k8s-security-policies

Overview of k8s-security-policies skill

What k8s-security-policies actually helps with

The k8s-security-policies skill is a Kubernetes hardening helper for teams that need working policy manifests faster than a generic prompt can usually produce. It focuses on three practical control areas that often ship together in real clusters: NetworkPolicy, pod security enforcement via Pod Security Standards labels, and RBAC patterns for least-privilege access.

Best fit users and real job-to-be-done

This skill is best for platform engineers, DevSecOps teams, cluster operators, and auditors preparing or reviewing namespace-level security controls. The real job is not “explain Kubernetes security,” but “turn a security goal into concrete YAML and rollout guidance” for tasks like:

• default-deny network segmentation
• namespace security posture selection
• service account access scoping
• compliance-oriented policy baselines
• multi-tenant cluster isolation

Why choose this over an ordinary prompt

The main advantage of k8s-security-policies is structure. The skill already organizes the problem around common Kubernetes policy decisions and includes reusable source material such as assets/network-policy-template.yaml and references/rbac-patterns.md. That reduces guesswork when you need starting manifests, not just concepts.

What it covers well

The strongest coverage is around:

• Pod Security Standards labels: privileged, baseline, restricted
• starter NetworkPolicy patterns such as default deny, DNS egress, ingress-controller access, and app-to-app traffic
• RBAC examples for read-only, namespace admin, deployment management, and scoped secret access

Important limits before you install

k8s-security-policies is a pattern library, not a cluster discovery tool. It does not inspect your live workloads, CNI behavior, admission stack, or cloud-specific networking. You still need to provide namespace names, labels, traffic flows, service account needs, and Kubernetes version context. It is most useful when you already know what must be isolated or permitted.

How to Use k8s-security-policies skill

Install context for k8s-security-policies skill

The upstream SKILL.md does not publish its own install command, so use your normal skills workflow for the wshobson/agents repository and select k8s-security-policies. If you use the common CLI pattern, this is the form users typically try:

npx skills add https://github.com/wshobson/agents --skill k8s-security-policies

After install, open the skill files directly instead of relying on the short description alone.

Read these files first

For this k8s-security-policies guide, the highest-value reading order is:

1. plugins/kubernetes-operations/skills/k8s-security-policies/SKILL.md
2. plugins/kubernetes-operations/skills/k8s-security-policies/assets/network-policy-template.yaml
3. plugins/kubernetes-operations/skills/k8s-security-policies/references/rbac-patterns.md

Why this order matters:

• SKILL.md tells you the intended control domains.
• the asset file gives copyable network policy scaffolds
• the RBAC reference gives permission patterns you can adapt without inventing verbs from scratch

What inputs the skill needs from you

k8s-security-policies usage quality depends heavily on the inputs you provide. Bring at least:

• Kubernetes version
• namespace names
• workload labels used by pods
• required ingress and egress flows
• whether your cluster enforces Pod Security Standards already
• service accounts and what they must actually do
• whether the cluster is single-tenant or multi-tenant
• compliance or audit goal, if any

Without these, the skill can still draft examples, but they may be too generic to apply safely.

Turn a rough goal into a strong prompt

Weak prompt:

“Secure my Kubernetes cluster.”

Stronger prompt:

“Use k8s-security-policies to propose namespace-level security for a production cluster on Kubernetes 1.28. We have namespaces frontend, backend, and monitoring. Apply Pod Security Standards, create default-deny network policies with only required traffic allowed, and design RBAC for a CI service account that can deploy to backend but cannot read arbitrary secrets. Show YAML and explain tradeoffs.”

That stronger prompt works better because it gives the skill a scope, a policy target, and enough resource context to choose patterns from the repo.

Best workflow for Security Audit use cases

For k8s-security-policies for Security Audit, use a gap-analysis workflow instead of asking for random manifests:

1. describe current namespaces and workloads
2. list allowed traffic paths
3. state which service accounts exist
4. ask the skill to classify current posture against privileged, baseline, or restricted
5. ask for missing controls and rollout order
6. request YAML examples only for the approved target state

This produces output that is much easier to review with auditors and platform teams.

Using the network policy templates well

The assets/network-policy-template.yaml file is one of the most practical parts of the skill. Start with:

• default deny
• DNS egress
• explicit workload-to-workload allowances
• ingress-controller exceptions
• monitoring access if Prometheus or similar needs scraping

The key adoption blocker here is labels. If your pods do not have stable, meaningful labels, the generated policies will be brittle. Clean up labels before relying on template-based segmentation.

Using the RBAC patterns safely

The RBAC reference is useful because it shows common permission shapes, including read-only access, namespace admin, deployment managers, and narrowly scoped secret readers. Use it to derive the minimum rule set for a real actor, then remove broad verbs or wildcard resources unless you can justify them.

A good prompt pattern is:

“Using references/rbac-patterns.md as the starting point, create a Role and RoleBinding for service account deploy-bot in namespace production. It needs to update deployments and read pods, but must not access secrets, configmaps outside its app, or cluster-wide resources.”

