To be clear - I know I can specify config options for the default k8s provider via

pulumi config set kubernetes:kubeconfig

but in my case I create a gke container and create kubeconfig that I want to use - is it possible to pass that kubeconfig to the default kubernetes provider instance or create my own instance of kubernetes provider and replace the default one?

Currently no - you can either use the existing ambient provider established via config settings, or must pass an explicitly created provider manually. https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/issues/2059 is tracking offering a way to set the default provider.

Thanks - I had the same issue as described in the linked ticket…

@gifted-island-55702 yeah this is something we’re actively working on. I deleted my kubeconfig file so I never use the ambient provider by accident — I always boot a GKE/EKS/AKS cluster and then deploy an app on it with the first-class providers.

Yes, I just can’t wait to get this feature released 😄