:warn: Fakeclient: Add apply support

This change is a POC for adding apply patch support to the fake client.

This relies on the upstream support for this which is implemented in a
new [FieldManagedObjectTracker][0]. In order to support many types, a
custom `multiTypeConverter` is added.

[0]: https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/blob/4dc7a48ac6fb631a84e1974772bf7b8fd0bb9c59/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/testing/fixture.go#L643

Author: alvaroaleman

go.mod

@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ require (
 	sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.4.0
 )
 
+require sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v4 v4.4.2
+
 require (
 	cel.dev/expr v0.19.1 // indirect
 	github.com/antlr4-go/antlr/v4 v4.13.0 // indirect
@@ -93,5 +95,4 @@ require (
 	k8s.io/kube-openapi v0.0.0-20241212222426-2c72e554b1e7 // indirect
 	sigs.k8s.io/apiserver-network-proxy/konnectivity-client v0.31.1 // indirect
 	sigs.k8s.io/json v0.0.0-20241010143419-9aa6b5e7a4b3 // indirect
-	sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v4 v4.4.2 // indirect
 )

pkg/client/fake/client.go

@@ -45,13 +45,17 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/serializer"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/managedfields"
 	utilrand "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/rand"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/sets"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/strategicpatch"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/validation/field"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/watch"
+	clientgoapplyconfigurations "k8s.io/client-go/applyconfigurations"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/scheme"
+	clientgoscheme "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/scheme"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/testing"
 	"k8s.io/utils/ptr"
 
@@ -119,6 +123,7 @@ type ClientBuilder struct {
 	withStatusSubresource []client.Object
 	objectTracker         testing.ObjectTracker
 	interceptorFuncs      *interceptor.Funcs
+	typeConverters        []managedfields.TypeConverter
 
 	// indexes maps each GroupVersionKind (GVK) to the indexes registered for that GVK.
 	// The inner map maps from index name to IndexerFunc.
@@ -160,6 +165,8 @@ func (f *ClientBuilder) WithRuntimeObjects(initRuntimeObjs ...runtime.Object) *C
 }
 
 // WithObjectTracker can be optionally used to initialize this fake client with testing.ObjectTracker.
+// Setting this is incompatible with setting WithTypeConverters, as they are a setting on the
+// tracker.
 func (f *ClientBuilder) WithObjectTracker(ot testing.ObjectTracker) *ClientBuilder {
 	f.objectTracker = ot
 	return f
@@ -216,6 +223,18 @@ func (f *ClientBuilder) WithInterceptorFuncs(interceptorFuncs interceptor.Funcs)
 	return f
 }
 
+// WithTypeConverters sets the type converters for the fake client. The list is ordered and the first
+// non-erroring converter is used.
+// This setting is incompatible with WithObjectTracker, as the type converters are a setting on the tracker.
+//
+// If unset, this defaults to:
+// * clientgoapplyconfigurations.NewTypeConverter(clientgoscheme.Scheme),
+// * managedfields.NewDeducedTypeConverter(),
+func (f *ClientBuilder) WithTypeConverters(typeConverters ...managedfields.TypeConverter) *ClientBuilder {
+	f.typeConverters = append(f.typeConverters, typeConverters...)
+	return f
+}
+
 // Build builds and returns a new fake client.
 func (f *ClientBuilder) Build() client.WithWatch {
 	if f.scheme == nil {
@@ -236,11 +255,29 @@ func (f *ClientBuilder) Build() client.WithWatch {
 		withStatusSubResource.Insert(gvk)
 	}
 
+	if f.objectTracker != nil && len(f.typeConverters) > 0 {
+		panic(errors.New("WithObjectTracker and WithTypeConverters are incompatible"))
+	}
+
 	if f.objectTracker == nil {
-		tracker = versionedTracker{ObjectTracker: testing.NewObjectTracker(f.scheme, scheme.Codecs.UniversalDecoder()), scheme: f.scheme, withStatusSubresource: withStatusSubResource}
-	} else {
-		tracker = versionedTracker{ObjectTracker: f.objectTracker, scheme: f.scheme, withStatusSubresource: withStatusSubResource}
+		if len(f.typeConverters) == 0 {
+			f.typeConverters = []managedfields.TypeConverter{
+				// Use corresponding scheme to ensure the converter error
+				// for types it can't handle.
+				clientgoapplyconfigurations.NewTypeConverter(clientgoscheme.Scheme),
+				managedfields.NewDeducedTypeConverter(),
+			}
+		}
+		f.objectTracker = testing.NewFieldManagedObjectTracker(
+			f.scheme,
+			serializer.NewCodecFactory(f.scheme).UniversalDecoder(),
+			multiTypeConverter{upstream: f.typeConverters},
+		)
 	}
+	tracker = versionedTracker{
+		ObjectTracker:         f.objectTracker,
+		scheme:                f.scheme,
+		withStatusSubresource: withStatusSubResource}
 
