patternizer

name	patternizer
description	AI assistance for Patternizer — a CLI tool that bootstraps Git repositories containing Helm charts into ready-to-use Validated Patterns for OpenShift. Use when initializing, upgrading, or working with Validated Patterns.
related_skills	["vp-refactor","vp-deploy-test"]

Patternizer Skill

When to Use

• Initializing a new Validated Pattern from a Git repository with Helm charts
• Upgrading an existing Validated Pattern to the latest common structure
• Understanding the generated scaffolding files (values-global.yaml, pattern.sh, Makefile)
• Configuring secrets management for Validated Patterns
• Working with the pattern.sh utility script
• Troubleshooting pattern initialization or upgrade issues

Instructions

• Reference the documentation in references/ for detailed guidance
• See references/REFERENCE.md for an index of available documentation files
• Patternizer runs as a container via Podman or Docker — no local Go installation required

Quick Start

# Navigate to your repository with Helm charts
cd my-pattern-repo

# Initialize as a Validated Pattern
podman run --pull=newer -v "$PWD:$PWD:z" -w "$PWD" \
  quay.io/validatedpatterns/patternizer init

# Initialize with secrets management
podman run --pull=newer -v "$PWD:$PWD:z" -w "$PWD" \
  quay.io/validatedpatterns/patternizer init --with-secrets

Key Commands

# Initialize a new pattern (no secrets)
patternizer init

# Initialize with secrets support (adds Vault + External Secrets Operator)
patternizer init --with-secrets

# Upgrade existing pattern to latest common structure
patternizer upgrade

# Upgrade and replace Makefile
patternizer upgrade --replace-makefile

All commands are typically run via the container image:

podman run --pull=newer -v "$PWD:$PWD:z" -w "$PWD" \
  quay.io/validatedpatterns/patternizer <command>

Independent Deployment Scripts

Every Validated Pattern project should have standalone shell scripts that wrap pattern.sh commands. These scripts live in the pattern repo root, are committed to git (they contain no secrets), and serve as the single entry point for deploying and tearing down the pattern.

When activating this section

Before generating any script, check whether one already exists:

ls deploy.sh teardown.sh

If the scripts exist, use them instead of raw pattern.sh commands. If they do not exist, generate them from the templates below.

After generating:

chmod +x deploy.sh teardown.sh
git add deploy.sh teardown.sh
git commit -m "feat: add independent deploy and teardown scripts"

deploy.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# deploy.sh — generated by patternizer skill
set -euo pipefail

PATTERN_ROOT="${PATTERN_ROOT:-$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)}"
cd "$PATTERN_ROOT"

if [ ! -f values-secret.yaml ]; then
  echo "ERROR: values-secret.yaml not found."
  echo "Copy values-secret.yaml.template, populate it, and place it in the pattern root."
  echo "Do NOT commit values-secret.yaml to git."
  exit 1
fi

echo "==> Installing Validated Pattern ..."
./pattern.sh make install
echo "==> Install complete. Run vp-deploy-validator to confirm ArgoCD convergence."

teardown.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# teardown.sh — generated by patternizer skill
set -euo pipefail

PATTERN_ROOT="${PATTERN_ROOT:-$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)}"
cd "$PATTERN_ROOT"

read -rp "This will uninstall the pattern and remove all ArgoCD Applications. Continue? [y/N] " confirm
[[ "$confirm" =~ ^[Yy]$ ]] || exit 0

echo "==> Uninstalling Validated Pattern ..."
./pattern.sh make uninstall
echo "==> Uninstall complete."

Important reminders

• deploy.sh and teardown.sh are safe to commit — they contain no secrets
• values-secret.yaml must never be committed (add to .gitignore if not already present)
• The deploy.sh pre-check for values-secret.yaml is a vp-deploy-test submission-blocking requirement — a pattern that deploys without this check fails the non-interactive install test
• Add a "Quick Deploy" section to README.md referencing these scripts so new contributors know how to get started

---

Generated Files

Running patternizer init creates:

File	Purpose
values-global.yaml	Global pattern configuration
values-<cluster_group>.yaml	Cluster group-specific values
pattern.sh	Utility script for install, upgrade operations
Makefile	Simple Makefile including Makefile-common
Makefile-common	Core Makefile with pattern-related targets
ansible.cfg	Ansible configuration for pattern.sh

With --with-secrets, additionally:

• values-secret.yaml.template — template for defining secrets
• Updates values-global.yaml to enable secret loading

Workflow

# 1. Clone or create your pattern repo
git clone https://github.com/your-org/your-pattern.git
cd your-pattern && git checkout -b initialize-pattern

# 2. Initialize with Patternizer
podman run --pull=newer -v "$PWD:$PWD:z" -w "$PWD" \
  quay.io/validatedpatterns/patternizer init

# 3. Review and commit
git add . && git commit -m 'initialize pattern using patternizer'
git push -u origin initialize-pattern

# 4. Install the pattern on OpenShift
export KUBECONFIG=/path/to/cluster/kubeconfig
./pattern.sh make install

Best Practices

• Commit your work to git before running init --with-secrets (not easily reversible)
• Use the container image rather than building from source
• The upgrade command removes the common/ directory if it exists
• After upgrade, verify Makefile contains include Makefile-common
• See Validated Patterns documentation for pattern design guidance