diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 03956c02308..1ec0df70689 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
         "@kui-shell/plugin-git": "file:plugins/plugin-git",
         "@kui-shell/plugin-iter8": "file:plugins/plugin-iter8",
         "@kui-shell/plugin-kubectl": "file:plugins/plugin-kubectl",
+        "@kui-shell/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu": "file:plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu",
         "@kui-shell/plugin-patternfly4-themes": "file:plugins/plugin-patternfly4-themes",
         "@kui-shell/plugin-proxy-support": "file:plugins/plugin-proxy-support",
         "@kui-shell/plugin-s3": "file:plugins/plugin-s3",
@@ -787,6 +788,10 @@
       "resolved": "plugins/plugin-kubectl",
       "link": true
     },
+    "node_modules/@kui-shell/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu": {
+      "resolved": "plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu",
+      "link": true
+    },
     "node_modules/@kui-shell/plugin-patternfly4-themes": {
       "resolved": "plugins/plugin-patternfly4-themes",
       "link": true
@@ -19195,6 +19200,50 @@
         "uuid": "9.0.0"
       }
     },
+    "plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu": {
+      "name": "@kui-shell/plugin-kubectl",
+      "version": "11.4.0",
+      "license": "Apache-2.0",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "@kui-shell/jsonpath": "1.1.1",
+        "bytes-iec": "3.1.1",
+        "command-exists": "1.2.9",
+        "debug": "4.3.4",
+        "fs-extra": "10.1.0",
+        "js-yaml": "4.1.0",
+        "needle": "3.1.0",
+        "parse-duration": "1.0.2",
+        "pluralize": "8.0.0",
+        "semver": "7.3.7",
+        "tmp": "0.2.1",
+        "uuid": "9.0.0"
+      }
+    },
+    "plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/node_modules/lru-cache": {
+      "version": "6.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/lru-cache/-/lru-cache-6.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-Jo6dJ04CmSjuznwJSS3pUeWmd/H0ffTlkXXgwZi+eq1UCmqQwCh+eLsYOYCwY991i2Fah4h1BEMCx4qThGbsiA==",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "yallist": "^4.0.0"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">=10"
+      }
+    },
+    "plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/node_modules/semver": {
+      "version": "7.3.7",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/semver/-/semver-7.3.7.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-QlYTucUYOews+WeEujDoEGziz4K6c47V/Bd+LjSSYcA94p+DmINdf7ncaUinThfvZyu13lN9OY1XDxt8C0Tw0g==",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "lru-cache": "^6.0.0"
+      },
+      "bin": {
+        "semver": "bin/semver.js"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">=10"
+      }
+    },
     "plugins/plugin-kubectl/node_modules/lru-cache": {
       "version": "6.0.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/lru-cache/-/lru-cache-6.0.0.tgz",
@@ -19952,6 +20001,41 @@
         }
       }
     },
+    "@kui-shell/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu": {
+      "version": "file:plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu",
+      "requires": {
+        "@kui-shell/jsonpath": "1.1.1",
+        "bytes-iec": "3.1.1",
+        "command-exists": "1.2.9",
+        "debug": "4.3.4",
+        "fs-extra": "10.1.0",
+        "js-yaml": "4.1.0",
+        "needle": "3.1.0",
+        "parse-duration": "1.0.2",
+        "pluralize": "8.0.0",
+        "semver": "7.3.7",
+        "tmp": "0.2.1",
+        "uuid": "9.0.0"
+      },
+      "dependencies": {
+        "lru-cache": {
+          "version": "6.0.0",
+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/lru-cache/-/lru-cache-6.0.0.tgz",
+          "integrity": "sha512-Jo6dJ04CmSjuznwJSS3pUeWmd/H0ffTlkXXgwZi+eq1UCmqQwCh+eLsYOYCwY991i2Fah4h1BEMCx4qThGbsiA==",
+          "requires": {
+            "yallist": "^4.0.0"
+          }
+        },
+        "semver": {
+          "version": "7.3.7",
