Create a Node Pool - CoreWeave Docs

To add Nodes to clusters, you must first create and deploy a Node Pool to associate with a given cluster. Node Pools are deployed as Kubernetes , which allocate the number, type, and regional placement of Nodes for use by a specified CKS cluster. Node Pools can be deployed either directly using Kubernetes, or on the Cloud Console using the Node Pools dashboard.

Prerequisites

An active CoreWeave account
A CKS cluster
kubectl installed locally
An active API Access Token, with an associated Kubeconfig

Create a Node Pool using the Cloud Console

To create a Node Pool from the Cloud Console, complete the following steps:

In Cloud Console, navigate to the Node Pools page (https://console.coreweave.com/zones/[ZONE-NAME]/clusters/[CLUSTER-NAME]/node-pools). If you don’t yet have any CKS clusters, you need to create a cluster first.
Select the CKS cluster to which the Node Pool should be added from the drop-down menu at the top of the page.
Click the Create Node Pool button at the top right corner of the dashboard.
The creation page features a YAML editor alongside a corresponding GUI.

Configure the Node Pool:

Field	Type	YAML Field	Description
Name	String	`metadata.name`	The name of the Node Pool
Cluster	String	`spec.cluster`	The cluster to which the Node Pool is added
Compute Class	String	`spec.computeClass`	The compute class of the Node Pool.
Target Nodes	Integer	`spec.targetNodes`	The number of desired Nodes in the Node Pool (minimum: `0`). Mutually exclusive with `targetRacks`.
Target Racks	Integer	`spec.targetRacks`	The quantity of desired racks for rack-based instance types. Mutually exclusive with `targetNodes`.
Instance Type	String	`spec.instanceType`	The instance type for the Node Pool

Node Pool quotas

Every time targetNodes is set, whether you’re creating a new Node Pool or scaling an existing one, CKS checks the organization’s quota. If the total request exceeds the organization’s quota for that instance type and zone, the Node Pool is filled up to the allowed quota. The output of kubectl describe on the nodepool resource displays error messages:

Type     Reason                         Age                  From              Message
----     ------                         ----                 ----              -------
Warning  CWOverQuota                    2m6s (x21 over 47m)  nodePoolOperator  TargetNodes pushes org over quota by <OVERAGE>. Limit is <QUOTA> for instance type <INSTANCE_TYPE>, compute class <COMPUTE_CLASS> in zone <ZONE>
Warning  CWNodePoolQuotaCheckFailed     2m6s (x21 over 47m)  nodePoolOperator  Internal quota error

Quota enforcement applies to both new and existing Node Pools. If targetNodes exceeds the organization’s quota, the Node Pool is filled only up to the allowed quota. For example, if the quota maximum is 10 and targetNodes is set to 15, the Node Pool requests only 10 nodes.To check the current quota status for a Node Pool, run kubectl get nodepool and look at the QUOTA column. An Over status means the Node Pool’s targetNodes exceeds the organization’s quota.

For more information, see the Node Pool reference page. For more details about your organization’s quota, contact your CoreWeave representative.

Configure taints, labels, and annotations

At the bottom of the creation page, configure any taints, annotations, or labels for the Node Pool.

The dashboard for creating and customizing Node Pools and its equivalent CR manifest.

For more information about Node taint scheduling, see Taints and Tolerations in the official Kubernetes documentation. For information about the valid syntax for labels and annotations in CKS and vanilla Kubernetes, see Labels and Selectors in the official Kubernetes documentation.

Deploy the Node Pool

When the Node Pool is ready, click the Submit button to deploy it. If you need to make changes, click the Reset button to clear all fields and start over.
After you click the Submit button, Cloud Console directs you back to the Node Pools dashboard. The new Node Pool is listed in a Pending state until deployment completes, when its status changes to Healthy.

To learn more about other Node Pool conditions, see the Node Pool reference on conditions.

