okteto

name	okteto
description	Okteto development environment agent skill. Provides CLI knowledge, workflow patterns, and debugging strategies for working with Okteto environments. Supports both collaborative (human-in-the-loop) and autonomous (CI/ticket-driven) workflows. Use when a project has an okteto.yaml or the user mentions Okteto.

Okteto Development Environment Skill

You are an AI agent working with an Okteto-powered development environment. This skill covers two modes of operation:

1. Collaborative -- a developer is actively working with you
2. Autonomous -- you are working independently (e.g., triggered by a ticket, PR, or CI pipeline)

Step 1: Discover the project

Read okteto.yaml in the project root. This is the source of truth for:

• build: which services have container images
• deploy: how services are deployed (usually Helm charts)
• dev: which services support development mode, their images, sync paths, and commands
• test: which test containers are available and how they run

Parse this file to understand the project's services, languages, and structure. Do not assume hardcoded service names -- always derive them from okteto.yaml.

Step 2: Determine your operating mode

Collaborative mode -- a developer is in the loop and will run interactive commands. Use this when:

• A user is chatting with you in an IDE or terminal
• Someone asks you to help debug, set up, or develop a service

Autonomous mode -- you are operating independently end-to-end. Use this when:

• Triggered by a ticket (Jira, Linear, GitHub Issue, etc.)
• Running as part of a CI/CD pipeline
• No human is expected to intervene during execution

---

Collaborative mode

Environment setup

1. Check prerequisites: Run okteto version and okteto context show
2. Deploy: Run okteto deploy --wait to build images and deploy all services
3. Show endpoints: Run okteto endpoints to display the public URLs
4. Guide the user to start development on a specific service with okteto up <service>

The okteto up rule

okteto up is interactive and MUST be run by the user in their terminal. It opens a shell inside the development container with live file sync. Never run it yourself -- not as a background task, not with &, not at all. Instead, tell the user:

Run this in your terminal: okteto up <service>

Working with the developer

Once the user has okteto up <service> running:

• Run diagnostics: okteto exec -- <command> to execute commands in the dev container
• Read synced files: Use the Read tool to examine code syncing to the cluster
• Analyze pasted output: When the user hits an error, they can paste terminal output
• Check logs: okteto logs <service> for container logs
• Run tests: okteto test <test-name> for test containers defined in okteto.yaml

You are facilitating their workflow, not trying to observe their terminal session.

Debugging patterns

Situation	Action
User asks to run tests	okteto exec -- make test or language-appropriate command
User pastes an error	Read relevant code, analyze, suggest fix
User asks "why is this failing?"	Run diagnostics via okteto exec
User makes code changes	Changes auto-sync; help them run next steps
User asks to run e2e tests	okteto test <test-name> from okteto.yaml

---

Autonomous mode

When operating without a developer in the loop, you own the full lifecycle: environment setup, code changes, validation, and reporting. Do not use okteto up -- it is interactive and requires a human. Instead, use okteto deploy for full environments and okteto test for validation.

Workflow

1. Understand the task: Read the ticket/issue to understand what needs to change and the acceptance criteria.

2. Deploy an environment:

   • Run okteto context show to verify cluster connection
   • Run okteto deploy --wait to spin up all services
   • Run okteto endpoints to capture the live URLs for later validation

3. Make code changes: Edit the relevant source files based on the task requirements. Use the Read tool, Grep, and Glob to explore the codebase. Inspect the service directories and okteto.yaml to understand service structure.

4. Rebuild and redeploy changed services:

   • Run okteto build <service> to rebuild only the changed service image
   • Run okteto deploy --wait to redeploy with the updated image
   • Alternatively, if only one service changed, target it: okteto build <service> && okteto deploy --wait

5. Validate:

   • If okteto.yaml was modified, run okteto validate first to catch manifest errors before deploying
   • Run okteto test <test-name> for each test container in okteto.yaml
   • Run okteto endpoints and use curl or similar to smoke-test the live endpoints
   • Check okteto logs <service> --since 5m for errors in the changed services

6. Iterate if tests fail:

   • Read test output and logs to diagnose the failure
   • Fix the code, rebuild, redeploy, and re-test
   • Repeat until all tests pass

7. Report results: Summarize what was changed, what tests passed, and provide the live environment URL for review. Include any relevant log output or test artifacts.

8. Clean up: Follow the rules in the Cleanup and teardown section below. Do not destroy without explicit authorization or a predefined cleanup policy.

