Kubernetes Reviewer Skill

Purpose

Reviews Kubernetes manifests and Helm charts for resource configuration, security, and best practices.

When to Use

• Kubernetes YAML review
• Helm chart review
• Pod security review
• Resource limits check
• RBAC configuration review

Project Detection

• *.yaml

  in k8s/, manifests/, deploy/

• Chart.yaml

  (Helm)

• kustomization.yaml

• deployment.yaml

  ,

  service.yaml

Workflow

Step 1: Analyze Project

**Manifest Type**: Deployment, Service, Ingress
**Helm**: Chart v3
**Namespace**: production
**Cluster**: EKS/GKE/AKS

Step 2: Select Review Areas

AskUserQuestion:

"Which areas to review?"
Options:
- Full K8s review (recommended)
- Resource limits and requests
- Health probes configuration
- Security context and RBAC
- Helm chart structure
multiSelect: true

Detection Rules

Resource Limits

Check	Recommendation	Severity
No resource limits	Add limits and requests	CRITICAL
Limits = Requests	Set different values	MEDIUM
Too high limits	Right-size based on usage	MEDIUM
No LimitRange	Add namespace LimitRange	MEDIUM

# BAD: No resource management
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: app
          image: myapp:latest
          # No resources defined!

# GOOD: Proper resource management
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: myapp
  namespace: production
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: myapp
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: myapp
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: app
          image: myapp:v1.2.3
          resources:
            requests:
              cpu: "100m"
              memory: "128Mi"
            limits:
              cpu: "500m"
              memory: "512Mi"

Health Probes

Check	Recommendation	Severity
No liveness probe	Add liveness check	HIGH
No readiness probe	Add readiness check	HIGH
No startup probe	Add for slow-starting apps	MEDIUM
Same liveness/readiness	Differentiate purposes	MEDIUM

# GOOD: Complete probe configuration
spec:
  containers:
    - name: app
      image: myapp:v1.2.3
      ports:
        - containerPort: 8080

      # Startup probe - for slow starting containers
      startupProbe:
        httpGet:
          path: /health/startup
          port: 8080
        failureThreshold: 30
        periodSeconds: 10

      # Liveness probe - restart if unhealthy
      livenessProbe:
        httpGet:
          path: /health/live
          port: 8080
        initialDelaySeconds: 0
        periodSeconds: 10
        timeoutSeconds: 5
        failureThreshold: 3

      # Readiness probe - remove from service if not ready
      readinessProbe:
        httpGet:
          path: /health/ready
          port: 8080
        initialDelaySeconds: 5
        periodSeconds: 5
        timeoutSeconds: 3
        failureThreshold: 3

Security Context

Check	Recommendation	Severity
Running as root	Set runAsNonRoot: true	CRITICAL
No security context	Add pod/container security	HIGH
Privileged container	Remove privileged: true	CRITICAL
Writable root filesystem	Set readOnlyRootFilesystem	HIGH

# BAD: No security constraints
spec:
  containers:
    - name: app
      image: myapp:latest
      # No security context!

# GOOD: Secure configuration
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      securityContext:
        runAsNonRoot: true
        runAsUser: 1000
        runAsGroup: 1000
        fsGroup: 1000

      containers:
        - name: app
          image: myapp:v1.2.3
          securityContext:
            allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
            readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
            capabilities:
              drop:
                - ALL
          volumeMounts:
            - name: tmp
              mountPath: /tmp
            - name: cache
              mountPath: /app/cache

      volumes:
        - name: tmp
          emptyDir: {}
        - name: cache
          emptyDir: {}

Image Policy

Check	Recommendation	Severity
Using :latest tag	Pin specific version	HIGH
No image pull policy	Set imagePullPolicy	MEDIUM
Public registry	Use private registry	MEDIUM

# BAD
image: myapp:latest
# or
image: myapp  # Implies :latest

# GOOD
image: gcr.io/myproject/myapp:v1.2.3
imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent

Pod Disruption Budget

Check	Recommendation	Severity
No PDB for critical apps	Add PodDisruptionBudget	HIGH

apiVersion: policy/v1
kind: PodDisruptionBudget
metadata:
  name: myapp-pdb
spec:
  minAvailable: 2  # or maxUnavailable: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: myapp

RBAC

Check	Recommendation	Severity
Using default SA	Create dedicated ServiceAccount	HIGH
Cluster-wide permissions	Use namespaced Role	HIGH
Wildcard permissions	Specify explicit resources	CRITICAL

# BAD: Overly permissive
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRole
rules:
  - apiGroups: ["*"]
    resources: ["*"]
    verbs: ["*"]

# GOOD: Least privilege
apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: myapp-sa
  namespace: production
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: Role
metadata:
  name: myapp-role
  namespace: production
rules:
  - apiGroups: [""]
    resources: ["configmaps", "secrets"]
    verbs: ["get", "list"]
  - apiGroups: [""]
    resources: ["pods"]
    verbs: ["get", "list", "watch"]
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: RoleBinding
metadata:
  name: myapp-rolebinding
  namespace: production
subjects:
  - kind: ServiceAccount
    name: myapp-sa
    namespace: production
roleRef:
  kind: Role
  name: myapp-role
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io

Helm Charts

Check	Recommendation	Severity
Hardcoded values	Use values.yaml	MEDIUM
No default values	Provide sensible defaults	MEDIUM
No NOTES.txt	Add post-install notes	LOW

# values.yaml
replicaCount: 3

image:
  repository: myapp
  tag: "v1.2.3"
  pullPolicy: IfNotPresent

resources:
  requests:
    cpu: 100m
    memory: 128Mi
  limits:
    cpu: 500m
    memory: 512Mi

# templates/deployment.yaml
spec:
  replicas: {{ .Values.replicaCount }}
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: {{ .Chart.Name }}
          image: "{{ .Values.image.repository }}:{{ .Values.image.tag }}"
          resources:
            {{- toYaml .Values.resources | nindent 12 }}

Response Template

## Kubernetes Review Results

**Project**: [name]
**Type**: Deployment, Service, Ingress
**Namespace**: production

### Resource Limits
| Status | File | Issue |
|--------|------|-------|
| CRITICAL | deployment.yaml | No resource limits defined |

### Health Probes
| Status | File | Issue |
|--------|------|-------|
| HIGH | deployment.yaml | Missing readiness probe |

### Security
| Status | File | Issue |
|--------|------|-------|
| CRITICAL | deployment.yaml | Running as root |

### RBAC
| Status | File | Issue |
|--------|------|-------|
| HIGH | rbac.yaml | Wildcard permissions |

### Recommended Actions
1. [ ] Add resource requests and limits
2. [ ] Configure liveness and readiness probes
3. [ ] Add security context with non-root user
4. [ ] Apply least privilege RBAC

Best Practices

1. Resources: Always set requests and limits
2. Probes: All three probe types for production
3. Security: Non-root, read-only fs, drop capabilities
4. RBAC: Least privilege, namespaced roles
5. Images: Pin versions, use private registry

Integration

• docker-reviewer

  : Container image review

• terraform-reviewer

  : Infrastructure as code

• infra-security-reviewer

  : Cluster security