Create a Node Pool using Kubernetes

The following sections describe how to define a Node Pool manifest, apply it to your cluster, and verify the result. First, configure a Node Pool manifest. Here’s an example of a default Node Pool:

example-nodepool.yaml

apiVersion: compute.coreweave.com/v1alpha1
kind: NodePool
metadata:
  name: example-nodepool
spec:
  computeClass: default
  autoscaling: false
  instanceType: gd-8xh100ib-i128
  maxNodes: 0
  minNodes: 0
  targetNodes: 2
  nodeLabels:
    my-label/node: "true"
  nodeAnnotations:
    my-annotation/node: "true"
  nodeTaints:
    - key: node-taint
      value: "true"
      effect: NoSchedule

The fields in this manifest map to the following values:

Field	Type	Description	Default
`computeClass`	String	The compute class of the Node Pool.	`default`
`instanceType`	String	GPU Instance or CPU Instance type	N/A
`autoscaling`	Boolean	Whether a cluster has autoscaling enabled. Not supported for rack-based instance types (GB200, GB300).	`false`
`targetNodes`	Integer	The number of desired Nodes in the Node Pool (Optional, minimum `0`). Mutually exclusive with `targetRacks`.	N/A
`targetRacks`	Integer	The quantity of desired racks for rack-based instance types (Optional). Mutually exclusive with `targetNodes`.	N/A
`minNodes`	Integer	The minimum number of Nodes in the cluster (Optional if `autoscaling: false`)	`0`
`maxNodes`	Integer	The maximum number of Nodes in the cluster (Optional if `autoscaling: false`)	`0`
`nodeLabels`	Map	Labels to apply to the Nodes in the Node Pool, to organize Nodes for specific purposes and Pod scheduling (Optional)	N/A
`nodeTaints`	Map	Taints to apply to the Nodes in the Node Pool, to schedule only Pods with matching tolerations (Optional)	N/A

In this example, the Node Pool manifest creates a Node Pool with the following characteristics:

Key	Example value	Description
`name`	`example-nodepool`	The name of the Node Pool
`computeClass`	`default`	The compute class of the Node Pool, in this case a default Node Pool for Reserved and On-Demand instances
`autoscaling`	`false`	Autoscaling is not enabled
`instanceType`	`gd-8xh100ib-i128`	The type of instances to include in the Node Pool, in this case 8 GPU-count H100s with InfiniBand (`gd-8xh100ib-i128`)
`minNodes`	`0`	The minimum number of Nodes that must be in the Node Pool. In this case, that number is not set (set to `0`)
`maxNodes`	`0`	The maximum number of Nodes that can be in the Node Pool. In this case, that number is not set (set to `0`)
`targetNodes`	`2`	The number of desired Nodes that should be in the Node Pool, in this case `2`
`nodeLabels`	`my-label/node: "true"`	The label to place on all Nodes within the Node Pool
`nodeTaints`	`[{ key: "my-label/node", value: "true", effect: "NoSchedule" }]`	The taint to place on all Nodes in the Node Pool

Autoscaling

To enable autoscaling for a Node Pool, set autoscaling: true. The autoscaler then adjusts targetNodes based on workload demand, keeping it between minNodes and maxNodes.

Autoscaling is not supported for rack-based instance types such as GB200 and GB300. See Autoscale Node Pools for details.

Rack-based Node Pools

For rack-based instance types, such as GB200 and GB300, targetRacks can be used instead of targetNodes. Each rack contains 18 Nodes, so setting targetRacks requests Nodes in multiples of 18 without having to calculate the Node count yourself. For example, targetRacks: 5 requests 5 racks, or 90 Nodes. targetRacks and targetNodes are mutually exclusive: a Node Pool spec must set exactly one of the two.

example-rack-nodepool.yaml

apiVersion: compute.coreweave.com/v1alpha1
kind: NodePool
metadata:
  name: example-rack-nodepool
spec:
  computeClass: default
  autoscaling: false
  instanceType: gb200-4x
  targetRacks: 1

For full deployment guidance for rack-based instances, including Pod affinity and NVLink domain placement, see NVL72-powered instances.

Apply the manifest

After you configure the manifest, apply it with kubectl:

kubectl apply -f example-nodepool.yaml

When you apply the manifest, CKS provisions the cluster with a Node Pool composed of Nodes that match the manifest’s specifications.

