Labels are metadata that can be attached to Kubernetes objects like pods, nodes, and deployments. Key-value pairs can be used to identify and organize these objects in various ways. For example, a label might be used to specify the environment that a particular pod is running in (e.g., “test”, “stage”, or “prod”). It can also be used to indicate the type of service that a deployment is providing (e.g. “frontend”, “backend”, or “database”).

By using Kubernetes labels correctly, DevOps teams can more quickly troubleshoot issues along the application development pipeline, apply configuration changes en masse, and solve cost monitoring, allocation, and management challenges.