+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/semver/-/semver-7.3.7.tgz",
+          "integrity": "sha512-QlYTucUYOews+WeEujDoEGziz4K6c47V/Bd+LjSSYcA94p+DmINdf7ncaUinThfvZyu13lN9OY1XDxt8C0Tw0g==",
+          "requires": {
+            "lru-cache": "^6.0.0"
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    },
     "@kui-shell/plugin-patternfly4-themes": {
       "version": "file:plugins/plugin-patternfly4-themes"
     },
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 6646e811020..3e098c98837 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@
     "@kui-shell/plugin-git": "file:plugins/plugin-git",
     "@kui-shell/plugin-iter8": "file:plugins/plugin-iter8",
     "@kui-shell/plugin-kubectl": "file:plugins/plugin-kubectl",
+    "@kui-shell/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu": "file:plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu",
     "@kui-shell/plugin-patternfly4-themes": "file:plugins/plugin-patternfly4-themes",
     "@kui-shell/plugin-proxy-support": "file:plugins/plugin-proxy-support",
     "@kui-shell/plugin-s3": "file:plugins/plugin-s3",
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/.gitignore b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c9d057a334b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+dist
+mdist
+build
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/.npmignore b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/.npmignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..15a96786b07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/.npmignore
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+build
+src
+tests/data/*
+tests/data/k8s/*
+!tests/data/k8s/headless/*
+dist/test/*
+dist/test/k8s2/*
+!dist/test/k8s2/headless-create-pod.js
+tsconfig*
+/*.tgz
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/package.json b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..547c3162ca0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+{
+  "name": "@kui-shell/plugin-kubectl",
+  "version": "11.4.0",
+  "description": "Kubernetes visualization plugin for kubernetes",
+  "license": "Apache-2.0",
+  "keywords": [
+    "kubernetes",
+    "kubectl",
+    "cli",
+    "ui",
+    "kui",
+    "plugin"
+  ],
+  "author": "@starpit",
+  "contributors": [
+    "Mengting Yan"
+  ],
+  "homepage": "https://github.com/IBM/kui#readme",
+  "bugs": {
+    "url": "https://github.com/IBM/kui/issues/new"
+  },
+  "repository": {
+    "type": "git",
+    "url": "git+https://github.com/IBM/kui.git"
+  },
+  "main": "dist/index.js",
+  "typedocMain": "src/index.ts",
+  "module": "mdist/index.js",
+  "types": "mdist/index.d.ts",
+  "dependencies": {
+    "@kui-shell/jsonpath": "1.1.1",
+    "bytes-iec": "3.1.1",
+    "command-exists": "1.2.9",
+    "debug": "4.3.4",
+    "fs-extra": "10.1.0",
+    "js-yaml": "4.1.0",
+    "needle": "3.1.0",
+    "parse-duration": "1.0.2",
+    "pluralize": "8.0.0",
+    "semver": "7.3.7",
+    "tmp": "0.2.1",
+    "uuid": "9.0.0"
+  },
+  "krew": {
+    "commandPrefix": "kubeui"
+  },
+  "publishConfig": {
+    "access": "public"
+  },
+  "gitHead": "89de9f78e8a1a2bdd29d2e17d7c608ab006c6d32"
+}
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/@types/images.d.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/@types/images.d.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/@types/images.d.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/@types/images.d.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/electron-main.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/electron-main.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/electron-main.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/electron-main.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/preload.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/preload.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b85524e9902
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/preload.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2018 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.
