diff --git a/kubernetes/hints.go b/kubernetes/hints.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d02f733ecc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kubernetes/hints.go
@@ -0,0 +1,291 @@
+// Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one or more contributor
+// license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+// this work for additional information regarding copyright
+// ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you 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 kubernetes
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"sort"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/elastic/elastic-agent-libs/logp"
+	"github.com/elastic/elastic-agent-libs/mapstr"
+)
+
+const logName = "hints"
+
+// GetContainerID returns the id of a container
+func GetContainerID(container mapstr.M) string {
+	id, _ := container["id"].(string)
+	return id
+}
+
+// GetContainerName returns the name of a container
+func GetContainerName(container mapstr.M) string {
+	name, _ := container["name"].(string)
+	return name
+}
+
+// GetHintString takes a hint and returns its value as a string
+func GetHintString(hints mapstr.M, key, config string) string {
+	base := config
+	if base == "" {
+		base = key
+	} else if key != "" {
+		base = fmt.Sprint(key, ".", config)
+	}
+	if iface, err := hints.GetValue(base); err == nil {
+		if str, ok := iface.(string); ok {
+			return str
+		}
+	}
+
+	return ""
+}
+
+// GetHintMapStr takes a hint and returns a MapStr
+func GetHintMapStr(hints mapstr.M, key, config string) mapstr.M {
+	base := config
+	if base == "" {
+		base = key
+	} else if key != "" {
+		base = fmt.Sprint(key, ".", config)
+	}
+	if iface, err := hints.GetValue(base); err == nil {
+		if mapstr, ok := iface.(mapstr.M); ok {
+			return mapstr
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// GetHintAsList takes a hint and returns the value as lists.
+func GetHintAsList(hints mapstr.M, key, config string) []string {
+	if str := GetHintString(hints, key, config); str != "" {
+		return getStringAsList(str)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// GetProcessors gets processor definitions from the hints and returns a list of configs as a MapStr
+func GetProcessors(hints mapstr.M, key string) []mapstr.M {
+	processors := GetConfigs(hints, key, "processors")
+	for _, proc := range processors {
+		for key, value := range proc {
+			if str, ok := value.(string); ok {
+				cfg := mapstr.M{}
+				if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(str), &cfg); err != nil {
+					logp.NewLogger(logName).Debugw("Unable to unmarshal json due to error", "error", err)
+					continue
+				}
+				proc[key] = cfg
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return processors
+}
+
+// GetConfigs takes in a key and returns a list of configs as a slice of MapStr
+func GetConfigs(hints mapstr.M, key, name string) []mapstr.M {
+	raw := GetHintMapStr(hints, key, name)
+	if raw == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	var words, nums []string
+
+	for key := range raw {
+		if _, err := strconv.Atoi(key); err != nil {
+			words = append(words, key)
+			continue
+		} else {
+			nums = append(nums, key)
+		}
+	}
+
+	sort.Strings(nums)
+
+	var configs []mapstr.M
+	for _, key := range nums {
+		rawCfg := raw[key]
+		if config, ok := rawCfg.(mapstr.M); ok {
+			configs = append(configs, config)
+		}
+	}
+
+	for _, word := range words {
+		configs = append(configs, mapstr.M{
+			word: raw[word],
+		})
+	}
+
+	return configs
+}
+
+func getStringAsList(input string) []string {
+	if input == "" {
+		return []string{}
+	}
+	list := strings.Split(input, ",")
+
+	for i := 0; i < len(list); i++ {
+		list[i] = strings.TrimSpace(list[i])
+	}
+
+	return list
+}
+
+// GetHintAsConfigs can read a hint in the form of a stringified JSON and return a mapstr.M
+func GetHintAsConfigs(hints mapstr.M, key string) []mapstr.M {
+	if str := GetHintString(hints, key, "raw"); str != "" {
+		// check if it is a single config
+		if str[0] != '[' {
+			cfg := mapstr.M{}
+			if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(str), &cfg); err != nil {
+				logp.NewLogger(logName).Debugw("Unable to unmarshal json due to error", "error", err)
+				return nil
+			}
+			return []mapstr.M{cfg}
+		}
+
+		var cfg []mapstr.M
+		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(str), &cfg); err != nil {
+			logp.NewLogger(logName).Debugw("Unable to unmarshal json due to error", "error", err)
+			return nil
+		}
+		return cfg
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// IsEnabled will return true when 'enabled' is **explicitly** set to true.
