kubectl Operations

Execute kubectl commands using kubectl-mcp-server's operations tools.

When to Apply

Use this skill when:

• User mentions: "apply", "patch", "delete", "exec", "scale", "rollout"
• Operations: modifying resources, running commands, scaling workloads
• Keywords: "update", "change", "modify", "run command", "restart"

Priority Rules

Priority	Rule	Impact	Tools
1	Dry run before apply in production	CRITICAL	kubectl_apply(dry_run=True)
2	Check current state before patching	HIGH	describe_* tools
3	Avoid force delete unless necessary	HIGH	kubectl_delete
4	Verify rollout status after changes	MEDIUM	kubectl_rollout_status

Quick Reference

Task	Tool	Example
Apply manifest	kubectl_apply	kubectl_apply(manifest=yaml)
Patch resource	kubectl_patch	kubectl_patch(type, name, namespace, patch)
Delete resource	kubectl_delete	kubectl_delete(type, name, namespace)
Exec command	kubectl_exec	kubectl_exec(pod, namespace, command)
Scale deployment	scale_deployment	scale_deployment(name, namespace, replicas)

Apply Resources

kubectl_apply(manifest="""
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nginx
  namespace: default
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: nginx
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: nginx
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: nginx
        image: nginx:latest
""")

kubectl_apply(file_path="/path/to/manifest.yaml")

kubectl_apply(manifest="...", dry_run=True)

Patch Resources

kubectl_patch(
    resource_type="deployment",
    name="nginx",
    namespace="default",
    patch={"spec": {"replicas": 5}}
)

kubectl_patch(
    resource_type="deployment",
    name="nginx",
    namespace="default",
    patch=[{"op": "replace", "path": "/spec/replicas", "value": 5}],
    patch_type="json"
)

kubectl_patch(
    resource_type="service",
    name="my-svc",
    namespace="default",
    patch={"metadata": {"annotations": {"key": "value"}}},
    patch_type="merge"
)

Delete Resources

kubectl_delete(resource_type="pod", name="my-pod", namespace="default")

kubectl_delete(
    resource_type="pods",
    namespace="default",
    label_selector="app=test"
)

kubectl_delete(
    resource_type="pod",
    name="stuck-pod",
    namespace="default",
    force=True,
    grace_period=0
)

Execute Commands

kubectl_exec(
    pod="my-pod",
    namespace="default",
    command="ls -la /app"
)

kubectl_exec(
    pod="my-pod",
    namespace="default",
    container="sidecar",
    command="cat /etc/config/settings.yaml"
)

kubectl_exec(
    pod="my-pod",
    namespace="default",
    command="sh -c 'curl -s localhost:8080/health'"
)

Scale Resources

scale_deployment(name="nginx", namespace="default", replicas=5)

scale_deployment(name="nginx", namespace="default", replicas=0)

kubectl_scale(
    resource_type="statefulset",
    name="mysql",
    namespace="default",
    replicas=3
)

Rollout Management

kubectl_rollout_status(
    resource_type="deployment",
    name="nginx",
    namespace="default"
)

kubectl_rollout_history(
    resource_type="deployment",
    name="nginx",
    namespace="default"
)

kubectl_rollout_restart(
    resource_type="deployment",
    name="nginx",
    namespace="default"
)

rollback_deployment(name="nginx", namespace="default", revision=1)

Labels and Annotations

kubectl_label(
    resource_type="pod",
    name="my-pod",
    namespace="default",
    labels={"env": "production"}
)

kubectl_annotate(
    resource_type="deployment",
    name="nginx",
    namespace="default",
    annotations={"description": "Main web server"}
)

Related Skills

• k8s-deploy - Deployment strategies
• k8s-helm - Helm operations