| name | clusterfile-authoring |
| description | Work correctly with the clusterfile project schema, templates, plugins, and rendering model. Use when changing clusterfile data shape, generic templates, plugin manifests, docs, or tests in the clusterfile repo. |
Clusterfile Authoring
Use this skill when working inside the clusterfile repo.
Boundary
clusterfile is generic and public.- Do not add lab-only, ACM-only, or site-specific conventions here.
- Keep environment-specific behavior in the consuming repo.
Core Areas
- schema
- data examples
- templates
- plugins
- tests
- docs that explain generic behavior
Working Rules
- Keep data generic.
- Model intent, not lab wiring.
- Avoid hardcoding site-specific paths, hosts, or secret naming.
- Keep plugins domain-based.
- A plugin should describe a generic capability such as auth, cert-manager, storage, or registry.
- Do not make a plugin for a single lab workaround.
- Keep templates reusable.
- Prefer configurable fields over embedded environment assumptions.
- Keep public contracts stable when possible.
- Keep generated YAML visually primary and template control logic secondary.
- If readers notice Jinja before the manifest value, simplify the template or move the logic into a shared include/helper.
- Do not duplicate the same control rule across templates when one shared path can express it.
- Keep tests aligned.
- When changing a schema, template, or plugin, update tests in the same change.
- Prefer tests that assert generic behavior, not one lab's values.
- Keep rendering explicit.
- Make it clear which fields are rendered from cluster data and which are left to consuming repos.
Anti-Patterns
- Adding
openshift/, ola, or other site-specific conventions to generic templates.
- Using clusterfile to solve a problem that belongs in a local orchestration repo.
- Hiding breaking template changes without updating examples and tests.
- Template edits where the control logic is more prominent than the rendered YAML.
- Repeating the same Jinja decision rule in multiple templates when it could be shared.
Output Style
Lead with whether the change belongs in clusterfile at all. If it does, name the smallest generic contract that supports it.
