/configure:skaffold Skill

/configure:skaffold

Check and configure Skaffold against project standards.

When to Use This Skill

| Use this skill when... | Use another approach when... | |------------------------|------------------------------| | Checking Skaffold configuration compliance for a Kubernetes project | Project has no k8s/ or helm/ directories (Skaffold is not applicable) | | Fixing port forwarding security issues (binding to 0.0.0.0) | Managing Kubernetes manifests or Helm charts directly | | Adding dotenvx hooks for secret generation in Skaffold | Configuring container builds without Kubernetes (use /configure:dockerfile) | | Upgrading Skaffold API version to latest | Debugging Skaffold runtime errors (use system-debugging agent) | | Creating a standard skaffold.yaml from template | Setting up a non-Skaffold local dev workflow (e.g., Docker Compose) |

Context

K8s/Helm directories: !find . -maxdepth 1 -type d $ -name 'k8s' -o -name 'helm' $
Skaffold config: !find . -maxdepth 1 -name \'skaffold.yaml\'
Skaffold API version: !grep -m1 apiVersion skaffold.yaml
Port forward config: !grep -m1 address skaffold.yaml
Profiles defined: !grep -m10 'name:' skaffold.yaml
Generate-secrets script: !find . -maxdepth 1 -name \'scripts/generate-secrets.sh\'
Dotenvx available: !command -v dotenvx
Project standards: !find . -maxdepth 1 -name '.project-standards.yaml' -type f

Skills referenced: skaffold-standards, container-development, skaffold-orbstack

Applicability: Only for projects with Kubernetes deployment (k8s/, helm/ directories)

Parameters

Parse these from $ARGUMENTS:

| Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | --check-only | Report status without offering fixes | | --fix | Apply fixes automatically |

Version Checking

CRITICAL: Before configuring Skaffold, verify latest versions:

Skaffold: Check skaffold.dev or GitHub releases
API version: Current recommended is skaffold/v4beta13
dotenvx: Check dotenvx.com for latest patterns

Use WebSearch or WebFetch to verify current Skaffold version and API version.

Execution

Execute this Skaffold compliance check:

Step 1: Check applicability

Check for k8s/ or helm/ directories. If neither is found, report "SKIP: Skaffold not applicable (no Kubernetes manifests)" and stop. If found, proceed to check for skaffold.yaml.

Step 2: Parse configuration

Read skaffold.yaml and extract:

API version
Build configuration (local.push, useBuildkit)
Deploy configuration (kubeContext, statusCheck)
Port forwarding (addresses)
Profiles defined
Hooks (dotenvx integration)

Step 3: Analyze compliance

Check each setting against these standards:

| Check | Standard | Severity | |-------|----------|----------| | API version | skaffold/v4beta13 | WARN if older | | local.push | false | FAIL if true | | portForward.address | 127.0.0.1 | FAIL if missing/0.0.0.0 | | useBuildkit | true | WARN if false | | kubeContext | orbstack | INFO (recommended for local dev) | | dotenvx hooks | Build or deploy hooks | INFO (recommended for secrets) |

Security-critical: Port forwarding MUST bind to localhost only (127.0.0.1). Never allow 0.0.0.0 or missing address.

Recommended settings:

db-only or services-only profile for local dev workflow
statusCheck: true with reasonable deadline (180s for init containers)
tolerateFailuresUntilDeadline: true for graceful pod initialization
JSON log parsing for structured application logs
dotenvx hooks for secrets generation from .env files

Step 4: Report results

Print a compliance report with:

Skaffold file location and API version
Each configuration check result (PASS/WARN/FAIL)
Profiles found
Scripts status (generate-secrets.sh)
Overall compliance status

If --check-only, stop here.

Step 5: Apply fixes (if --fix or user confirms)

Missing skaffold.yaml: Create from standard template in REFERENCE.md
Security issues: Fix port forwarding addresses to 127.0.0.1
Missing profiles: Add db-only profile template
Outdated API: Update apiVersion to v4beta13
Missing dotenvx hooks: Add secrets generation hook
Missing scripts: Create scripts/generate-secrets.sh from template in REFERENCE.md
Missing kubeContext: Add orbstack for local development

Step 6: Update standards tracking

Update .project-standards.yaml:

components:
  skaffold: "2025.1"

Agentic Optimizations

| Context | Command | |---------|---------| | Quick compliance check | /configure:skaffold --check-only | | Auto-fix all issues | /configure:skaffold --fix | | Check API version | head -5 skaffold.yaml \| grep apiVersion | | Check port forwarding security | grep -A2 'portForward' skaffold.yaml \| grep address | | List profiles | grep 'name:' skaffold.yaml \| grep -v metadata |

Security Note

Port forwarding without address: 127.0.0.1 exposes services to the network. This is a FAIL condition that should always be fixed.

For the standard Skaffold template, dotenvx integration patterns, and generate-secrets script template, see REFERENCE.md.

Agent Skills: /configure:skaffold

Install this agent skill to your local

Skill Files