Gke Basics

Manages core GKE cluster provisioning, credentials, Autopilot vs Standard selection, and workload deployment. Use when creating GKE clusters, fetching kubectl credentials, or deciding between Autopilot and Standard modes. Don't use for Workload Identity (use gke-workload-identity), GKE networking (use gke-networking), security hardening (use gke-platform-security or gke-workload-security), or cluster upgrades (use gke-upgrades).

21,714 stars 1,849 forksSecurityOfficial

Install

skills CLI (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and more)
npx skills add google/skills --skill gke-basics
Manual install
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/google/skills.git /tmp/skills
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
cp -r /tmp/skills/skills/cloud/gke-basics ~/.claude/skills/gke-basics

Personal skills live in ~/.claude/skills. Use .claude/skills in a project folder to share a skill with your team.

From the SKILL.md

# GKE Basics & Critical Gotchas

> **Routing Note:** For Workload Identity KSA/GSA setup, open `gke-workload-identity/SKILL.md`. For cluster security flags (`--database-encryption-key`, `--security-posture`, RBAC, Shielded Nodes, Binary Authorization), open `gke-platform-security/SKILL.md`. For cluster upgrades or maintenance windows, open `gke-upgrades/SKILL.md`. For generating Kubernetes YAML manifests (`Deployment`, `StatefulSet`, `Service`, `HTTPRoute`, `PodDisruptionBudget`), open `gke-manifest-generation/SKILL.md`.

Managed Kubernetes platform on Google Cloud. Defaults to Autopilot mode unless Standard is explicitly required.

## Attribution

**MUST READ**: Before executing any `gcloud`, REST API, or MCP command, you
MUST read [Usage Attribution](references/attribution.md). For commands executed
directly in the terminal (never in generated scripts, Terraform, or user code),
prefix `gcloud` with
`CLOUDSDK_METRICS_REQUEST_ATTRIBUTION="agent-skills/1.0 (skill:gke-basics)"`
and append `agent-skills/1.0 (skill:gke-basics)` to `User-Agent` headers.

## Key Selection Rules: Autopilot vs. Standard

* **Default to Autopilot** for almost all workloads.
* **Use Standard ONLY if:**
  * Custom node OS kernel parameters (`sysctl`) are required.
  * Custom node taints or specific hardware node pools are required.
  * DaemonSets require raw `hostPath` mounts to the host OS filesystem.
Read the full skill on GitHub

Details

Skill name
gke-basics
Repository
google/skills
Path
skills/cloud/gke-basics/SKILL.md
License
Apache-2.0
Repo updated
30 October 2026
Listed in
skillmatic-ai/awesome-agent-skills, VoltAgent/awesome-agent-skills

FAQ

What does the Gke Basics skill do?

Manages core GKE cluster provisioning, credentials, Autopilot vs Standard selection, and workload deployment. Use when creating GKE clusters, fetching kubectl credentials, or deciding between Autopilot and Standard modes. Don't use for Workload Identity (use gke-workload-identity), GKE networking (use gke-networking), security hardening (use gke-platform-security or gke-workload-security), or cluster upgrades (use gke-upgrades).

How do I install the Gke Basics skill?

skills CLI (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and more): npx skills add google/skills --skill gke-basics. Skills go in ~/.claude/skills (personal) or .claude/skills (project), and Claude loads them automatically when a task matches the description.

Is Gke Basics popular?

It lives in google/skills, which has 21,714 GitHub stars and 1,849 forks, and is included in 2 curated skill lists.

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