Verify the Node Pool

Verify that CKS created the Node Pool resource by using kubectl get on the nodepool resource. For example:

Example command

kubectl get nodepool example-nodepool

The output displays details about the Node Pool name, including the type and number of instances it contains:

Example output

NAME                INSTANCE TYPE     TARGET   QUEUED   INPROGRESS   CURRENT   VALIDATED    CAPACITY    QUOTA    AGE
example-nodepool    gd-8xh100ib-i128    2        0        0            0         Valid        Sufficient   Under    24h

List all available Node Pools

To view all available Node Pools in a cluster, use kubectl get nodepool. This returns a list of all current Node Pools in the cluster, as well as their current condition. For example:

Example command

kubectl get nodepool

Example output

NAME                INSTANCE TYPE      TARGET   QUEUED   INPROGRESS   CURRENT   VALIDATED    CAPACITY                   QUOTA    AGE
example-nodepool    gd-8xh100ib-i128   2        0        0            0         Valid        Sufficient                 Under    24h
NodePool-2          cd-hp-a96-genoa    2        1        0            1         Valid        QueuedAwaitingCapacity     Under    2d22h
NodePool-3          gd-8xh100ib-i128   3        0        1            2         Valid        Sufficient                 Under    2d15h

View the Node Pool

To see additional details on any Node Pool, target the Node Pool with kubectl describe. For example, where the Node Pool’s metadata.name is example-nodepool:

Example command

kubectl describe nodepool example-nodepool

Example output

Name:         example-nodepool
Namespace:
Labels:       <none>
Annotations:  <none>
API Version:  compute.coreweave.com/v1alpha1
Kind:         NodePool
Metadata:
  Creation Timestamp:        2025-06-09T14:48:54Z
  Generation:                1
  Resource Version:          857370
  UID:                       9311678d-4064-45b8-8439-b943250e5852
Spec:
  Autoscaling:               false
  Instance Type:             gd-8xa100-i128
  Lifecycle:
    Disable Unhealthy Node Eviction:  true
    Scale Down Strategy:              IdleOnly
  Max Nodes:                 0
  Min Nodes:                 0
  Target Nodes:              1
Status:
  Conditions:
    Last Transition Time:    2025-05-30T17:36:00Z
    Message:                 NodePool configuration is valid.
    Reason:                  Valid
    Status:                  True
    Type:                    Validated
    Last Transition Time:    2025-05-30T17:36:00Z
    Message:                 Sufficient capacity available for the requested instance type.
    Reason:                  Sufficient
    Status:                  True
    Type:                    Capacity
    Last Transition Time:    2025-05-30T17:36:00Z
    Message:                 NodePool is within instance type quota.
    Reason:                  Under
    Status:                  True
    Type:                    Quota
    Last Transition Time:    2025-05-30T17:36:00Z
    Message:                 NodePool has reached its target node count.
    Reason:                  TargetMet
    Status:                  True
    Type:                    AtTarget
  Current Nodes:             1
  In Progress:               0
  Queued Nodes:              0
Events:                      <none>

For more information about Node Pool conditions, see Node Pool reference: conditions.

Field name	Description
`INSTANCE TYPE`	The instance type of all Nodes in the Node Pool.
`TARGET`	The number of Nodes in the Node Pool spec being requested.
`QUEUED`	The count of queued Nodes waiting to be assigned.
`INPROGRESS`	The count of Nodes assigned and progressing into the Node Pool.
`CURRENT`	The count of Nodes in-cluster associated with the Node Pool.
`VALIDATED`	Displays the result of Node Pool validation.
`CAPACITY`	Displays the last result for capacity checks for the instance type.
`QUOTA`	Displays the last result for quota checks for the instance type.
`AGE`	Indicates how long ago the Node Pool was created.

For more information about Node Pool creation, see the Node Pool reference page.

​Prerequisites

​Create a Node Pool using the Cloud Console

​Node Pool quotas

​Configure taints, labels, and annotations

​Deploy the Node Pool

​Create a Node Pool using Kubernetes

​Autoscaling

​Rack-based Node Pools

​Apply the manifest

​Verify the Node Pool

​List all available Node Pools

​View the Node Pool

Prerequisites

Create a Node Pool using the Cloud Console

Node Pool quotas

Configure taints, labels, and annotations

Deploy the Node Pool

Create a Node Pool using Kubernetes

Autoscaling

Rack-based Node Pools

Apply the manifest

Verify the Node Pool

List all available Node Pools

View the Node Pool