managing-kong-mesh

name	managing-kong-mesh
description	Use when working with Kong Mesh — kong Mesh service mesh management covering meshes, dataplanes, traffic policies, mesh gateways, mTLS configuration, and observability. Built on Kuma with enterprise features. Use when managing Kong Mesh instances, configuring service-to-service policies, debugging dataplane proxies, or setting up multi-zone mesh deployments.
connection_type	kong-mesh
preload	false

Kong Mesh Skill

Manage Kong Mesh service mesh, dataplanes, traffic policies, gateways, and multi-zone configuration.

Core Helper Functions

#!/bin/bash

KONG_MESH_API="${KONG_MESH_API_URL:-http://localhost:5681}"

km_api() {
    local endpoint="$1"
    shift
    curl -s "$KONG_MESH_API/$endpoint" "$@"
}

MANDATORY: Discovery-First Pattern

Phase 1: Discovery

#!/bin/bash

echo "=== Kong Mesh Version ==="
km_api "" | jq '{version, hostname, tagline, environment}'

echo ""
echo "=== Meshes ==="
km_api "meshes" | jq -r '
    .items[] | "\(.name)\tmTLS: \(.mtls.enabledBackend // "disabled")\tLogging: \(.logging.backends | length // 0) backends"
' | column -t | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Dataplanes Overview ==="
km_api "mesh-insights" | jq -r '
    .items[] | "\(.name)\tOnline: \(.dataplanesByType.standard.online // 0)\tGateway: \(.dataplanesByType.gateway.online // 0)\tTotal: \(.dataplanesByType.standard.total // 0)"
' | column -t | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Zones ==="
km_api "zones" | jq -r '
    .items[]? | "\(.name)\tEnabled: \(.enabled)"
' | column -t | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Global Policies ==="
for policy in trafficpermissions trafficlogs traffictraces trafficroutes timeouts circuitbreakers healthchecks faultinjections retries ratelimits meshgateways meshgatewayroutes; do
    COUNT=$(km_api "$policy" 2>/dev/null | jq '.total // 0')
    [ "$COUNT" -gt 0 ] && echo "$policy: $COUNT"
done

echo ""
echo "=== OPA Policies (Enterprise) ==="
km_api "opapolicies" | jq -r '
    .items[]? | "\(.name)\t\(.mesh)\tEnabled: \(.enabled // true)"
' | column -t 2>/dev/null | head -10

Phase 2: Analysis

#!/bin/bash
MESH="${1:-default}"

echo "=== Mesh Configuration ==="
km_api "meshes/$MESH" | jq '{name, mtls, tracing, logging, metrics, routing}'

echo ""
echo "=== Dataplanes in Mesh ==="
km_api "meshes/$MESH/dataplanes" | jq -r '
    .items[] | "\(.name)\t\(.networking.address)\tService: \(.networking.inbound[0].tags["kuma.io/service"] // "n/a")"
' | column -t | head -15

echo ""
echo "=== Traffic Permissions ==="
km_api "meshes/$MESH/trafficpermissions" | jq -r '
    .items[] | "\(.name)\tSrc: \(.sources[0].match["kuma.io/service"] // "*")\tDst: \(.destinations[0].match["kuma.io/service"] // "*")"
' | column -t | head -15

echo ""
echo "=== Rate Limits ==="
km_api "meshes/$MESH/ratelimits" | jq '
    .items[]? | {name, sources: .sources[0].match, destinations: .destinations[0].match, conf: .conf}
' | head -15

echo ""
echo "=== Mesh Gateways ==="
km_api "meshes/$MESH/meshgateways" | jq '
    .items[]? | {name, selectors: .selectors, conf: .conf}
' | head -15

Output Rules

• TOKEN EFFICIENCY: Target <=50 lines per output
• Use jq to parse Kong Mesh API responses
• Specify mesh context for all policy queries

Safety Rules

• Read-only by default: Use GET endpoints for inspection
• Traffic permission changes affect authorization immediately
• mTLS backend changes can disrupt all mesh communication
• Multi-zone policy propagation affects all connected zones

Output Format

Present results as a structured report:

Managing Kong Mesh Report
═════════════════════════
Resources discovered: [count]

Resource       Status    Key Metric    Issues
──────────────────────────────────────────────
[name]         [ok/warn] [value]       [findings]

Summary: [total] resources | [ok] healthy | [warn] warnings | [crit] critical
Action Items: [list of prioritized findings]

Target ≤50 lines of output. Use tables for multi-resource comparisons.

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Shortcut	Counter	Why
"I'll skip discovery and check known resources"	Always run Phase 1 discovery first	Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors
"The user only asked for a quick check"	Follow the full discovery → analysis flow	Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures
"Default configuration is probably fine"	Audit configuration explicitly	Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled
"Metrics aren't needed for this"	Always check relevant metrics when available	API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues
"I don't have access to that"	Try the command and report the actual error	Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative

Common Pitfalls

• Kong Mesh vs Kuma: Kong Mesh is commercial Kuma; API is compatible but has extra enterprise resources
• OPA policies: Enterprise feature; requires OPA sidecar configuration
• Default deny: Without traffic permissions, mesh defaults to deny all
• Zone CP vs Global CP: Policies are managed at global CP and synced to zone CPs
• Gateway vs Gateway builtin: MeshGateway is built-in; differs from Kong Gateway integration