managing-skaffold

name	managing-skaffold
description	Use when working with Skaffold — skaffold continuous development workflow management for Kubernetes. Covers dev loop configuration, build/deploy profiles, debug mode, file sync, render pipeline, and multi-module projects. Use when managing Skaffold development workflows, debugging build failures, configuring deploy profiles, or optimizing the inner dev loop.
connection_type	skaffold
preload	false

Skaffold Management Skill

Manage Skaffold dev loops, build/deploy profiles, debugging, and file synchronization.

Core Helper Functions

#!/bin/bash

# Skaffold command wrapper
skaffold_cmd() {
    skaffold "$@" 2>/dev/null
}

# Skaffold config parser
skaffold_config() {
    local config_file="${1:-skaffold.yaml}"
    cat "$config_file" 2>/dev/null
}

# Find skaffold configs in project
skaffold_find() {
    find "${1:-.}" -name "skaffold.yaml" -o -name "skaffold.yml" 2>/dev/null | sort
}

MANDATORY: Discovery-First Pattern

Always examine skaffold configuration and profiles before running dev/build/deploy.

Phase 1: Discovery

#!/bin/bash
PROJECT_DIR="${1:-.}"

echo "=== Skaffold Version ==="
skaffold version 2>/dev/null

echo ""
echo "=== Skaffold Config Files ==="
find "$PROJECT_DIR" -name "skaffold.yaml" -o -name "skaffold.yml" 2>/dev/null | sort

echo ""
echo "=== Config Overview ==="
CONFIG="${PROJECT_DIR}/skaffold.yaml"
if [ -f "$CONFIG" ]; then
    echo "API Version: $(grep "^apiVersion:" "$CONFIG" | head -1)"
    echo "Kind: $(grep "^kind:" "$CONFIG" | head -1)"
    echo ""
    echo "Build artifacts:"
    grep -A 3 "artifacts:" "$CONFIG" | grep "image:" | sed 's/.*image: /  /' | head -10
    echo ""
    echo "Deploy method:"
    grep -E "^deploy:|kubectl:|helm:|kustomize:" "$CONFIG" |  -5


 
 
skaffold diagnose -p  2>&1 | grep  |  -10 || \
grep -A 2   2>/dev/null |  -10 || \
grep   2>/dev/null | grep -A0 -B1  |  -10

Output Rules

• TOKEN EFFICIENCY: Target <=50 lines per output
• Parse skaffold.yaml with grep/yq for structured analysis
• Never dump full rendered manifests -- summarize build/deploy configuration

Common Operations

Dev Loop Configuration Analysis

#!/bin/bash
CONFIG="${1:-skaffold.yaml}"

echo "=== Build Configuration ==="
grep -A 20 "^build:" "$CONFIG" 2>/dev/null | head -25

echo ""
echo "=== Artifacts ==="
grep -B1 -A 5 "image:" "$CONFIG" 2>/dev/null | head -30

echo ""
echo "=== File Sync Configuration ==="
grep -A 10 "sync:" "$CONFIG" 2>/dev/null | head -15

echo ""
echo "=== Port Forwards ==="
grep -A 10 "portForward:" "$CONFIG" 2>/dev/null | head -15

echo ""
echo "=== Dev Loop Status Check ==="
echo "To start dev loop: skaffold dev [--profile <profile>] [--port-forward]"
echo "To start with debug: skaffold debug [--profile <profile>]"

Build & Deploy Profile Management

#!/bin/bash
CONFIG="${1:-skaffold.yaml}"

echo "=== All Profiles ==="
# Extract profile names and their key characteristics
python3 -c "
import yaml, sys
with open('$CONFIG') as f:
    cfg = yaml.safe_load(f)
profiles = cfg.get('profiles', [])
for p in profiles:
    build_type = 'default'
    if 'build' in p:
        if 'googleCloudBuild' in p.get('build', {}):
            build_type = 'cloud-build'
        elif 'cluster' in p.get('build', {}):
            build_type = 'in-cluster'
        elif 'local' in p.get('build', {}):
            build_type = 'local'
    deploy_type = 'default'
    if 'deploy' in p:
        if 'kubectl' in p.get('deploy', {}):
            deploy_type = 'kubectl'
        elif 'helm' in p.get('deploy', {}):
            deploy_type = 'helm'
        elif 'kustomize' in p.get('deploy', {}):
            deploy_type = 'kustomize'
    print(f\"{p['name']}\tbuild={build_type}\tdeploy={deploy_type}\")
" 2>/dev/null || grep -A 1 "- name:" "$CONFIG" 2>/dev/null | grep "name:" | sed 's/.*name: //'

echo ""
echo "=== Profile Activation ==="
grep -A 5 "activation:" "$CONFIG" 2>/dev/null | head -15

echo ""
echo "=== Profile Patches ==="
grep -A 10 "patches:" "$CONFIG" 2>/dev/null | head -20

