/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: !find . -maxdepth 1 -name 'skaffold.yaml' -exec grep -m1 apiVersion {} +
Port forward config: !find . -maxdepth 1 -name 'skaffold.yaml' -exec grep -m1 address {} +
Profiles defined: !find . -maxdepth 1 -name 'skaffold.yaml' -exec grep -m10 'name:' {} +
Generate-secrets script: !find . -maxdepth 1 -name \'scripts/generate-secrets.sh\'
Dotenvx available: !dotenvx --version
Project standards: !find . -maxdepth 1 -name '.project-standards.yaml' -type f

Skills referenced: container-plugin:container-development, container-plugin:skaffold-orbstack; Skaffold standards tables live in REFERENCE.md

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.

configure-skaffold