Kubectl Investigator Agent Skill

Investigate a live or recent incident in a Kubernetes cluster.

Context cost
266.9k tokensestimated from the bundle; more than a 200k window holds
Bundle
79 files · 1147.8 kB15 scripts among them — read before you run
Licence
Apache-2.0the author’s own terms
Last change
—no release on file
Servers it uses
Noneruns standalone

What it does

Investigate a live or recent incident in a Kubernetes cluster. Anchor the window, bisect the change surface (rollouts, ConfigMaps/Secrets, RBAC, HPA/cluster changes, CronJobs), classify against four reference failure paths (OOM, DNS, cascading-failure, deploy-correlator), confirm the hypothesis with three independent signals, quantify blast radius, and propose mitigation before root cause. Use whenever an agent is asked "what is breaking in the cluster right now", "why did this pod/Deployment just page", "did the rollout cause Z", or to triage an active Kubernetes incident.

What this skill changes about the agent has not been set out here as a list. Its SKILL.md, shown below, says it in the author’s own words.

analyticskubernetes

The skill itself

A skill is instructions the model reads, so you can see what you are getting: below is the start of its SKILL.md. The front matter loads with every session, the body loads when the skill triggers, and the whole file comes with the install.

SKILL.md19.9 kB · preview
--- name: kubectl-investigator ---
6# kubectl-investigator
7
8Methodology skill for investigating a live or recent incident on **Kubernetes**. Produces a timeline, a ranked set of hypotheses, a blast-radius estimate, and a recommended mitigation. Hands off cleanly to postmortem-author once the incident is mitigated.
9
10Scope: workloads running on Kubernetes (Deployments, StatefulSets, DaemonSets, Jobs/CronJobs) and the cluster primitives around them (Services, Ingress, CoreDNS, ConfigMaps/Secrets, RBAC, HPA, nodes). External dependencies (third-party APIs, partner TLS endpoints, managed databases) are in scope only as seen *from* a Kubernetes workload — the methodology investigates the cluster-side symptom and the in-cluster change surface.
11
12## When to invoke
13
14- A PrometheusRule / Alertmanager alert just fired on a workload and the agent needs to triage before paging a human.
15- A user asks "what is breaking in the cluster right now" or "why did Deployment X just page".
16- A kubectl rollout / Helm release / Argo CD sync went out in the last hour and a metric moved; need to know whether they are linked.
17- Pods are crash-looping, OOMKilled, or Pending, or customer impact is reported with no alert yet; need to find the failing surface.
18
19## The methodology, in order
20
21The order matters. Skipping a step produces confident wrong answers.
22
23### 1. Anchor the window
24
This is a preview of SKILL.md. Download or install the skill to get the whole thing.
In the file
SKILL.md2,752 words
Files79
LicenceApache-2.0
Why you can read it

Nothing in a skill executes. The client loads the text and the model follows it, so a skill can be audited the way a runbook is — by reading it.

What it costs in context

Skills are not billed by the call. They are paid for in context: every token the instructions occupy is a token your code, your diff and your conversation cannot use. Here is what this one takes and when it takes it.

≈200
always loaded
The name and description, so the model knows the skill exists and when to reach for it.
266,675
on trigger
The instruction body and 78 supporting files, read only when the skill fires.
1.3×
a 200k window
It does not fit in the window: loaded whole, it would need more room than the model has.
050k100k150k200k context window

266.9k tokens, estimated from the bundle at four bytes to the token — more than the whole window, so it cannot all be held at once: the model reads SKILL.md when the skill fires and the other files only as the instructions call for them. Heavy. Teams tend to install this one per project rather than globally, and load it only when the job comes up.

Servers bill, skills cost

A server charges by the month. A skill charges once per session, in context, and then keeps charging it for as long as the session lives.

Before and after

The same question, put to the same model twice: once as it comes, and once with these instructions loaded.

No worked example has been published for this skill yet.

The procedure it runs

The procedure has not been set out here step by step. It is in the body of its SKILL.md: the start of it is shown above, and the whole file comes with the install.

Prose, not code

These steps are written for a model to follow, not executed by a runtime. It can still be told to skip one, and it will say so when it does.

Servers it uses

None. This skill calls no MCP servers at all.

Everything it needs is in the instructions, so it works in a project with nothing connected — the model reads the file and changes how it works with what it can already reach.

Its SKILL.md does not declare which tools it asks the agent for, so what it touches is whatever the instructions themselves ask for — read them before you install it.

What it asks for
Writes filesnot declared
Network accessnot declared

This SKILL.md carries no allowed-tools line, so neither is declared. A skill grants no permissions of its own — it can only ask for tools your client already has.

