I'm trying to understand Kubernetes behaviour as it pertains to custom resources and their subresources -- specifically the status subresource.

Specifically, I want to update the status subresource without modifying the parent custom resource.

To the best of my understanding, this should be possible. I've reviewed the documentation here, but I cannot seem to get it to work as anticipated.

I am testing using Docker Desktop's Kubernetes 1.19.3.

Here is the scenario ...

1. Create this simple CRD:

apiVersion: apiextensions.k8s.io/v1
kind: CustomResourceDefinition
metadata:
  name: greetings.k8s.test.io
spec:
  group: k8s.test.io
  versions:
    - name: v1alpha1
      served: true
      storage: true
      schema:
        openAPIV3Schema:
          type: object
          properties:
            spec:
              description: Greeting is the Schema for the Greetings Operator
              type: object
              properties:
                message:
                  description: A friendly greeting
                  type: string
                  default: Hello World!
            status:
              type: object
              properties:
                ready:
                  description: The resource's readiness
                  type: boolean
      additionalPrinterColumns:
      - name: ready
        type: boolean
        description: Readiness of the created resource
        jsonPath: .status.ready
      subresources:
        status: {}
  scope: Namespaced
  names:
    plural: greetings
    singular: greeting
    kind: Greeting
    shortNames:
    - grt

2. Create a demo resource:

apiVersion: k8s.test.io/v1alpha1
kind: Greeting
metadata:
  name: demo
spec:
  message: Hi there!

3. Fire up a proxy:

kubectl proxy &

4. Establish a watch on custom resource:

curl -L -s -X GET -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Accept: application/json, */*" \
127.0.0.1:8001/apis//k8s.test.io/v1alpha1/watch/namespaces/default/greetings

At this point, you should see output similar the following:

{"type":"ADDED","object":{"apiVersion":"k8s.test.io/v1alpha1","kind":"Greeting","metadata":{"annotations":{"kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration":"{\"apiVersion\":\"k8s.test.io/v1alpha1\",\"kind\":\"Greeting\",\"metadata\":{\"annotations\":{},\"name\":\"demo\",\"namespace\":\"default\"},\"spec\":{\"message\":\"Hi there!\"}}\n"},"creationTimestamp":"2020-12-10T04:02:55Z","generation":1,"managedFields":[{"apiVersion":"k8s.test.io/v1alpha1","fieldsType":"FieldsV1","fieldsV1":{"f:metadata":{"f:annotations":{".":{},"f:kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration":{}}},"f:spec":{".":{},"f:message":{}}},"manager":"kubectl-client-side-apply","operation":"Update","time":"2020-12-10T04:02:55Z"}],"name":"demo","namespace":"default","resourceVersion":"532930","selfLink":"/apis/k8s.test.io/v1alpha1/namespaces/default/greetings/demo","uid":"40f3a618-74e5-4b14-9bd4-2eb47366d804"},"spec":{"message":"Hi there!"}}}

5. PATCH the /status subresource

curl -k -s -X PATCH -H "Accept: application/json, */*" \
-H "Content-Type: application/merge-patch+json" \
127.0.0.1:8001/apis/k8s.test.io/v1alpha1/namespaces/default/greetings/demo/status \
--data '{"status":{"ready":true}}'

Confusingly, after submitting the PATCH our watch on the parent resource produces ...

{"type":"MODIFIED","object":{"apiVersion":"k8s.test.io/v1alpha1","kind":"Greeting","metadata":{"annotations":{"kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration":"{\"apiVersion\":\"k8s.test.io/v1alpha1\",\"kind\":\"Greeting\",\"metadata\":{\"annotations\":{},\"name\":\"demo\",\"namespace\":\"default\"},\"spec\":{\"message\":\"Hi there!\"}}\n"},"creationTimestamp":"2020-12-10T04:02:55Z","generation":1,"managedFields":[{"apiVersion":"k8s.test.io/v1alpha1","fieldsType":"FieldsV1","fieldsV1":{"f:metadata":{"f:annotations":{".":{},"f:kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration":{}}},"f:spec":{".":{},"f:message":{}}},"manager":"kubectl-client-side-apply","operation":"Update","time":"2020-12-10T04:02:55Z"},{"apiVersion":"k8s.test.io/v1alpha1","fieldsType":"FieldsV1","fieldsV1":{"f:status":{".":{},"f:ready":{}}},"manager":"curl","operation":"Update","time":"2020-12-10T04:05:22Z"}],"name":"demo","namespace":"default","resourceVersion":"533184","selfLink":"/apis/k8s.test.io/v1alpha1/namespaces/default/greetings/demo","uid":"40f3a618-74e5-4b14-9bd4-2eb47366d804"},"spec":{"message":"Hi there!"},"status":{"ready":true}}}

Why is it MODIFYING the parent resource??

And if we inspect the resource, we can see that that status of the subresource was definitely updated:

$ k get grt demo
NAME   READY
demo   true

I don't know if this behaviour is expected and my understanding is faulty OR if my PATCH methodology is flawed.

Hope somebody can help out. Thanks.

UPDATE:

In addition to PATCH I can also confirm that PUT (while a more complicated operation) exhibits the exact same behaviour.

Example:

curl -k -s -X PUT -H "Accept: application/json, */*" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
127.0.0.1:8001/apis/k8s.test.io/v1alpha1/namespaces/default/greetings/demo/status \
--data '{"apiVersion":"k8s.test.io/v1alpha1","kind":"Greeting","metadata":{"name":"demo","resourceVersion":"533184"},"status":{"ready":false}}'

¯\(ツ)/¯