 	for _, obj := range f.initObject {
 		if err := tracker.Add(obj); err != nil {
@@ -901,6 +938,12 @@ func (c *fakeClient) patch(obj client.Object, patch client.Patch, opts ...client
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+
+	// otherwise the merge logic in the tracker complains
+	if patch.Type() == types.ApplyPatchType {
+		obj.SetManagedFields(nil)
+	}
+
 	data, err := patch.Data(obj)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -915,7 +958,10 @@ func (c *fakeClient) patch(obj client.Object, patch client.Patch, opts ...client
 	defer c.trackerWriteLock.Unlock()
 	oldObj, err := c.tracker.Get(gvr, accessor.GetNamespace(), accessor.GetName())
 	if err != nil {
-		return err
+		if patch.Type() != types.ApplyPatchType {
+			return err
+		}
+		oldObj = &unstructured.Unstructured{}
 	}
 	oldAccessor, err := meta.Accessor(oldObj)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -930,7 +976,7 @@ func (c *fakeClient) patch(obj client.Object, patch client.Patch, opts ...client
 	// This ensures that the patch may be rejected if a deletionTimestamp is modified, prior
 	// to updating the object.
 	action := testing.NewPatchAction(gvr, accessor.GetNamespace(), accessor.GetName(), patch.Type(), data)
-	o, err := dryPatch(action, c.tracker)
+	o, err := dryPatch(action, c.tracker, obj)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -989,12 +1035,15 @@ func deletionTimestampEqual(newObj metav1.Object, obj metav1.Object) bool {
 // This results in some code duplication, but was found to be a cleaner alternative than unmarshalling and introspecting the patch data
 // and easier than refactoring the k8s client-go method upstream.
 // Duplicate of upstream: https://github.com/kubernetes/client-go/blob/783d0d33626e59d55d52bfd7696b775851f92107/testing/fixture.go#L146-L194
-func dryPatch(action testing.PatchActionImpl, tracker testing.ObjectTracker) (runtime.Object, error) {
+func dryPatch(action testing.PatchActionImpl, tracker testing.ObjectTracker, newObj runtime.Object) (runtime.Object, error) {
 	ns := action.GetNamespace()
 	gvr := action.GetResource()
 
 	obj, err := tracker.Get(gvr, ns, action.GetName())
 	if err != nil {
+		if action.GetPatchType() == types.ApplyPatchType {
+			return &unstructured.Unstructured{}, nil
+		}
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
@@ -1039,10 +1088,20 @@ func dryPatch(action testing.PatchActionImpl, tracker testing.ObjectTracker) (ru
 		if err = json.Unmarshal(mergedByte, obj); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-	case types.ApplyPatchType:
-		return nil, errors.New("apply patches are not supported in the fake client. Follow https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/issues/115598 for the current status")
 	case types.ApplyCBORPatchType:
 		return nil, errors.New("apply CBOR patches are not supported in the fake client")
+	case types.ApplyPatchType:
+		// There doesn't seem to be a way to test this without actually applying it as apply is implemented in the tracker.
+		// We have to make sure no reader sees this and we can not handle errors resetting the obj to the original state.
+		defer func() {
+			if err := tracker.Add(obj); err != nil {
+				panic(err)
+			}
+		}()
+		if err := tracker.Apply(gvr, newObj, ns, action.PatchOptions); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		return tracker.Get(gvr, ns, action.GetName())
 	default:
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s PatchType is not supported", action.GetPatchType())
 	}

pkg/client/fake/client_test.go

@@ -2516,6 +2516,51 @@ var _ = Describe("Fake client", func() {
 		Expect(cl.SubResource(subResourceScale).Update(context.Background(), obj, client.WithSubResourceBody(scale)).Error()).To(Equal(expectedErr))
 	})
 