What it will not do

Every skill is narrow, and the useful ones say where they stop. These are the jobs this one is the wrong tool for.

What this skill is not for has not been published here. Nothing is implied by that: it is a section the author has not filled in.

What is in the bundle

79 files, 1147.8 kB on disk. Mostly text — the instructions the model reads — with 15 scripts in it that your client would run only if the instructions tell it to.

  • SKILL.md19.9 kB
  • FAILURE_MODES.md7.0 kB
  • README.md4.1 kB
  • examples/01-oom-cascade.md7.5 kB
  • examples/02-dns-resolution-failure.md7.3 kB
  • examples/03-cascading-failure-retry-storm.md8.4 kB
  • examples/04-deploy-correlator-serialization.md8.0 kB
  • examples/05-outside-reference-paths-third-party-rate-limit.md8.0 kB
  • examples/06-ambiguous-t0-slow-burn.md8.1 kB
  • examples/07-blast-radius-asymmetric-revert.md8.3 kB
  • examples/08-deploy-correlator-confirmation-bias.md9.3 kB
  • examples/09-zero-changes-external-cert-expiry.md6.4 kB
  • examples/10-multi-region-asymmetry.md7.3 kB
  • examples/11-capacity-bound-organic-growth.md6.8 kB
  • tests/_methodology.py23.2 kB
  • tests/README.md4.4 kB
  • tests/replay_01_oom_cascade.py3.7 kB
  • tests/replay_02_dns.py3.4 kB
  • tests/replay_03_cascade.py3.3 kB
  • tests/replay_04_deploy_correlator.py3.4 kB
  • tests/replay_05_outside_paths.py2.5 kB
  • tests/replay_06_ambiguous_t0.py2.3 kB
  • tests/replay_07_blast_radius.py2.5 kB
  • tests/replay_08_confirmation_bias.py2.8 kB
  • tests/replay_09_cert_expiry.py2.1 kB
  • tests/replay_10_multi_region.py2.4 kB
  • tests/replay_11_capacity_bound.py2.4 kB
  • fixtures/01-oom-cascade/deploys.json0.8 kB
  • fixtures/01-oom-cascade/logs.jsonl1.4 kB
  • fixtures/01-oom-cascade/metrics.json1.4 kB
  • fixtures/01-oom-cascade/pod_events.jsonl1.4 kB
  • fixtures/01-oom-cascade/traces.jsonl1.5 kB
  • fixtures/02-dns-resolution-failure/deploys.json0.7 kB
  • fixtures/02-dns-resolution-failure/logs.jsonl2.5 kB
  • fixtures/02-dns-resolution-failure/metrics.json1.3 kB
  • fixtures/02-dns-resolution-failure/traces.jsonl1.5 kB
  • fixtures/03-cascading-failure-retry-storm/deploys.json0.4 kB
  • fixtures/03-cascading-failure-retry-storm/logs.jsonl1.4 kB
  • fixtures/03-cascading-failure-retry-storm/metrics.json1.8 kB
  • fixtures/03-cascading-failure-retry-storm/traces.jsonl1.6 kB
  • fixtures/04-deploy-correlator-serialization/deploys.json0.8 kB
  • fixtures/04-deploy-correlator-serialization/logs.jsonl1.5 kB
  • fixtures/04-deploy-correlator-serialization/metrics.json1.1 kB
  • fixtures/04-deploy-correlator-serialization/traces.jsonl1.3 kB
  • fixtures/05-outside-reference-paths-third-party-rate-limit/deploys.json0.4 kB
  • fixtures/05-outside-reference-paths-third-party-rate-limit/logs.jsonl1.6 kB
  • fixtures/05-outside-reference-paths-third-party-rate-limit/metrics.json1.3 kB
  • fixtures/05-outside-reference-paths-third-party-rate-limit/traces.jsonl1.3 kB
  • fixtures/06-ambiguous-t0-slow-burn/deploys.json0.5 kB
  • fixtures/06-ambiguous-t0-slow-burn/logs.jsonl0.9 kB
  • fixtures/06-ambiguous-t0-slow-burn/metrics.json1.2 kB
  • fixtures/06-ambiguous-t0-slow-burn/traces.jsonl0.9 kB
  • fixtures/07-blast-radius-asymmetric-revert/deploys.json0.9 kB
  • fixtures/07-blast-radius-asymmetric-revert/logs.jsonl1.8 kB
  • fixtures/07-blast-radius-asymmetric-revert/metrics.json1.5 kB
  • fixtures/07-blast-radius-asymmetric-revert/traces.jsonl1.5 kB
  • fixtures/08-deploy-correlator-confirmation-bias/deploys.json0.8 kB
  • fixtures/08-deploy-correlator-confirmation-bias/logs.jsonl2.0 kB
  • fixtures/08-deploy-correlator-confirmation-bias/metrics.json1.3 kB
  • fixtures/08-deploy-correlator-confirmation-bias/traces.jsonl1.3 kB
  • fixtures/09-zero-changes-external-cert-expiry/deploys.json0.1 kB
  • fixtures/09-zero-changes-external-cert-expiry/logs.jsonl1.3 kB
  • fixtures/09-zero-changes-external-cert-expiry/metrics.json1.3 kB
  • fixtures/09-zero-changes-external-cert-expiry/traces.jsonl1.5 kB
  • fixtures/10-multi-region-asymmetry/deploys.json0.1 kB
  • fixtures/10-multi-region-asymmetry/logs.jsonl1.7 kB
  • fixtures/10-multi-region-asymmetry/metrics.json2.0 kB
  • fixtures/10-multi-region-asymmetry/traces.jsonl1.7 kB
  • fixtures/11-capacity-bound-organic-growth/deploys.json0.1 kB
  • fixtures/11-capacity-bound-organic-growth/logs.jsonl0.9 kB
  • fixtures/11-capacity-bound-organic-growth/metrics.json1.2 kB
  • fixtures/11-capacity-bound-organic-growth/traces.jsonl1.3 kB
  • tests/eval/eval_results.json873.2 kB
  • tests/eval/incidents.py8.8 kB
  • tests/eval/judge_prompt.md2.5 kB
  • tests/eval/README.md13.0 kB
  • tests/eval/rubric.md3.2 kB
  • tests/eval/run_eval.py15.3 kB
  • tests/eval/run_until_pass.sh2.2 kB
What is not in it

