kubectl Operations

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

Requires the ops toolset: start kubectl-mcp-server with --toolsets default,ops (or MCP_TOOLSETS=default,ops).

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	Compare with live state before apply in production	CRITICAL	kubectl_get(resource_type, name, output="yaml")
2	Check current state before patching	HIGH	kubectl_describe
3	Avoid force delete unless necessary	HIGH	delete_resource
4	Verify rollout status after changes	MEDIUM	kubectl_rollout

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	delete_resource	delete_resource(type, name, namespace)
Exec command	exec_in_pod	exec_in_pod(pod, namespace, command)
Scale deployment	kubectl_scale	kubectl_scale(resource_type="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
""")

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

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

delete_resource(resource_type="deployment", name="old-app", namespace="default")

Execute Commands

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

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

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

Scale Resources

kubectl_scale(resource_type="deployment", name="nginx", namespace="default", replicas=5)

kubectl_scale(resource_type="deployment", name="nginx", namespace="default", replicas=0)

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

Rollout Management

kubectl_rollout(action="status",
    resource_type="deployment",
    name="nginx",
    namespace="default"
)

kubectl_rollout(action="history",
    resource_type="deployment",
    name="nginx",
    namespace="default"
)

kubectl_rollout(action="restart",
    resource_type="deployment",
    name="nginx",
    namespace="default"
)

kubectl_rollout(action="undo", resource_type="deployment", name="nginx", namespace="default")

Labels and Annotations

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

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

Related Skills

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