Kubernetes Management Skill

This skill provides comprehensive capabilities for managing Kubernetes clusters, resources, and workloads using kubectl, Helm, and Kustomize.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when working with:

• Kubernetes resources (pods, deployments, services, configmaps, secrets, etc.)
• Debugging containerized applications and troubleshooting cluster issues
• Helm chart installation, upgrades, and management
• kubectl operations (get, describe, apply, create, delete, logs, exec, scale, rollout)
• Context and namespace management
• Deployment strategies (rolling updates, blue-green, canary)
• Configuration management and resource optimization

How to Use This Skill

1. Verify Context and Namespace

Always start by verifying your current context and namespace:

kubectl config current-context
kubectl config view --minify

Set namespace if needed:

kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=<namespace>

2. Load Appropriate Reference Files

Based on the task at hand, load the relevant reference documentation:

For kubectl Operations: Load kubectl Reference when you need detailed information about:

• Getting, describing, creating, updating, or deleting resources
• Viewing logs or executing commands in containers
• Port forwarding and debugging
• Scaling deployments
• Managing rollouts and rollbacks
• Context and namespace operations
• Output formats and filtering

For Helm Operations: Load Helm Reference when you need detailed information about:

• Installing or upgrading Helm charts
• Managing releases (list, status, uninstall, rollback)
• Repository management
• Chart development and inspection
• Values configuration and overrides
• Troubleshooting Helm issues

For Common Workflows: Load Workflows Reference when you need guidance on:

• Debugging failing pods or services
• Deploying applications
• Updating deployments with different strategies
• Blue-green and canary deployments
• Configuration management (ConfigMaps and Secrets)
• Maintenance operations (draining nodes, backup/restore)
• Cluster inspection and cleanup

For Best Practices: Load Best Practices Reference when you need guidance on:

• Safety and validation before operations
• Efficiency and optimization
• Debugging approaches
• YAML and manifest management
• High availability patterns
• Error handling and troubleshooting
• Integration with other tools
• Environment-specific practices

3. General Workflow

For Resource Management:

1. Verify context and namespace
2. Use kubectl get to list resources
3. Use kubectl describe for detailed information
4. Apply changes with kubectl apply or kubectl patch
5. Monitor with kubectl rollout status or kubectl get events

For Debugging:

1. Check pod status with kubectl get pods
2. Describe the resource with kubectl describe
3. View logs with kubectl logs
4. Check events with kubectl get events
5. Exec into container if needed with kubectl exec -it

For Deployments:

1. Validate manifests with --dry-run
2. Apply manifests with kubectl apply
3. Monitor rollout with kubectl rollout status
4. Verify with kubectl get and kubectl logs
5. Rollback if needed with kubectl rollout undo

Key Principles

Safety First

• Always verify context and namespace before operations
• Use --dry-run=client or --dry-run=server to validate changes
• Use kubectl diff to preview changes before applying
• Be cautious with destructive operations (delete, force, drain)

Declarative Over Imperative

• Prefer kubectl apply -f file.yaml over imperative commands
• Store manifests in version control
• Use Kustomize for environment-specific overlays
• Make infrastructure reproducible and auditable

Efficient Resource Usage

• Use label selectors to operate on groups of resources
• Use output formats (-o json|yaml) for automation and parsing
• Filter with --field-selector and sort with --sort-by
• Watch resources in real-time with -w flag

Systematic Debugging

• Follow the debugging workflow: status → describe → logs → events → exec
• Use timestamps in logs for correlation
• Check recent events with kubectl get events --sort-by='.lastTimestamp'
• Test connectivity with temporary debug pods

Quick Command Reference

Most Common Operations:

# Get resources
kubectl get pods
kubectl get pods -o wide
kubectl get pods -l app=myapp

# Describe for details
kubectl describe pod <pod-name>

# View logs
kubectl logs <pod-name>
kubectl logs <pod-name> -f
kubectl logs <pod-name> --previous

# Exec into pod
kubectl exec -it <pod-name> -- /bin/sh

# Apply manifests
kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml
kubectl apply -f ./manifests/

# Scale deployment
kubectl scale deployment/<name> --replicas=3

# Check rollout
kubectl rollout status deployment/<name>
kubectl rollout undo deployment/<name>

# Port forward
kubectl port-forward service/<name> 8080:80

# Helm operations
helm install <release> <chart>
helm upgrade <release> <chart>
helm list
helm uninstall <release>

Important Notes

• Reference files contain comprehensive details - load them as needed to avoid context overhead
• Always validate configurations before applying to production
• Use namespaces for resource isolation
• Set resource requests and limits for all containers
• Implement health checks (liveness, readiness, startup probes)
• Use PodDisruptionBudgets for high availability
• Store sensitive data in Secrets, not ConfigMaps
• Tag images with specific versions, avoid :latest in production

Integration Points

This skill works well with:

• Docker for container image management
• Git for manifest version control (GitOps)
• Terraform for infrastructure provisioning
• CI/CD pipelines for automated deployments
• Monitoring tools (Prometheus, Grafana) for observability
• Logging systems (EFK stack) for centralized logging

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Remember: Load the specific reference files only when you need detailed information about kubectl commands, Helm operations, specific workflows, or best practices. This keeps the context manageable and efficient.