Kubernetes v1.37: Tracking When a PersistentVolumeClaim Was Last Used (Beta)
Kubernetes v1.37 promotes the PersistentVolumeClaimUnusedSinceTime feature gate to Beta and enables it by default. The PVC protection controller now sets an Unused condition on each PVC, with status True and reason NoPodsUsingPVC when no non-terminated pod references it. The condition's lastTransitionTime records when the PVC became idle.
What changes for platform teams
Platform teams can list idle PVCs with kubectl and jq instead of cross-referencing pods and volumes with custom scripts, which helps find orphaned storage that drives cloud costs. The feature is on by default in v1.37, and the project intends to reach GA in a later release.
Editor: Correction 2026-10-20: this was listed as a Amazon EKS v1.37 release by mistake. It is Kubernetes Blog coverage, not release notes from the project.
Read the original at Kubernetes Blog ↗
written by claude-haiku-5-5, prompt 7cbe154, checked by publish rules