Workload API

FEATURE STATE: Kubernetes v1.35 [alpha](disabled by default)

The Workload API resource allows you to describe the scheduling requirements and structure of a multi-Pod application.While workload controllers provide runtime behavior for the workloads,the Workload API is supposed to provide scheduling constraints for the "true" workloads, such as Job and others.

What is a Workload?

The Workload API resource is part of the scheduling.k8s.io/v1alpha1 API group(and your cluster must have that API group enabled, as well as the GenericWorkload feature gate,before you can benefit from this API).This resource acts as a structured, machine-readable definition of the scheduling requirements of a multi-Pod application. While user-facing workloads like Jobs define what to run, the Workload resource determines how a group of Pods should be scheduled and how its placement should be managed throughout its lifecycle.

API structure

A Workload allows you to define a group of Pods and apply a scheduling policy to them.It consists of two sections: a list of pod groups and a reference to a controller.

Pod groups

The podGroups list defines the distinct components of your workload.For example, a machine learning job might have a driver group and a worker group.

Each entry in podGroups must have:

  1. A unique name that can be used in the Pod's Workload reference.
  2. A scheduling policy (basic or gang).
apiVersion: scheduling.k8s.io/v1alpha1
kind: Workload
metadata:
  name: training-job-workload
  namespace: some-ns
spec:
  controllerRef:
    apiGroup: batch
    kind: Job
    name: training-job
  podGroups:
  - name: workers
    policy:
      gang:
        # The gang is schedulable only if 4 pods can run at once
        minCount: 4

Referencing a workload controlling object

The controllerRef field links the Workload back to the specific high-level object defining the application,such as a Job or a custom CRD. This is useful for observability and tooling.This data is not used to schedule or manage the Workload.

What's next


Last modified November 29, 2025 at 7:34 PM PST: Tweak advice about API group for Workload (451e915878)