K8s Manifest Generator

When to use this skill

Use K8s Manifest Generator when an AI agent needs a reusable SKILL.md workflow for this job: Create production-ready Kubernetes manifests for Deployments, Services, ConfigMaps, and Secrets following best practices and security standards. Use when generating Kubernetes YAML manifests, creating K8s resources, or implementing production-grade Kubernetes configurations.

When not to use it

Skip K8s Manifest Generator when the task is outside the coding category, or when a more specific skill in this directory already covers the same workflow with clearer triggers.

How to install

1. Personal install: create ~/.claude/skills/k8s-manifest-generator/SKILL.md (and any bundled scripts) so Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and compatible agents can load it in every project.
2. Project install: commit the same folder at .claude/skills/k8s-manifest-generator/ so teammates get the skill with the repo.
3. Restart the agent session after copying files so it re-scans the skills directory, then ask for the task in words that match the skill description.

Full install guide for Claude, Cursor, and Codex

What this skill does

# Kubernetes Manifest Generator

Step-by-step guidance for creating production-ready Kubernetes manifests including Deployments, Services, ConfigMaps, Secrets, and PersistentVolumeClaims.

## Purpose

This skill provides comprehensive guidance for generating well-structured, secure, and production-ready Kubernetes manifests following cloud-native best practices and Kubernetes conventions.

## When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

- Create new Kubernetes Deployment manifests - Define Service resources for network connectivity - Generate ConfigMap and Secret resources for configuration management - Create PersistentVolumeClaim manifests for stateful workloads - Follow Kubernetes best practices and naming conventions - Implement resource limits, health checks, and security contexts - Design manifests for multi-environment deployments

## Detailed patterns and worked examples

Detailed pattern documentation lives in `references/details.md`. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient.

## Best Practices Summary

1. **Always set resource requests and limits** - Prevents resource starvation 2. **Implement health checks** - Ensures Kubernetes can manage your application 3. **Use specific image tags** - Avoid unpredictable deployments 4. **Apply security contexts** - Run as non-root, drop capabilities 5. **Use ConfigMaps and Secrets** - Separate config from code 6. **Label everything** - Enables filtering and organization 7. **Follow naming conventions** - Use standard Kubernetes labels 8. **Validate before applying** - Use dry-run and validation tools 9. **Version your manifests** - Keep in Git with version control 10. **Document with annotations** - Add context for other developers

## Troubleshooting

**Pods not starting:**

- Check image pull errors: `kubectl describe pod <pod-name>` - Verify resource availability: `kubectl get nodes` - Check events: `kubectl get events --sort-by='.lastTimestamp'`

**Service not accessible:**

- Verify selector matches pod labels: `kubectl get endpoints <service-name>` - Check service type and port configuration - Test from within cluster: `kubectl run debug --rm -it --image=busybox -- sh`

**ConfigMap/Secret not loading:**

- Verify names match in Deployment - Check namespace - Ensure resources exist: `kubectl get configmap,secret`

## Next Steps

After creating manifests:

1. Store in Git repository 2. Set up CI/CD pipeline for deployment 3. Consider using Helm or Kustomize for templating 4. Implement GitOps with ArgoCD or Flux 5. Add monitoring and observability

## Related Skills

- `helm-chart-scaffolding` - For templating and packaging - `gitops-workflow` - For automated deployments - `k8s-security-policies` - For advanced security configurations

Intended uses

• Create new Kubernetes Deployment manifests
• Define Service resources for network connectivity
• Generate ConfigMap and Secret resources for configuration management
• Create PersistentVolumeClaim manifests for stateful workloads
• Follow Kubernetes best practices and naming conventions
• Implement resource limits, health checks, and security contexts
• Design manifests for multi-environment deployments