managing-infra
Infrastructure patterns for Kubernetes, Terraform, Helm, Kustomize, and GitHub Actions. Use when making K8s architectural decisions, choosing between Helm vs Kustomize, structuring Terraform modules, writing CI/CD workflows, or applying security best practices.
When & Why to Use This Skill
This Claude skill provides expert-level infrastructure patterns and architectural guidance for Kubernetes, Terraform, Helm, Kustomize, and GitHub Actions. It streamlines DevOps workflows by offering proven templates for cloud resource management, CI/CD pipeline automation, and Kubernetes security hardening, ensuring scalable and maintainable Infrastructure as Code (IaC).
Use Cases
- Architectural Decision Making: Evaluating whether to use Helm or Kustomize based on project complexity and templating requirements.
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Optimization: Structuring Terraform modules for efficient cloud resource lifecycle management and reusability.
- Security Hardening: Implementing Kubernetes security best practices, including non-root users, read-only filesystems, and least-privilege network policies.
- CI/CD Pipeline Design: Creating robust GitHub Actions workflows for automated linting, testing, and multi-architecture Docker builds (x86/ARM).
- Containerization Standards: Utilizing multi-stage Dockerfiles and Makefiles to standardize build automation and local development environments.
| name | managing-infra |
|---|---|
| description | Infrastructure patterns for Kubernetes, Terraform, Helm, Kustomize, and GitHub Actions. Use when making K8s architectural decisions, choosing between Helm vs Kustomize, structuring Terraform modules, writing CI/CD workflows, or applying security best practices. |
| allowed-tools | Read, Bash, Grep, Glob |
Infrastructure Patterns
When to Use What
| Tool | Use For |
|---|---|
| Raw K8s YAML | Simple deployments, one-off resources |
| Kustomize | Environment variations, overlays without templating |
| Helm | Complex apps, third-party charts, heavy templating |
| Terraform | Cloud resources, infrastructure lifecycle |
| GitHub Actions | CI/CD, automated testing, releases |
| Makefile | Build automation, self-documenting targets |
| Dockerfile | Container builds, multi-stage, multi-arch |
Quick Decisions
Kustomize when: Simple env differences, readable manifests, patching YAML Helm when: Complex templating, third-party charts, release management
K8s Security Defaults
Every workload: non-root user, read-only filesystem, no privilege escalation, dropped capabilities, network policies.
GitHub Actions Patterns
- CI workflow: Lint, test, compile on PRs (run on both x86 + ARM)
- Release workflow: Multi-arch Docker build on tags (native ARM runners)
- Pin actions by SHA, least-privilege permissions
References
- KUBERNETES.md - K8s resource patterns
- TERRAFORM.md - Terraform module patterns
- GITHUB-ACTIONS.md - CI/CD workflow patterns
- MAKEFILE.md - Build automation patterns
- DOCKERFILE.md - Container build patterns
- templates/ - Ready-to-use templates
Commands
kubectl apply -k ./ # Apply kustomize
helm upgrade --install NAME . # Install/upgrade chart
terraform plan && terraform apply