| name | deploy-owned-app |
| description | Deploy or onboard an owned Anton app through Flux image automation. Use for deploy, redeploy, force reconcile, deploy homepage, onboard app, new owned app, ADR 0024 image automation, ImageRepository loops, rollout watching, and public URL verification. Reports stuck reconciles and hands them to debug-flux-reconciliation. |
| allowed-tools | Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Grep, Glob |
Deploy owned app
Anton-local skill for the full lifecycle of an owned-app deploy via Flux image-automation. Two modes auto-detected from cluster state: onboard (first-time scaffold) and redeploy (kick the loop on an existing app).
Mode selection
flux get image repository <app-name> -A
- Found → redeploy mode (see redeploy)
- Not found → onboard mode (see onboard)
- Ambiguous (multiple namespaces) → abort, ask user for
<namespace>/<app-name> form
The mode split exists because the work each does is qualitatively different. Redeploy is procedural and observational; onboard is creative and writes manifests. Same skill because they share the same downstream verify path (rollout watch + HTTP 200) and the same mental model ("I am the operator of this owned app and I want it to deploy").
Why this skill exists
Per ADR 0024 / plan 0012, owned apps deploy via Flux image-automation: GH Actions → registry → image-reflector scans → image-automation commits to anton → Flux reconciles. Onboarding a new app touches ~7 files across two repos plus a click in the GHCR org settings; redeploys want sub-minute feedback instead of waiting 5+ minutes for the next poll. This skill drives both flows so the operator stays in one mental model.
It is NOT a recovery tool. If something breaks during either flow, it reports and stops; recovery is debug-flux-reconciliation's job.
Hard rules
- Never modifies app-repo code beyond the Dockerfile and
.github/workflows/build.yaml. No frontend edits, no dependency changes — onboarding only adds the deployment plumbing.
- Never bypasses Flux. No
kubectl rollout restart, no kubectl set image, no kubectl apply on owned-app manifests. Every cluster mutation goes through anton's GitOps loop.
- Never commits or pushes without explicit user confirmation. Surface the diff, ask, then commit. Same on push.
- Stops on first error. Doesn't retry, doesn't auto-recover. Reports where it stopped and what to run next.
- One app at a time. No batch flag, no "deploy all owned apps."
- GHCR public-flip and Cloudflare/external-DNS configuration are user actions — the skill cannot perform them and must say so explicitly.
Inputs
- Required:
<app-name> (positional). Used to look up an ImageRepository and to derive default namespace + manifest paths.
- Optional flags (redeploy mode only):
--no-force — report-only: show CR status, deployment, HTTP, no reconciles--no-watch — kick the chain and exit--no-verify — skip the public HTTP check
- Default: full force + watch + verify.
Workflow entry point
- Run mode-selection query above.
- Branch:
- Both modes converge at:
- Watch deployment rollout
- Verify public URL HTTP 200 (skipped if no HTTPRoute or
--no-verify)
- Print timing summary
Reporting format
Always end with a status block. Format depends on mode and outcome.
Redeploy success:
✅ <app> deployed
namespace: <ns>
image tag: <new> (was <old>) ← or "unchanged — no new build"
bot commit: chore(<app>): <tag> ← or "no commit needed"
pod: <pod-name> Running
url: https://<host>/ → 200
total elapsed: <N>s
Onboard success:
✅ <app> onboarded and serving
anton commit: feat(<app>): adopt image-automation
manifests: kubernetes/apps/<ns>/<app>/ (10 files)
first image: <registry>/<app>:<tag>
pod: <pod-name> Running
url: https://<host>/ → 200
total elapsed: <N>s (commit → 200)
next step: push a code change to <app-repo>; loop will redeploy autonomically
Failure (either mode):
❌ <app> deploy stopped at: <stage>
reason: <one-line message from the offending object>
recommend: /debug-flux-reconciliation
diagnostic: <one targeted command the user can run>
See references/troubleshoot.md for the full failure → recommendation table.
What this skill does NOT do
- Doesn't author app frontend code, dependencies, or business logic.
- Doesn't recover stuck reconciles —
debug-flux-reconciliation.
- Doesn't run the upstream build — GH Actions does on push.
- Doesn't watch GH Actions itself —
gh run watch is separate.
- Doesn't redeploy without an actual image-tag change — if the policy resolves to the same tag, exits with "no new image."
- Doesn't work for Renovate-managed images (those go through PR review, not image-automation).
- Doesn't create GitHub repositories — operator does that out-of-band.
- Doesn't flip GHCR package visibility — operator does that in the GHCR UI; the skill verifies via anonymous pull.
- Doesn't approve the use of
envoy-external per ADR 0023 — operator must explicitly choose the gateway.
Related skills and agents
add-flux-app — useful for the manifest scaffold during onboarding; this skill calls it for shared bits (namespace + ks.yaml convention) but adds the image-automation CRs and images: setter marker on top.expose-service — author the HTTPRoute + DNSEndpoint during onboarding. This skill defers gateway choice to the user since envoy-external requires ADR 0023 approval.debug-flux-reconciliation — what to run when this skill stops on a stuck reconcile.anton-cluster-health — when the failure looks cluster-wide rather than app-specific.observability-integrate — wire a deploy-frequency / image-automation-success panel after the first successful onboard.- ADRs/plans:
0024 (decision), 0012 (homepage as canonical example), 0023 (shared tunnel; gateway constraint).
Anti-patterns
- Running redeploy every minute hoping the build will arrive. If you're tempted,
gh run watch in the app repo first — the build hasn't pushed.
- Using onboard to migrate a Renovate-managed image to image-automation. Different patterns; that's a deliberate architectural change worth its own ADR/plan.
- Skipping the GHCR public-flip step — the skill will fail loudly at the cluster-pull stage, but the failure is avoidable with one click before you start.
- Adding HTTPRoute manifests for
envoy-external without ADR 0023 approval. The skill asks; honor the answer.
- Running the skill while flux-system is unhealthy. Run
anton-cluster-health first; this skill assumes a working Flux.
Example sessions
User: /deploy-owned-app homepage (already exists in cluster)
Skill detects ImageRepository → redeploy mode → kicks chain → watches rollout → verifies HTTPS 200 → reports "32s end-to-end."
User: /deploy-owned-app newproject (no ImageRepository found)
Skill detects no ImageRepository → onboard mode → asks: app repo path, registry (GHCR/Harbor), gateway choice, hostname → scaffolds 10 files → presents diff → on user confirm, commits + pushes → watches first reconcile → verifies HTTPS 200 → reports "onboarded in 4m12s."
User: redeploy homepage (description-triggered)
Skill detects existing ImageRepository → redeploy mode → same as /deploy-owned-app homepage.
User: /deploy-owned-app homepage --no-force
Status print only — no reconciles fired. Useful when paired with a tail of flux events to passively observe.