Render & Validate Pipeline

#!/bin/bash
PROFILE="${1:-}"
CONFIG="${2:-skaffold.yaml}"

echo "=== Render Output (dry-run) ==="
if [ -n "$PROFILE" ]; then
    skaffold render -p "$PROFILE" --digest-source=none 2>/dev/null | grep "^kind:" | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn
else
    skaffold render --digest-source=none 2>/dev/null | grep "^kind:" | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn
fi

echo ""
echo "=== Build Dry-Run ==="
skaffold build --dry-run ${PROFILE:+-p "$PROFILE"} 2>/dev/null | head -15

echo ""
echo "=== Diagnose Configuration ==="
skaffold diagnose ${PROFILE:+-p "$PROFILE"} 2>/dev/null | head -30

echo ""
echo "=== Schema Validation ==="
skaffold fix --overwrite=false 2>&1 | head -10

Debug Mode Configuration

#!/bin/bash
CONFIG="${1:-skaffold.yaml}"

echo "=== Debug-Capable Artifacts ==="
grep -B2 -A 8 "image:" "$CONFIG" 2>/dev/null | head -30

echo ""
echo "=== Supported Debug Runtimes ==="
echo "  - Go: dlv (Delve)"
echo "  - Java: JDWP"
echo "  - Node.js: --inspect"
echo "  - Python: debugpy/ptvsd"
echo "  - .NET: vsdbg"

echo ""
echo "=== Debug Usage ==="
echo "Start debugging: skaffold debug [--port-forward]"
echo "This automatically configures debug ports and disables health check timeouts"
echo ""
echo "=== Current Port Forwards ==="
grep -A 5 "portForward:" "$CONFIG" 2>/dev/null | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Custom Actions ==="
grep -A 10 "customActions:" "$CONFIG" 2>/dev/null | head -15

Multi-Module Project Analysis

#!/bin/bash
PROJECT_DIR="${1:-.}"

echo "=== Skaffold Configs in Project ==="
find "$PROJECT_DIR" -name "skaffold.yaml" -o -name "skaffold.yml" 2>/dev/null | while read cfg; do
    DIR=$(dirname "$cfg")
    ARTIFACTS=$(grep "image:" "$cfg" 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
    echo "$DIR: $ARTIFACTS artifacts"
done

echo ""
echo "=== Module Dependencies ==="
grep -A 5 "requires:" "$PROJECT_DIR/skaffold.yaml" 2>/dev/null | head -15

echo ""
echo "=== Shared Config Imports ==="
grep "configs:" "$PROJECT_DIR/skaffold.yaml" 2>/dev/null | head -5

echo ""
echo "=== Build Concurrency ==="
grep "concurrency:" "$PROJECT_DIR/skaffold.yaml" 2>/dev/null || echo "Default concurrency (parallel)"

echo 
 
grep -B1 -A 3   2>/dev/null |  -20

 
 
grep -A 3   2>/dev/null |  -5

Safety Rules

• Read-only by default: Use skaffold diagnose, skaffold render, skaffold build --dry-run
• Never run skaffold dev or skaffold run without explicit user request -- they deploy to clusters
• Profile awareness: Always check which profile is active to avoid deploying to wrong environment
• File sync: Changes to synced files are applied immediately in dev mode -- be cautious

Output Format

Present results as a structured report:

Managing Skaffold 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

• API version mismatch: Run skaffold fix to migrate config to latest API version
• Default repo: Without --default-repo, images push to the configured registry -- may require auth
• Cleanup on exit: skaffold dev cleans up resources on Ctrl+C -- skaffold run does not
• Build cache: Skaffold caches builds by default -- use --cache-artifacts=false to force rebuild
• Kustomize path: When using kustomize deployer, paths must be relative to the skaffold.yaml location