+	It("supports server-side apply of a client-go resource", func() {
+		cl := NewClientBuilder().Build()
+		obj := &unstructured.Unstructured{}
+		obj.SetAPIVersion("v1")
+		obj.SetKind("ConfigMap")
+		obj.SetName("foo")
+		unstructured.SetNestedField(obj.Object, map[string]any{"some": "data"}, "data")
+
+		Expect(cl.Patch(context.Background(), obj, client.Apply)).To(Succeed())
+
+		cm := &corev1.ConfigMap{ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: "foo"}}
+
+		Expect(cl.Get(context.Background(), client.ObjectKeyFromObject(cm), cm)).To(Succeed())
+		Expect(cm.Data).To(Equal(map[string]string{"some": "data"}))
+
+		unstructured.SetNestedField(obj.Object, map[string]any{"other": "data"}, "data")
+		Expect(cl.Patch(context.Background(), obj, client.Apply)).To(Succeed())
+
+		Expect(cl.Get(context.Background(), client.ObjectKeyFromObject(cm), cm)).To(Succeed())
+		Expect(cm.Data).To(Equal(map[string]string{"other": "data"}))
+	})
+
+	//	It("supports server-side apply of a custom resource", func() {
+	//		cl := NewClientBuilder().Build()
+	//		obj := &unstructured.Unstructured{}
+	//		obj.SetAPIVersion("custom/v1")
+	//		obj.SetKind("FakeResource")
+	//		obj.SetName("foo")
+	//		unstructured.SetNestedField(obj.Object, map[string]any{"some": "data"}, "spec")
+	//
+	//		Expect(cl.Patch(context.Background(), obj, client.Apply)).To(Succeed())
+	//
+	//		result := obj.DeepCopy()
+	//		unstructured.SetNestedField(result.Object, nil, "spec")
+	//
+	//		Expect(cl.Get(context.Background(), client.ObjectKeyFromObject(result), result)).To(Succeed())
+	//		Expect(result.Object["spec"]).To(Equal(map[string]any{"some": "data"}))
+	//
+	//		unstructured.SetNestedField(obj.Object, map[string]any{"other": "data"}, "spec")
+	//		Expect(cl.Patch(context.Background(), obj, client.Apply)).To(Succeed())
+	//
+	//		Expect(cl.Get(context.Background(), client.ObjectKeyFromObject(result), result)).To(Succeed())
+	//		Expect(result.Object["spec"]).To(Equal(map[string]any{"other": "data"}))
+	//	})
+
 	scalableObjs := []client.Object{
 		&appsv1.Deployment{
 			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
@@ -2594,6 +2639,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Fake client", func() {
 				expected.ResourceVersion = objActual.GetResourceVersion()
 				expected.Spec.Replicas = ptr.To(int32(3))
 			}
+			objExpected.SetManagedFields(objActual.GetManagedFields())
 			Expect(cmp.Diff(objExpected, objActual)).To(BeEmpty())
 
 			scaleActual := &autoscalingv1.Scale{}

pkg/client/fake/typeconverter.go

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2025 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package fake
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
+	utilerror "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/errors"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/managedfields"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v4/typed"
+)
+
+type multiTypeConverter struct {
+	upstream []managedfields.TypeConverter
+}
+
+func (m multiTypeConverter) ObjectToTyped(r runtime.Object, o ...typed.ValidationOptions) (*typed.TypedValue, error) {
+	var errs []error
+	for _, u := range m.upstream {
+		res, err := u.ObjectToTyped(r, o...)
+		if err != nil {
+			errs = append(errs, err)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		return res, nil
+	}
+
+	return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to convert Object to Typed: %w", utilerror.NewAggregate(errs))
+}
+
+func (m multiTypeConverter) TypedToObject(v *typed.TypedValue) (runtime.Object, error) {
+	var errs []error
+	for _, u := range m.upstream {
+		res, err := u.TypedToObject(v)
+		if err != nil {
+			errs = append(errs, err)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		return res, nil
+	}
+
+	return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to convert TypedValue to Object: %w", utilerror.NewAggregate(errs))
+}