managing-k8s-resource-quotas

name	managing-k8s-resource-quotas
description	Use when working with K8S Resource Quotas — kubernetes ResourceQuota and LimitRange management. Covers quota inventory, usage vs limits, LimitRange defaults, namespace resource consumption, quota violations, and capacity planning. Use when auditing resource governance, debugging quota-rejected deployments, reviewing namespace limits, or planning capacity allocation across namespaces.
connection_type	k8s
preload	false

Kubernetes ResourceQuota and LimitRange Skill

Manage and analyze ResourceQuotas and LimitRanges for namespace resource governance.

MANDATORY: Discovery-First Pattern

Always list quotas and limit ranges before analyzing usage.

Phase 1: Discovery

#!/bin/bash

echo "=== ResourceQuotas (all namespaces) ==="
kubectl get resourcequotas --all-namespaces -o custom-columns='NAMESPACE:.metadata.namespace,NAME:.metadata.name,AGE:.metadata.creationTimestamp' 2>/dev/null | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== Quota Usage Summary ==="
kubectl get resourcequotas --all-namespaces -o json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '
  .items[] |
  "\(.metadata.namespace)/\(.metadata.name)" as $name |
  .status.hard | to_entries[] |
  "\($name)\t\(.key)\tUsed:\(.value // "0")\tHard:\((.value) // "unset")"
' | head -30
# Better approach with both used and hard
kubectl get resourcequotas --all-namespaces -o json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '
  .items[] |
  "\(.metadata.namespace)/\(.metadata.name)" as $name |
  (.status.hard // {}) as $hard |
  (.status.used // {}) as $used |
  $hard | to_entries[] |
  "\($name)\t\(.key)\tUsed:\($used[.key] // "0")\tHard:\(.value)"
' | head -30

echo ""
echo "=== LimitRanges (all namespaces) ==="
kubectl get limitranges --all-namespaces -o custom-columns='NAMESPACE:.metadata.namespace,NAME:.metadata.name' 2>/dev/null | head -20

Phase 2: Analysis

#!/bin/bash

echo "=== Quota Utilization (% used) ==="
kubectl get resourcequotas --all-namespaces -o json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '
  .items[] |
  "\(.metadata.namespace)/\(.metadata.name)" as $name |
  (.status.hard // {}) as $hard |
  (.status.used // {}) as $used |
  $hard | to_entries[] |
  select(.key | test("cpu|memory|pods|persistentvolumeclaims|services")) |
  "\($name)\t\(.key)\t\($used[.key] // "0")/\(.value)"
' | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== Near-Limit Quotas (>80% used) ==="
kubectl get resourcequotas --all-namespaces -o json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '
  .items[] |
  "\(.metadata.namespace)/\(.metadata.name)" as $name |
  (.status.hard // {}) as $hard |
  (.status.used // {}) as $used |
  $hard | to_entries[] |
  select(.key == "pods" or .key == "count/deployments.apps") |
  select(($used[.key] // "0" | tonumber) > (.value | tonumber) * 0.8) |
  "\($name)\t\(.key)\tUsed:\($used[.key])\tLimit:\(.value)\tWARN:>80%"
'

echo ""
echo "=== LimitRange Defaults ==="
kubectl get limitranges --all-namespaces -o json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '
  .items[] |
  "\(.metadata.namespace)/\(.metadata.name)" as $name |
  .spec.limits[] |
  "\($name)\tType:\(.type)\tDefaultCPU:\(.default.cpu // "none")\tDefaultMem:\(.default.memory // "none")\tMaxCPU:\(.max.cpu // "none")\tMaxMem:\(.max.memory // "none")"
' | head -15

echo ""
echo "=== Namespaces Without Quotas ==="
QUOTA_NS=$(kubectl get resourcequotas --all-namespaces -o jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.namespace}' 2>/dev/null | tr ' ' '\n' | sort -u)
ALL_NS=$(kubectl get namespaces -o jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}' 2>/dev/null | tr ' ' '\n' | sort)
comm -23 <(echo ) <( ) | grep -v  |  -10

 
 
LR_NS=$(kubectl get limitranges --all-namespaces -o jsonpath= 2>/dev/null |    |  -u)
 -23 <( ) <( ) | grep -v  |  -10

 
 
kubectl get events --all-namespaces --field-selector reason=FailedCreate -o json 2>/dev/null | jq -r  |  -10

Output Format

• Target ≤50 lines per output
• Show used/hard ratios for quick capacity assessment
• Flag quotas at >80% utilization
• List namespaces without governance (no quota or LimitRange)
• Never modify quotas in analysis -- read-only inspection

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

• Quota scope: Quotas apply per-namespace -- no cluster-wide quota (use ClusterResourceQuota in OpenShift)
• Request vs limit: Quotas can track requests.cpu and limits.cpu separately -- both must be set on pods
• LimitRange defaults: LimitRange sets defaults for pods without resource specs -- essential for quota enforcement
• Count quotas: count/ prefix counts object instances (e.g., count/deployments.apps) -- not resource consumption
• Terminating vs non-terminating: Quotas can scope to Terminating or NotTerminating pods via scopes
• Priority class: Quotas can be scoped to specific PriorityClasses -- useful for preemption budgets
• BestEffort scope: Quota with BestEffort scope only applies to pods without resource requests
• Admission rejection: Quota violations are rejected at admission time -- check events for FailedCreate