. I spent some time on a proof-of-concept that pulls them apart, and I would like to show you what it looks like and, more importantly, hear whether you think it is worth pursuing.

The repository is here: https://github.com/jimmykarily/provider-kairos-extension

Kairos v4.1.0 is now available.

This release improves the path from building a Kairos image to deploying and managing real nodes. kairos-agent now includes phone-home support, which works together with AuroraBoot v0.20.0 and its web UI when you run it in fleet server mode. Nodes produced through that flow can come online, report back after first boot using phone-home, and show up in AuroraBoot’s node manager.

Behind that story, v4.1.0 also ships Hadron v0.2.0 for Hadron-based Kairos images, Ubuntu 26.04 support in kairos-init, boot and install/disk hardening, broader distro compatibility, and release automation improvements. These layers all support the same operational direction: a dependable lifecycle around immutable images.

Kairos community,

We are preparing the next major step in our CNCF journey: applying to move from Sandbox to Incubation.

To do that, we need to demonstrate healthy and diverse real-world adoption. As part of the official CNCF TOC project lifecycle and process, projects are expected to provide 5-7 adopters willing to be interviewed during due diligence.

Today, we are inviting organizations using Kairos to participate as adopters and help us through this milestone.

We also understand adoption takes time. If you are currently in a proof-of-concept stage, that is absolutely okay. We would still love to talk, learn from your experience, and help you move toward pre-production and production in any way we can.

Kairos v4.0.0 is the result of a clear architecture path we have been building over time: first standardizing image creation with kairos-init, then making that flow easy to run anywhere with Kairos Factory and kairos-factory-action, and finally introducing Hadron.

In March 2025, we introduced kairos-init, a foundational shift that removed Dockerfile-heavy distro logic and standardized how we transform OCI bases into Kairos images.

From there, we focused on operationalizing that model so anyone could run it. With Kairos Factory, users can build and maintain their own Kairos pipelines using the same tooling we run in production.

In December 2025, we introduced Hadron, our upstream-first Linux base for immutable systems. In v4, Hadron artifacts are what the project publishes in its release flow.

At the same time, distro flexibility remains core to Kairos. This is visible in active community work such as Oracle Linux support in kairos-io/kairos#3987.

For additional migration and build context, read Hadron-Only Artifacts with Ongoing Distro Support.

Starting with Kairos v4, the Kairos project will publish Hadron-based artifacts only.

This decision allows us to reduce maintenance costs, focus engineering effort where it has the most impact, and ship improvements faster.

We are happy to welcome William Rizzo as a new Kairos maintainer.

William is a CNCF Ambassador and Linkerd Ambassador, and he currently works at Mirantis as a Global Field CTO. He helps organizations design, build, and run platforms across edge, AI, and platform engineering. His background spans engineering, product ownership, pre- and post-sales, and consulting, with experience in HPC, storage, and large-scale distributed systems.

Open source and cloud-native communities are a major part of William's professional identity. He actively volunteers in several Cloud Native groups and helps organize KCD Netherlands. He also brings public speaking experience from community talks. He is a strong addition to the team, bringing years of experience in the field and a collaborative, community-first approach.

The cloud-native and edge-computing world demands systems that are small, reliable, and predictable. For years, the Kairos project has empowered users to turn mainstream Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu, Alpine, Debian, Fedora and more, into immutable, image-based operating systems with secure, atomic A/B updates.

That mission remains core to us. But in transforming traditional distributions, we continually encountered friction: the inherited bloat of legacy package managers, sprawling dependency graphs, and downstream patches that increase image size and boot time.

Kairos has always been more than just a Linux distro—it's a bold idea: bring the power and flexibility of Kubernetes to the edge, with a truly immutable, secure, and cloud-native operating system anyone can use, contribute to, and trust.

Over the past few years, we've seen Kairos go from idea to implementation, and from experimentation to production. Today, it's running in large-scale, real-world deployments across diverse edge use cases. But more importantly—it's been growing as a community.

Today, we're excited to share a new milestone in that journey:
👉 Kairos now has official commercial support options available from Spectro Cloud.

Before we dive into what that means, let's take a step back and talk about what makes an open-source project reliable—especially when the stakes are high.

We're excited to announce the release of Kairos 3.5.0! This release represents a significant milestone for the broader Kairos ecosystem, marking the completion of several key features across multiple projects that work together to improve the overall Kairos experience.

Every now and then, a release isn't just a version bump—it’s a reset button. Kairos 3.4.0 is one of those releases.

In the last few months, we’ve been heads-down rethinking what makes Kairos powerful, approachable, and future-proof. The result is a foundational overhaul: a brand-new build system, native images for all major cloud providers, streamlined customization through system extensions, and a tighter Kubernetes story with built-in support for k0s. This release isn’t just packed with features—it reflects where the project is heading and how our community is shaping that direction.

Let’s walk through the biggest milestones in Kairos 3.4.0, how they work, and why they matter.