/kubernetes-patterns

name: kubernetes-patterns
description: Kubernetes workload patterns, resource management, RBAC, probes, autoscaling, ConfigMap/Secret handling, and kubectl debugging for production-grade deployments. Use when writing or reviewing Kubernetes manifests, or debugging probes, RBAC, autoscaling, or resource limits.
metadata:
  origin: ECC

Kubernetes Patterns

Production-grade Kubernetes patterns for deploying, managing, and debugging workloads reliably.

When to Activate

• Writing Kubernetes manifests (Deployments, Services, Ingress, Jobs)
• Configuring resource requests/limits, liveness/readiness probes
• Setting up RBAC, namespaces, or ServiceAccounts
• Managing configuration and secrets in K8s
• Debugging CrashLoopBackOff, OOMKilled, pending pods, or image pull errors
• Configuring HPA (Horizontal Pod Autoscaler) or PodDisruptionBudgets
• Reviewing K8s YAML for security or correctness

When to Use

> Same as **When to Activate** above. This alias satisfies repo skill-format conventions. Use this skill any time you are writing, reviewing, or debugging Kubernetes YAML and workloads.

How It Works

This skill provides **copy-pasteable, production-grade YAML patterns** and **kubectl debugging commands** organized by task:

1. **Deployment template** — A fully configured production `Deployment` with security context, rolling update strategy, all three probe types, resource limits, and environment injection from ConfigMap/Secret. 2. **Probes** — Decision table for startup vs liveness vs readiness, with correct `failureThreshold × periodSeconds` math. 3. **Services & Ingress** — ClusterIP, LoadBalancer, and TLS Ingress patterns with cert-manager annotations. 4. **ConfigMaps & Secrets** — `envFrom`, file-mount, and external secrets guidance. 5. **Resource management** — Requests vs limits rules of thumb by workload type (web API, JVM, worker, sidecar). 6. **RBAC** — Least-privilege ServiceAccount → Role → RoleBinding chain. 7. **HPA & PDB** — Autoscaling and node-drain safety configurations. 8. **Jobs & CronJobs** — One-off and scheduled workload patterns with correct `restartPolicy`. 9. **kubectl cheatsheet** — Logs, exec, rollback, port-forward, dry-run, and common error diagnosis commands. 10. **Anti-patterns & checklist** — What NOT to do, and a security/reliability/observability checklist.

Examples

See the sections below for complete, runnable examples. Quick references:

| Task | Jump to | |------|---------| | Full production Deployment YAML | [Core Workload Patterns](#core-workload-patterns) | | Probe configuration | [Probes](#probes--liveness-readiness-startup) | | RBAC least-privilege setup | [RBAC](#rbac--roles-and-serviceaccounts) | | Debug a CrashLoopBackOff | [kubectl Debugging Cheatsheet](#kubectl-debugging-cheatsheet) | | Autoscaling | [HPA](#horizontal-pod-autoscaler-hpa) |

---

Core Workload Patterns

Deployment — Production Template

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: my-app
  namespace: my-namespace
  labels:
    app: my-app
    version: "1.0.0"
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: my-app
  strategy:
    type: RollingUpdate
    rollingUpdate:
      maxSurge: 1          # Allow 1 extra pod during update
      maxUnavailable: 0    # Never reduce below desired count
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: my-app
        version: "1.0.0"
    spec:
      # Security context at pod level
      securityContext:
        runAsNonRoot: true
        runAsUser: 1001
        fsGroup: 1001

      # Graceful shutdown
      terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 30

      containers:
        - name: my-app
          image: ghcr.io/org/my-app:1.0.0   # Never use :latest
          imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent

          ports:
            - containerPort: 8080
              protocol: TCP

          # Resource requests AND limits are both required
          resources:
            requests:
              cpu: "100m"
              memory: "128Mi"
            limits:
              cpu: "500m"
              memory: "256Mi"

          # Container security context
          securityContext:
            allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
            readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
            capabilities:
              drop:
                - ALL

          # Probes (see Probes section below)
          startupProbe:
            httpGet:
              path: /health
              port: 8080
            failureThreshold: 30
            periodSeconds: 5
          livenessProbe:
            httpGet:
              path: /health
              port: 8080
            initialDelaySeconds: 0
            periodSeconds: 30
            failureThreshold: 3
          readinessProbe:
            httpGet:
              path: /ready
              port: 8080
            initialDelaySeconds: 5
            periodSeconds: 10
            failureThreshold: 2

          # Environment from ConfigMap and Secret
          envFrom:
            - configMapRef:
                name: my-app-config
          env:
            - name: DB_PASSWORD
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  name: my-app-secrets
                  key: db-password

          # Writable tmp directory when readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
          volumeMounts:
            - name: tmp
              mountPath: /tmp

      volumes:
        - name: tmp
          emptyDir: {}

---

Probes — Liveness, Readiness, Startup

Understanding when to use each probe is critical:

| Probe | Failure Action | Use For | |-------|---------------|---------| | `startupProbe` | Kills container if slow to start | Slow-starting apps (JVM, Python) | | `livenessProbe` | Restarts container | Deadlock / hung process detection | | `readinessProbe` | Removes from Service endpoints | Temporary unavailability (DB reconnect) |

# Correct pattern: startupProbe covers slow startup,
# then liveness/readiness take over
startupProbe:
  httpGet:
    path: /health
    port: 80