Namespaced

Namespaced is a term used in computing to describe an object or identifier that exists within a named namespace, a logical container used to partition resources and names within a system. Namespaces provide scope boundaries so that resources with the same name can exist in different namespaces without collision. Whether a resource is namespaced depends on the system and the resource type.

In Kubernetes, most API resources are namespaced. They reside within a namespace and are addressed by a combination of namespace and name. Examples include pods, services, deployments, configmaps, and secrets. Namespaced resources enable teams or projects to operate in isolation, with resource quotas and access control policies applied at the namespace level. Users typically specify the namespace when creating or querying resources, and some systems default to a standard namespace if none is specified.

Not all resources are namespaced. Cluster-scoped resources exist at the cluster level and are not bound to a namespace; examples in Kubernetes include nodes and certain cluster-wide objects such as some CRDs, as well as resources like cluster roles and cluster role bindings. In addition, CustomResourceDefinitions can define scope as Namespaced or Cluster, determining whether their custom resources are namespaced or cluster-wide.

Benefits of namespacing include organizational separation, easier access control, and per-tenant quotas. Limitations include that namespaces are not a complete security boundary on their own; cross-namespace access requires explicit permissions and careful policy configuration. Namespacing remains a fundamental pattern for organizing and isolating resources in multi-tenant environments.