+func IsEnabled(hints mapstr.M, key string) bool {
+	if value, err := hints.GetValue(fmt.Sprintf("%s.enabled", key)); err == nil {
+		enabled, _ := strconv.ParseBool(value.(string))
+		return enabled
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
+// IsDisabled will return true when 'enabled' is **explicitly** set to false.
+func IsDisabled(hints mapstr.M, key string) bool {
+	if value, err := hints.GetValue(fmt.Sprintf("%s.enabled", key)); err == nil {
+		enabled, err := strconv.ParseBool(value.(string))
+		if err != nil {
+			logp.NewLogger(logName).Debugw("Error parsing 'enabled' hint.",
+				"error", err, "autodiscover.hints", hints)
+			return false
+		}
+		return !enabled
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
+// GenerateHints parses annotations based on a prefix and sets up hints that can be picked up by individual Beats.
+func GenerateHints(annotations mapstr.M, container, prefix string) mapstr.M {
+	hints := mapstr.M{}
+	if rawEntries, err := annotations.GetValue(prefix); err == nil {
+		if entries, ok := rawEntries.(mapstr.M); ok {
+			for key, rawValue := range entries {
+				// If there are top level hints like co.elastic.logs/ then just add the values after the /
+				// Only consider namespaced annotations
+				parts := strings.Split(key, "/")
+				if len(parts) == 2 {
+					hintKey := fmt.Sprintf("%s.%s", parts[0], parts[1])
+					// Insert only if there is no entry already. container level annotations take
+					// higher priority.
+					if _, err := hints.GetValue(hintKey); err != nil {
+						_, err = hints.Put(hintKey, rawValue)
+						if err != nil {
+							continue
+						}
+					}
+				} else if container != "" {
+					// Only consider annotations that are of type mapstr.M as we are looking for
+					// container level nesting
+					builderHints, ok := rawValue.(mapstr.M)
+					if !ok {
+						continue
+					}
+
+					// Check for <containerName>/ prefix
+					for hintKey, rawVal := range builderHints {
+						if strings.HasPrefix(hintKey, container) {
+							// Split the key to get part[1] to be the hint
+							parts := strings.Split(hintKey, "/")
+							if len(parts) == 2 {
+								// key will be the hint type
+								hintKey := fmt.Sprintf("%s.%s", key, parts[1])
+								_, err := hints.Put(hintKey, rawVal)
+								if err != nil {
+									continue
+								}
+							}
+						}
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return hints
+}
+
+// GetHintsAsList gets a set of hints and tries to convert them into a list of hints
+func GetHintsAsList(hints mapstr.M, key string) []mapstr.M {
+	raw := GetHintMapStr(hints, key, "")
+	if raw == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	var words, nums []string
+
+	for key := range raw {
+		if _, err := strconv.Atoi(key); err != nil {
+			words = append(words, key)
+			continue
+		} else {
+			nums = append(nums, key)
+		}
+	}
+
+	sort.Strings(nums)
+
+	var configs []mapstr.M
+	for _, key := range nums {
+		rawCfg := raw[key]
+		if config, ok := rawCfg.(mapstr.M); ok {
+			configs = append(configs, config)
+		}
+	}
+
+	defaultMap := mapstr.M{}
+	for _, word := range words {
+		defaultMap[word] = raw[word]
+	}
+
+	if len(defaultMap) != 0 {
+		configs = append(configs, defaultMap)
+	}
+	return configs
+}