Pod Security Standards: choose before you generate

One practical strength of the skill is that it frames pod security around namespace labels for Pod Security Standards. Before asking for YAML, decide whether each namespace should be:

• privileged for exceptional infrastructure workloads
• baseline for moderate protection with broad compatibility
• restricted for strongest default hardening

If you skip this decision, the output tends to drift into generic hardening advice. If you specify it, the skill can produce namespace labels and explain likely compatibility issues.

Practical prompt pattern for full output

A solid k8s-security-policies skill prompt usually includes these sections:

• cluster version and CNI
• namespaces and workload labels
• allowed traffic matrix
• target Pod Security level by namespace
• service accounts and required actions
• whether you want examples, production-ready YAML, or an audit checklist

Example:

“Use k8s-security-policies to produce a phased hardening plan. Cluster: Kubernetes 1.27, Calico. Namespaces: payments, orders, ingress-nginx. Target posture: restricted for app namespaces, baseline for ingress. Traffic allowed: ingress controller to app port 8443, app to DNS, app to PostgreSQL in data namespace on 5432, Prometheus scraping on 9090. Create NetworkPolicies, namespace labels, and RBAC for read-only auditors and a deployment bot.”

Common adoption constraints to check first

Before relying on this k8s-security-policies install, verify:

• your CNI actually enforces NetworkPolicy
• your workloads tolerate Pod Security restrictions
• namespace labels are consistent
• you know which cross-namespace traffic is required
• RBAC subjects are real users, groups, or service accounts you manage

Most failed rollouts happen because teams ask for secure defaults before they have a traffic inventory.

k8s-security-policies skill FAQ

Is k8s-security-policies good for beginners?

Yes, if you already understand basic Kubernetes objects. The skill is more practical than educational: it helps beginners produce policy scaffolds, but it assumes you can tell a namespace from a service account and can validate YAML in your environment.

When is this better than a normal AI prompt?

Use k8s-security-policies when you need policy-shaped output with known Kubernetes security building blocks. A normal prompt may explain concepts well, but this skill gives you better starting structure for namespace labels, NetworkPolicy, and RBAC examples tied to common security tasks.

Does it support PodSecurityPolicy?

The description mentions PodSecurityPolicy, but modern Kubernetes practice has moved to Pod Security Standards labels. The visible source material strongly emphasizes Pod Security Standards. If you need legacy PSP help, confirm your cluster version and ask explicitly.

Can I use this for production changes directly?

Not without review. The skill is strong for draft manifests and policy planning, but production use still requires validation against live app behavior, CNI semantics, admission controls, and rollout sequencing.

Is it enough for a full Kubernetes security program?

No. k8s-security-policies covers important cluster policy controls, but it does not replace image scanning, secret management, runtime detection, node hardening, supply chain controls, or cloud IAM design.

When should I not use k8s-security-policies?

Skip it if your need is mainly cluster forensics, live misconfiguration discovery, or cloud-provider-specific security architecture. It is most useful for authoring and refining policy artifacts, not for discovering unknown risks automatically.

How to Improve k8s-security-policies skill

Give the skill a traffic matrix, not a vague isolation goal

The fastest way to improve k8s-security-policies usage is to specify who talks to whom, on which ports, and across which namespaces. “Isolate services” is too vague. “Allow frontend to call backend on 8080, allow DNS egress, deny everything else” is actionable.

Provide exact labels and identities

This skill becomes much more accurate when you supply:

• pod labels used in selectors
• namespace labels
• service account names
• user or group identities for bindings

Without that, the generated YAML often needs manual selector and subject cleanup before it is deployable.

Ask for phased rollout, not a single big policy dump

A better prompt is:

“Create a phase 1 default-deny plus DNS policy, then phase 2 app-to-app allowances, then phase 3 monitoring and ingress-controller exceptions.”

This reduces the chance of breaking traffic and makes review easier.

Force least-privilege RBAC in the prompt

If you do not ask for least privilege explicitly, RBAC examples can drift wider than you want. Say:

“Prefer namespace-scoped Role over ClusterRole unless required. Avoid wildcard verbs and resources. Explain each permission.”

That small instruction usually improves reviewability and audit quality.

Ask the skill to explain compatibility risks

For stronger output, request warnings such as:

• workloads likely to fail under restricted
• init containers needing extra privileges
• hostPath or privileged container conflicts
• apps that break under egress denial
• controllers that need explicit ingress or egress allowances

This is where k8s-security-policies guide output becomes more valuable than copied YAML.

Iterate against real manifests

The best upgrade path after the first draft is to paste your current namespace labels, existing NetworkPolicy, and current RBAC objects into a follow-up prompt and ask for a diff-oriented revision. Review improves dramatically when the skill is modifying your starting point rather than inventing a fresh one.

Use repo assets as constraints, not just inspiration

Tell the model to start from assets/network-policy-template.yaml or references/rbac-patterns.md and then adapt. That anchors output to the skill's strongest source material and usually reduces made-up patterns.

Common failure modes to watch for

Watch for these when using k8s-security-policies:

• selectors that do not match your labels
• DNS rules that miss your actual DNS setup
• namespace selectors based on labels you do not have
• RBAC grants that use * unnecessarily
• security posture recommendations that ignore workload exceptions

If you see these, the fix is usually better environment detail, not a longer prompt.