verify-ssi

name	verify-ssi
description	Verify Single Step Instrumentation (SSI) is working end-to-end on Kubernetes — SSI automatically instruments applications for APM without code changes. Only use after enable-ssi has run.
metadata	{"version":"1.0.0","author":"datadog-labs","repository":"https://github.com/datadog-labs/agent-skills","tags":"datadog,apm,kubernetes,ssi,verification,instrumentation","alwaysApply":"false"}

Verify APM SSI on Kubernetes

Before doing anything else: Fully resolve all variables in ## Context to resolve before acting. Do not begin Step 1 until every variable has a concrete value.

Triggers

Invoke this skill when the user expresses intent to:

• Confirm SSI is working after enabling APM
• Check whether pods are being instrumented
• Verify the tracer is running and reporting telemetry
• Confirm tracer config is applied correctly

Do NOT invoke this skill if:

• SSI has not been enabled yet — run enable-ssi first
• Pods are not being instrumented at all — use troubleshoot-ssi

---

Prerequisites

• enable-ssi is complete
• Application pods have been restarted since SSI was enabled

pup-cli: check, install, and authenticate

Claude runs

pup --version

If not found:

Claude runs

brew tap datadog-labs/pack
brew install pup

Check auth:

pup auth status --site <DD_SITE>

If not authenticated:

Claude runs

pup auth login --site <DD_SITE>

This opens a browser tab for OAuth. Complete the login there — Claude will continue once the command exits.

If valid token — proceed. ERROR: No browser available — use API key fallback: export DD_APP_KEY=<your-app-key>

---

Context to resolve before acting

Variable	How to resolve
CLUSTER_NAME	Check spec.global.clusterName in datadog-agent.yaml, or kubectl config current-context
ENV	Check tags.datadoghq.com/env label on the application Deployment
SERVICE_NAME	Check tags.datadoghq.com/service label on the application Deployment

---

Step 1: Confirm Pods are Instrumented

Claude runs

kubectl get pod -l app=<APP_LABEL> -n <APP_NAMESPACE> \
  -o jsonpath='{.items[0].spec.initContainers[*].name}'

If the output includes datadog-lib-<language>-init and datadog-init-apm-inject — SSI init containers are injected.

ERROR: Init containers missing — pod was not restarted after SSI was enabled, or namespace targeting is not matching. Restart the pod and recheck.

---

Step 2: Confirm the Tracer is Reporting Telemetry

Claude runs

DD_SITE=<DD_SITE> pup apm services list --env <ENV> --from 1h

If <SERVICE_NAME> appears in the services list with isTraced: true — continue to Step 3.

ERROR: Service missing — send some traffic to the app first, then retry:

Claude runs

# Port-forward and send test traffic
kubectl port-forward deployment/<DEPLOYMENT_NAME> 8099:8000 -n <APP_NAMESPACE> &
sleep 2 && for i in $(seq 1 10); do curl -s -o /dev/null http://localhost:8099/; done
sleep 30 && kill %1 2>/dev/null
DD_SITE=<DD_SITE> pup apm services list --env <ENV> --from 10m

ERROR: Still missing after traffic — check the agent's trace receiver: kubectl exec -n <AGENT_NAMESPACE> <AGENT_POD> -c agent -- agent status | grep -A 10 "Receiver (previous minute)". If receiver shows 0 traces, go to troubleshoot-ssi.

---

Step 3: Confirm Tracer Configuration

Only run this step if ddTraceConfigs was explicitly configured in enable-ssi (e.g. profiling, AppSec, Data Streams). If basic SSI was set up without ddTraceConfigs, skip this step — an empty response here is expected and not a failure.

Claude runs

pup apm service-library-config get \
  --service-name <SERVICE_NAME> \
  --env <ENV>

If the output shows expected environment variables matching what was configured in ddTraceConfigs — done.

If the output is empty and ddTraceConfigs was not configured — expected, not a failure.

ERROR: Config missing but ddTraceConfigs was configured — check it is present in the DatadogAgent manifest under the correct target, and that pods were restarted after the config change.

---

Done

Exit when ALL of the following are true:

• Step 1: target pods appear in instrumented-pods list
• Step 2: service appears in tracers list with active status
• Step 3: tracer config matches what was set in DatadogAgent

If any check fails, go to troubleshoot-ssi.

When all steps pass, automatically proceed to onboarding-summary now — do not ask the user for permission.

---

Security constraints

• Never write a raw API key into any file or chat message
• Never run kubectl delete without user confirmation