kubectl

Use this skill to keep Kubernetes resource management deterministic and safe across clusters and namespaces.

Intent Router

Quick Start

# Verify connectivity
kubectl cluster-info
kubectl get nodes

# Confirm active context and namespace
kubectl config current-context
kubectl config view --minify

# List pods in all namespaces
kubectl get pods -A

# Apply a manifest
kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml --dry-run=client
kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml

Core Command Tracks

• Read state: kubectl get/describe <resource> — inspect current cluster state
• Apply changes: kubectl apply -f — declarative reconciliation
• Logs: kubectl logs <pod> [-c <container>] [-f] [--previous]
• Shell: kubectl exec -it <pod> -- bash
• Port forward: kubectl port-forward <pod> 8080:80
• Rollout: kubectl rollout status/history/undo deployment/<name>
• Scale: kubectl scale deployment/<name> --replicas=3
• Output formats: -o wide, -o json, -o yaml, -o jsonpath

Safety Guardrails

• Always confirm active context (kubectl config current-context) before applying changes to prevent applying to the wrong cluster.
• Always specify namespace explicitly with -n <namespace> for production operations; never rely on default namespace alone.
• Use --dry-run=client -o yaml to preview resources before applying.
• Use kubectl diff -f <file> to see what will change before applying.
• Confirm before running kubectl delete — especially with label selectors (-l) which can match many resources.
• Never run kubectl delete namespace <name> without explicit user confirmation; it deletes all resources in the namespace.
• Prefer kubectl rollout undo over direct manifest rewrites for reverting deployments.

# Troubleshoot a crashing pod: check recent events then inspect previous container logs
kubectl get events --sort-by=.lastTimestamp -n my-namespace
kubectl logs my-pod --previous -n my-namespace

Workflow

1. Confirm context: kubectl config current-context and kubectl config get-contexts.
2. Inspect current state with kubectl get and kubectl describe before making changes.
3. Preview changes with kubectl diff -f <file> or --dry-run=client.
4. Apply changes with kubectl apply -f <file>.
5. Monitor rollout with kubectl rollout status deployment/<name>.
6. On failure, check events with kubectl get events --sort-by=.lastTimestamp.

Related Skills

• helm — package manager for Kubernetes applications
• docker — container image building for Kubernetes workloads

References

• resources/install-and-setup.md
• resources/command-cookbook.md
• resources/resource-management.md
• resources/troubleshooting.md
• Official docs: https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubectl/
• Command reference: https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubectl/kubectl-commands