+ */
+
+import { Capabilities } from '@kui-shell/core'
+
+/**
+ * This is the module
+ *
+ */
+export default async function preloadKubectlTrayMenu() {
+  if (Capabilities.inElectron()) {
+    import('./tray/init').then(_ => _.default())
+  }
+}
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/events.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/events.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/events.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/events.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/icons.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/icons.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/icons.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/icons.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/init.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/init.ts
similarity index 78%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/init.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/init.ts
index ecc45ced404..7e6b604cca6 100644
--- a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/init.ts
+++ b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/init.ts
@@ -25,5 +25,11 @@ export default async function initTray() {
       .catch(err => {
         console.error('Error initializing tray menu', err)
       })
+
+    // rebroadcast renderer-side config change events to the main process
+    const { onKubectlConfigChangeEvents } = await import('@kui-shell/plugin-kubectl')
+    onKubectlConfigChangeEvents(async () => {
+      import('./events').then(_ => _.emitRefreshFromRenderer())
+    })
   }
 }
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/main.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/main.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/main.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/main.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/contexts/current.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/contexts/current.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/contexts/current.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/contexts/current.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/contexts/index.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/contexts/index.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/contexts/index.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/contexts/index.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/index.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/index.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/index.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/index.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/loading.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/loading.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/loading.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/loading.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/namespaces/current.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/namespaces/current.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/namespaces/current.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/namespaces/current.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/namespaces/index.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/namespaces/index.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/namespaces/index.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/namespaces/index.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/resources/networking.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/resources/networking.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/resources/networking.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/resources/networking.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/resources/open.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/resources/open.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/resources/open.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/resources/open.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/resources/storage.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/resources/storage.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/resources/storage.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/resources/storage.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/resources/workloads.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/resources/workloads.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/resources/workloads.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/resources/workloads.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/section.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/section.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/menus/section.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/menus/section.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/renderer.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/renderer.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/renderer.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/renderer.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/update.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/update.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/tray/update.ts
rename to plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/src/tray/update.ts
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/tsconfig.json b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e133dd58f1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{
+  "extends": "../../node_modules/@kui-shell/builder/tsconfig-base.json",
+  "include": ["src/**/*"],
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "composite": true,
+    "outDir": "mdist",
+    "rootDir": "src",
+    "baseUrl": "."
+  }
+}
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/controller/kubectl/config.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/controller/kubectl/config.ts
index dd9d8db027a..1e8f2ba6fe0 100644
--- a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/controller/kubectl/config.ts
+++ b/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/controller/kubectl/config.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { Arguments, Capabilities, Events, Registrar } from '@kui-shell/core'
+import { Arguments, Events, Registrar } from '@kui-shell/core'
 
 import flags from './flags'
 import { doExecWithPty } from './exec'
@@ -41,10 +41,6 @@ const mutators = [
 export function emitKubectlConfigChangeEvent(type: ConfigChangeEventType, namespace?: string, context?: string) {
   try {
     Events.eventChannelUnsafe.emit(kubectlConfigChangeChannel, type, namespace, context)
-
-    if (Capabilities.inElectron()) {
-      import('../../tray/events').then(_ => _.emitRefreshFromRenderer())
-    }
   } catch (err) {
     console.error('Error in onKubectlConfigChangeEvent handler', err)
   }
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/non-headless-preload.ts b/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/non-headless-preload.ts
index 729a2777aad..ca54a6d0df0 100644
--- a/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/non-headless-preload.ts
+++ b/plugins/plugin-kubectl/src/non-headless-preload.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 import Debug from 'debug'
 import { PreloadRegistrar } from '@kui-shell/core'
 
-import initTray from './tray/init'
 import registerPluginTabState from './tab-state'
 import podMode from './lib/view/modes/pods'
 import yamlMode from './lib/view/modes/yaml'
@@ -44,7 +43,6 @@ import tabCompletionProvider from './lib/tab-completion'
 import { notebookVFS } from '@kui-shell/plugin-core-support'
 
 export default async (registrar: PreloadRegistrar) => {
-  initTray()
   registerPluginTabState()
 
   // register modes
diff --git a/tsconfig.json b/tsconfig.json
index ddd9a6fc869..577fc112939 100644
--- a/tsconfig.json
+++ b/tsconfig.json
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@
     {
       "path": "plugins/plugin-kubectl"
     },
+    {
+      "path": "plugins/plugin-kubectl-tray-menu"
+    },
     {
       "path": "plugins/plugin-proxy-support"
     },