container-manager-podman-operations

name	container-manager-podman-operations
skill_type	skill
description	Rootless Podman pod/kube operations via the container-manager-mcp MCP server — pods (create/list/stats/top/inspect/logs/stop/rm), Kubernetes YAML interop (generate/play kube), checkpoint/restore, pod-scoped networks and volumes, health checks, and system prune. Use when the agent must drive Podman pod-level workloads beyond single containers. Do NOT use for single-container Docker/Podman lifecycle (container-manager-lifecycle) or for a real Kubernetes cluster (container-manager-kubernetes-operations).
license	MIT
tags	["container-manager-mcp","podman","pods","rootless","checkpoint","mcp"]
metadata	{"author":"Genius","version":"0.1.0"}

Podman Pod/Kube Operations

Domain-typed control of Podman pods and Podman-specific features through the single cm_podman tool on the container-manager-mcp server. Podman groups containers into local pods (its rootless analogue of a Kubernetes pod) and adds checkpoint/restore and Kubernetes-YAML interop that plain Docker doesn't have. Prefer this cm_* tool over raw podman shell.

When to use

• Create/list/inspect/stop/remove a Podman pod, and read pod-scoped stats, top, or logs.
• Generate a Kubernetes YAML manifest from a running pod (podman_generate_kube_yaml) or play a YAML manifest into local pods (podman_play_kube_yaml) — useful for Kubernetes-migration dry runs on a single host before targeting a real cluster.
• Checkpoint a running container to disk and restore it later (live-migration / fast-restart workflows unique to Podman's CRIU integration).
• Manage pod-scoped networks and volumes, run a container health check, or prune the Podman system.

When NOT to use

• Single-container list/logs/stop/remove/exec, or plain images/compose → container-manager-lifecycle (works for Podman too — it auto-detects the engine).
• A real Kubernetes cluster (not just YAML interop) → container-manager-kubernetes-operations.
• Docker Swarm → container-manager-swarm.
• Operating Podman alongside other backends/contexts at once → container-manager-multi-context.

Prerequisites & environment

Connect via the mcp-client skill against the container-manager-mcp MCP server. A reachable Podman engine is required (rootless or rootful).

Variable	Required	Notes
CONTAINER_MANAGER_TYPE	optional	Set to podman to force Podman (else auto-detect)
PODMANTOOL	optional	Tool toggle, default true; set false to hide cm_podman

Tools & actions

Tool	Group	Actions
cm_podman	Kubernetes interop	podman_generate_kube_yaml, podman_play_kube_yaml
cm_podman	Checkpoint/restore	podman_checkpoint, podman_restore
cm_podman	Pod management	podman_pod_create, podman_pod_list, podman_pod_stats, podman_pod_top, podman_pod_inspect, podman_pod_logs, podman_pod_stop, podman_pod_rm
cm_podman	Network	podman_network_create, podman_network_list, podman_network_inspect
cm_podman	Volume	podman_volume_create, podman_volume_list, podman_volume_inspect
cm_podman	System	podman_system_prune, podman_health_check

Key parameters

• pod_name — required for every pod-scoped action (podman_pod_*) and for podman_generate_kube_yaml.
• image + command — required for podman_pod_create (the pod's infra + first container).
• yaml_path — required for podman_play_kube_yaml.
• namespace — Kubernetes namespace metadata used by podman_generate_kube_yaml (default "default"); Podman itself is not namespace-scoped.
• container_id + checkpoint_dir — required for both podman_checkpoint and podman_restore.
• network_name / driver (default "bridge") / subnet — for podman_network_create.
• volume_name / driver (default "local") — for podman_volume_create.
• tail_lines (default 100) — for podman_pod_logs.
• config — a dict health-check spec, required with container_id for podman_health_check.

Walkthrough — first run

1. Confirm the engine is Podman.

   cm_info_operations action=get_info
   

2. Create a pod and inspect it.

   cm_podman action=podman_pod_create pod_name=web-pod image=nginx:latest
   cm_podman action=podman_pod_list
   cm_podman action=podman_pod_inspect pod_name=web-pod
   

3. Verify health and logs.

   cm_podman action=podman_health_check container_id=<id> config={"test":["CMD","curl","-f","http://localhost/"]}
   cm_podman action=podman_pod_logs pod_name=web-pod tail_lines=100
   

Recipes

Migration dry run — snapshot a running pod to Kubernetes YAML, then replay it:

cm_podman action=podman_generate_kube_yaml pod_name=web-pod namespace=prod
cm_podman action=podman_play_kube_yaml yaml_path=/srv/web-pod.yaml

(Once validated, hand the same manifest to a real cluster via container-manager-kubernetes-operations.)

Checkpoint a container before a host maintenance window, restore after:

cm_podman action=podman_checkpoint container_id=<id> checkpoint_dir=/srv/checkpoints/web-2026-07-09
# ... host maintenance ...
cm_podman action=podman_restore container_id=<id> checkpoint_dir=/srv/checkpoints/web-2026-07-09

Create an isolated pod network with an explicit subnet:

cm_podman action=podman_network_create network_name=web-net driver=bridge subnet=10.89.10.0/24

Sustain: prune unused pods/images/volumes on a schedule:

cm_podman action=podman_system_prune

Gotchas

• Pod-scoped actions (podman_pod_*) act on the pod, not individual containers inside it — use container-manager-lifecycle's cm_container_operations for a single container's logs/exec once you have its id from podman_pod_inspect.
• podman_checkpoint/podman_restore require CRIU support on the host; unsupported kernels/containers fail — treat this as an availability check, not a guarantee.
• podman_play_kube_yaml is a local Podman-pod replay, not a real cluster apply — it doesn't create Kubernetes API objects; use container-manager-kubernetes-operations for that.
• podman_system_prune is destructive and unbounded — confirm intent before running.
• config for podman_health_check is a raw dict (not a JSON string, unlike some cm_k8s_config fields) — pass it as a native object.

Related

• container-manager-lifecycle — single-container Docker/Podman verbs (also works against a Podman engine).
• container-manager-kubernetes-operations — the real Kubernetes cluster surface that podman_generate_kube_yaml/podman_play_kube_yaml manifests target next.
• container-manager-multi-context — operate Podman alongside other backends.