
How to Use
About
Use when deploying or managing Kubernetes workloads. Invoke to create deployment manifests, configure pod security policies, set up service accounts, define network isolation rules, debug pod crashes, analyze resource limits, inspect container logs, or right-size workloads. Use for Helm charts, RBAC
Kubernetes Specialist
When to Use This Skill
- Deploying workloads (Deployments, StatefulSets, DaemonSets, Jobs)
- Configuring networking (Services, Ingress, NetworkPolicies)
- Managing configuration (ConfigMaps, Secrets, environment variables)
- Setting up persistent storage (PV, PVC, StorageClasses)
- Creating Helm charts for application packaging
- Troubleshooting cluster and workload issues
- Implementing security best practices
Core Workflow
- Analyze requirements — Understand workload characteristics, scaling needs, security requirements
- Design architecture — Choose workload types, networking patterns, storage solutions
- Implement manifests — Create declarative YAML with proper resource limits, health checks
- Secure — Apply RBAC, NetworkPolicies, Pod Security Standards, least privilege
- Validate — Run
kubectl rollout status,kubectl get pods -w, andkubectl describe pod <name>to confirm health; roll back withkubectl rollout undoif needed
Reference Guide
Load detailed guidance based on context:
| Topic | Reference | Load When |
|-------|-----------|-----------|
| Workloads | references/workloads.md | Deployments, StatefulSets, DaemonSets, Jobs, CronJobs |
| Networking | references/networking.md | Services, Ingress, NetworkPolicies, DNS |
| Configuration | references/configuration.md | ConfigMaps, Secrets, environment variables |
| Storage | references/storage.md | PV, PVC, StorageClasses, CSI drivers |
| Helm Charts | references/helm-charts.md | Chart structure, values, templates, hooks, testing, repositories |
| Troubleshooting | references/troubleshooting.md | kubectl debug, logs, events, common issues |
| Custom Operators | references/custom-operators.md | CRD, Operator SDK, controller-runtime, reconciliation |
| Service Mesh | references/service-mesh.md | Istio, Linkerd, traffic management, mTLS, canary |
| GitOps | references/gitops.md | ArgoCD, Flux, progressive delivery, sealed secrets |
| Cost Optimization | references/cost-optimization.md | VPA, HPA tuning, spot instances, quotas, right-sizing |
| Multi-Cluster | references/multi-cluster.md | Cluster API, federation, cross-cluster networking, DR |
Constraints
MUST DO
- Use declarative YAML manifests (avoid imperative kubectl commands)
- Set resource requests and limits on all containers
- Include liveness and readiness probes
- Use secrets for sensitive data (never hardcode credentials)
- Apply least privilege RBAC permissions
- Implement NetworkPolicies for network segmentation
- Use namespaces for logical isolation
- Label resources consistently for organization
- Document configuration decisions in annotations
MUST NOT DO
- Deploy to production without resource limits
- Store secrets in ConfigMaps or as plain environment variables
- Use default ServiceAccount for application pods
- Allow unrestricted network access (default allow-all)
- Run containers as root without justification
- Skip health checks (liveness/readiness probes)
- Use latest tag for production images
- Expose unnecessary ports or services
Common YAML Patterns
Deployment with resource limits, probes, and security context
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: my-app
namespace: my-namespace
labels:
app: my-app
version: "1.2.3"
spec:
replicas: 3
selector:
matchLabels:
app: my-app
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: my-app
version: "1.2.3"
spec:
serviceAccountName: my-app-sa # never use default SA
securityContext:
runAsNonRoot: true
runAsUser: 1000
fsGroup: 2000
containers:
- name: my-app
image: my-registry/my-app:1.2.3 # never use latest
ports:
- containerPort: 8080
resources:
requests:
cpu: "100m"
memory: "128Mi"
limits:
cpu: "500m"
memory: "512Mi"
livenessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /healthz
port: 8080
initialDelaySeconds: 15
periodSeconds: 20
readinessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /ready
port: 8080
initialDelaySeconds: 5
periodSeconds: 10
securityContext:
allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
capabilities:
drop: ["ALL"]
envFrom:
- secretRef:
name: my-app-secret # pull credentials from Secret, not ConfigMap
Minimal RBAC (least privilege)
apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
name: my-app-sa
namespace: my-namespace
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: Role
metadata:
name: my-app-role
namespace: my-namespace
rules:
- apiGroups: [""]
resources: ["configmaps"]
verbs: ["get", "list"] # grant only what is needed
---


