diff --git a/.changeset/hip-ways-shop.md b/.changeset/hip-ways-shop.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..74646b7b3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/hip-ways-shop.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-kubernetes': patch
+---
+
+expose detectErrors function publicly
diff --git a/plugins/kubernetes/api-report.md b/plugins/kubernetes/api-report.md
index 1a95446e5f..da6948043c 100644
--- a/plugins/kubernetes/api-report.md
+++ b/plugins/kubernetes/api-report.md
@@ -98,6 +98,28 @@ export interface DeploymentResources {
   replicaSets: V1ReplicaSet[];
 }
 
+// @alpha
+export interface DetectedError {
+  // (undocumented)
+  cluster: string;
+  // (undocumented)
+  kind: ErrorDetectableKind;
+  // (undocumented)
+  message: string[];
+  // (undocumented)
+  names: string[];
+  // (undocumented)
+  severity: ErrorSeverity;
+}
+
+// @alpha
+export type DetectedErrorsByCluster = Map<string, DetectedError[]>;
+
+// @alpha
+export const detectErrors: (
+  objects: ObjectsByEntityResponse,
+) => DetectedErrorsByCluster;
+
 // Warning: (ae-missing-release-tag) "EntityKubernetesContent" is exported by the package, but it is missing a release tag (@alpha, @beta, @public, or @internal)
 //
 // @public (undocumented)
@@ -110,6 +132,12 @@ export type EntityKubernetesContentProps = {
   refreshIntervalMs?: number;
 };
 
+// @alpha
+export type ErrorDetectableKind =
+  | 'Pod'
+  | 'Deployment'
+  | 'HorizontalPodAutoscaler';
+
 // Warning: (ae-forgotten-export) The symbol "ErrorPanelProps" needs to be exported by the entry point index.d.ts
 // Warning: (ae-missing-release-tag) "ErrorPanel" is exported by the package, but it is missing a release tag (@alpha, @beta, @public, or @internal)
 //
@@ -128,6 +156,9 @@ export const ErrorReporting: ({
   detectedErrors,
 }: ErrorReportingProps) => JSX.Element;
 
+// @alpha
+export type ErrorSeverity = 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10;
+
 // Warning: (ae-forgotten-export) The symbol "FormatClusterLinkOptions" needs to be exported by the entry point index.d.ts
 // Warning: (ae-missing-release-tag) "formatClusterLink" is exported by the package, but it is missing a release tag (@alpha, @beta, @public, or @internal)
 //
diff --git a/plugins/kubernetes/src/error-detection/error-detection.ts b/plugins/kubernetes/src/error-detection/error-detection.ts
index e1e83f23ab..3a9f1571e0 100644
--- a/plugins/kubernetes/src/error-detection/error-detection.ts
+++ b/plugins/kubernetes/src/error-detection/error-detection.ts
@@ -21,8 +21,12 @@ import { detectErrorsInPods } from './pods';
 import { detectErrorsInDeployments } from './deployments';
 import { detectErrorsInHpa } from './hpas';
 
-// For each cluster try to find errors in each of the object types provided
-// returning a map of cluster names to errors in that cluster
+/**
+ * For each cluster try to find errors in each of the object types provided
+ * returning a map of cluster names to errors in that cluster
+ *
+ * @alpha
+ */
 export const detectErrors = (
   objects: ObjectsByEntityResponse,
 ): DetectedErrorsByCluster => {
diff --git a/plugins/kubernetes/src/error-detection/index.ts b/plugins/kubernetes/src/error-detection/index.ts
index b9127ccbda..ced03066a7 100644
--- a/plugins/kubernetes/src/error-detection/index.ts
+++ b/plugins/kubernetes/src/error-detection/index.ts
@@ -14,5 +14,10 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-export type { DetectedError, DetectedErrorsByCluster } from './types';
+export type {
+  ErrorDetectableKind,
+  DetectedError,
+  DetectedErrorsByCluster,
+  ErrorSeverity,
+} from './types';
 export { detectErrors } from './error-detection';
diff --git a/plugins/kubernetes/src/error-detection/types.ts b/plugins/kubernetes/src/error-detection/types.ts
index 2ec66f3efc..871413d43e 100644
--- a/plugins/kubernetes/src/error-detection/types.ts
+++ b/plugins/kubernetes/src/error-detection/types.ts
@@ -21,17 +21,37 @@ import {
   V1Pod,
 } from '@kubernetes/client-node';
 
+/**
+ * Severity of the error, where 10 is critical and 0 is very low.
+ *
+ * @alpha
+ */
 export type ErrorSeverity = 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10;
 
 export type ErrorDetectable = V1Pod | V1Deployment | V1HorizontalPodAutoscaler;
 
+/**
+ * Kubernetes kinds that errors might be reported by the plugin
+ *
+ * @alpha
+ */
 export type ErrorDetectableKind =
   | 'Pod'
   | 'Deployment'
   | 'HorizontalPodAutoscaler';
 
+/**
+ * A list of errors keyed by Cluster name
+ *
+ * @alpha
+ */
 export type DetectedErrorsByCluster = Map<string, DetectedError[]>;
 
+/**
+ * Represents an error found on a Kubernetes object
+ *
+ * @alpha
+ */
 export interface DetectedError {
   severity: ErrorSeverity;
   cluster: string;
diff --git a/plugins/kubernetes/src/index.ts b/plugins/kubernetes/src/index.ts
index 6e8de777ca..616caaef62 100644
--- a/plugins/kubernetes/src/index.ts
+++ b/plugins/kubernetes/src/index.ts
@@ -31,5 +31,6 @@ export * from './api';
 export * from './kubernetes-auth-provider';
 export * from './utils/clusterLinks';
 export * from './components';
+export * from './error-detection';
 export * from './hooks';
 export * from './types';