Autonomous example

Trigger: Jira ticket "PROJ-123: Add rate limiting to /api/rentals endpoint"

Agent actions:
  1. Read ticket for requirements and acceptance criteria
  2. okteto deploy --wait              -> full environment running
  3. Read okteto.yaml, explore api/ directory
  4. Edit api/handlers/rentals.go      -> implement rate limiting
  5. Edit api/handlers/rentals_test.go  -> add unit tests
  6. okteto build api                  -> rebuild the api service image
  7. okteto deploy --wait              -> redeploy with changes
  8. okteto test e2e                   -> run e2e test suite
  9. okteto logs api --since 5m        -> check for runtime errors
  10. curl the live endpoint to verify rate limiting behavior
  11. Commit changes, open PR
  12. Report back to PROJ-123: changes made, tests passing, PR link, live URL

---

Cleanup and teardown

Tearing down an environment is as important as standing one up. Get the command right, and get the authorization right.

Pick the right command

Command	What it does	When to use
okteto down	Exits dev mode for one service; restores the original deployment. Does not destroy the environment.	The developer is done iterating on a service but wants the environment to keep running.
okteto destroy	Tears down every resource created by okteto deploy in the current namespace. Destructive.	The environment is no longer needed and teardown is authorized.
okteto namespace delete <name>	Deletes an entire namespace and everything in it. Very destructive.	Only with explicit user instruction — never as cleanup from a task.

A common mistake is reaching for okteto destroy when the user only wanted to exit dev mode. If in doubt, okteto down is the safe choice.

Collaborative mode

Do not run okteto destroy yourself. Surface it as a suggestion and let the developer run it:

You're done with this environment. To tear it down, run:
  okteto destroy

okteto down is fine for the agent to run when the developer has clearly finished with a service.

Autonomous mode

Run okteto destroy only when one of these is true:

• The task explicitly authorizes cleanup (e.g., "destroy the environment when the PR is merged")
• There is a predefined cleanup policy documented in the repo's CLAUDE.md or the ticket
• The environment is ephemeral and owned by the pipeline (e.g., a per-run preview environment)

If none of those apply, leave the environment running and note in the report that it is still up, with the command the caller would use to tear it down. It is always safer to leave a running environment than to destroy one that someone else depended on.

Never do this

• Delete a namespace you did not create
• Destroy a shared or named environment (e.g., staging, dev) without explicit instruction
• Treat okteto destroy as a recovery step when something goes wrong — diagnose first

---

Discovering dev commands

Look at the dev section of okteto.yaml for each service. The command field tells you how the service starts:

• If command: bash -- the service needs manual build/start (check for Makefile, package.json, pom.xml in the service directory)
• If command: yarn start or command: mvn spring-boot:run -- the service auto-starts in dev mode
• Check for Makefile, package.json, pom.xml, or go.mod in the service directory to determine available commands

CLI quick reference

Command	Collaborative	Autonomous	Purpose
okteto deploy --wait	Agent	Agent	Build images and deploy all services
okteto build <service>	Agent	Agent	Build and push a single service image
okteto up <service>	User only	Never	Start interactive dev container
okteto down	Agent/User	N/A	Stop dev mode, restore deployment
okteto exec -- <cmd>	Agent	N/A	Run command in active dev container
okteto logs <service>	Agent	Agent	View container logs
okteto endpoints	Agent	Agent	List public URLs
okteto test <name>	Agent	Agent	Run a test container from okteto.yaml
okteto destroy	User	With policy	Tear down all resources
okteto doctor	Agent	Agent	Generate a diagnostic bundle
okteto status	Agent	N/A	Check file sync progress
okteto validate	Agent	Agent	Validate okteto.yaml manifest syntax
okteto context show	Agent	Agent	Verify cluster and namespace

Common mistakes to avoid

• Running okteto up in autonomous mode: There is no human to interact with the shell. Use okteto deploy + okteto build + okteto test instead.
• Running okteto up as the agent in collaborative mode: It is interactive. Always tell the user to run it.
• Forgetting to deploy first: Run okteto deploy before any validation or testing.
• Not specifying the service: With multiple services, always specify which one.
• Using kubectl/helm directly: Always use okteto deploy so Okteto can track resources.
• Building Docker images locally: Use okteto build to leverage the Okteto Build Service.
• Hardcoding service names: Always read okteto.yaml to discover services.
• Destroying without authorization: In autonomous mode, do not run okteto destroy unless there is an explicit cleanup policy or instruction.