The latest version of Consul, 1.9, introduces Custom Resource Definition (CRD) support, allowing users to interact with Consul in a more Kubernetes-native experience. This enables users to configure L7 routing, intentions, service configuration, and proxy defaults using Kubernetes native manifests, making it easier to manage a service mesh on Kubernetes. CRDs are modeled after Configuration Entries, which allow defining configuration at a cluster or namespace level, reducing the need to switch between Consul CLI and kubectl CLI tools for configuration. The release demonstrates how to set up L7 routing and intentions using CRDs to route traffic correctly between services, including splitting traffic between two versions of a service. Additionally, users can manage intentions using a ServiceIntention CRD, enforcing access control based on HTTP path prefix and methods made for a request from one service to another, with the release also introducing support for managing custom resource definitions using kubectl, allowing for CRUD operations.