A skill installs nothing and depends on nothing: it is a folder your client reads. This one carries 15 scripts beside the text, so the bundle is 79 files you can review in full before installing. The Apache-2.0 licence covers the templates and examples as well as the instructions.

Install

Installing copies the bundle into your project. Nothing runs at install time — the files sit on disk until the model reads them.

# Kubectl Investigator · 266.9k tokens when loaded · macOS, Linux mkdir -p .claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/kubectl-investigator/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/kubectl-investigator" ] && { [ ! -e .claude/skills/kubectl-investigator ] || { mv .claude/skills/kubectl-investigator "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/kubectl-investigator" .claude/skills/ && echo "Installed .claude/skills/kubectl-investigator"
On Windows, or any OS with Node 20+
npx mcprush@latest skill add anyshift-io/kubectl-investigator

Windows PowerShell says 'running scripts is disabled on this system'? Run Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned once, or type npx.cmd instead of npx (codex.cmd, gemini.cmd, grok.cmd likewise). PowerShell 7 needs neither. Writes to .claude/skills/kubectl-investigator/ in the current project. For every project instead, run mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/kubectl-investigator/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/kubectl-investigator" ] && { [ ! -e ~/.claude/skills/kubectl-investigator ] || { mv ~/.claude/skills/kubectl-investigator "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/kubectl-investigator" ~/.claude/skills/ && echo "Installed ~/.claude/skills/kubectl-investigator" (macOS, Linux) — or add --global to the npx line. The curl line replaces .claude/skills/kubectl-investigator/ only after the download succeeds, so files left there by another skill of the same name, or by an older release, do not mix in. A copy already there is moved aside, not deleted, and the line prints where.

Which clients pick it up on their own

A skill is a folder of text. Most of these read a skills folder and pick it up without being told; the rest take the same folder another way — an upload in the app, a parameter on an API call — and then choose it by its description just the same.

Claude Code.claude/skills/
Claude DesktopCustomize › Skills
ChatGPTSkills › Create › Upload
Cursor.cursor/skills/
VS Code.github/skills/
Codex CLI.agents/skills/
Gemini CLI.gemini/skills/
Grok Build.grok/skills/
Microsoft CopilotSkills › Upload a skill
PerplexityComputer › Skills › Upload a skill
DeepSeek Harness.dsh/skills/
Zed.agents/skills/
Devin Desktop.devin/skills/
Windsurf (legacy).windsurf/skills/
OpenAI Agents SDKInstructions or sandbox Skills
HTTP / APIa request parameter
This release
Versionnot versioned
Publishedno release date on file
PriceFree
Referenceanyshift-io/kubectl-investigator

Versions

Its author publishes no version number, so there is nothing here to pin to: what you install is the folder as it stands today. Instructions change more often than APIs do — a skill can be rewritten entirely without anything it depends on moving.

Pinning

Nothing to pin to: this skill carries no version number of its own. What you install is what the folder holds on the day you install it.

Reviews

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