Multi-Cluster Kubernetes Management

Cross-cluster operations and context management using kubectl-mcp-server's multi-cluster support.

When to Apply

Use this skill when:

• User mentions: "cluster", "context", "multi-cluster", "cross-cluster"

• Operations: switching contexts, comparing clusters, federated deployments

• Keywords: "different environment", "production vs staging", "all clusters"

Priority Rules

Priority Rule Impact Tools

1 Always specify context for prod CRITICAL context parameter

2 List contexts before switching HIGH list_contexts_tool

3 Compare before promoting MEDIUM compare_namespaces

4 Use naming conventions LOW prod-* , staging-*

Quick Reference

Task Tool Example

List contexts list_contexts_tool

list_contexts_tool()

View kubeconfig kubeconfig_view

kubeconfig_view()

List CAPI clusters capi_clusters_list_tool

capi_clusters_list_tool(namespace)

Get CAPI kubeconfig capi_cluster_kubeconfig_tool

capi_cluster_kubeconfig_tool(name, namespace)

Context Management

List Available Contexts

list_contexts_tool()

View Current Context

kubeconfig_view()

Switch Context

CLI: kubectl-mcp-server context <context-name>

Cross-Cluster Operations

All kubectl-mcp-server tools support the context parameter:

get_pods(namespace="default", context="production-cluster")

get_pods(namespace="default", context="staging-cluster")

Common Multi-Cluster Patterns

Compare Environments

compare_namespaces( namespace1="production", namespace2="staging", resource_type="deployment", context="production-cluster" )

Parallel Queries

Query multiple clusters simultaneously:

get_pods(namespace="app", context="prod-us-east") get_pods(namespace="app", context="prod-eu-west")

get_pods(namespace="app", context="development")

Cross-Cluster Health Check

for context in ["prod-1", "prod-2", "staging"]: get_nodes(context=context) get_pods(namespace="kube-system", context=context)

Cluster API (CAPI) Management

For managing cluster lifecycle:

List Managed Clusters

capi_clusters_list_tool(namespace="capi-system")

Get Cluster Details

capi_cluster_get_tool(name="prod-cluster", namespace="capi-system")

Get Workload Cluster Kubeconfig

capi_cluster_kubeconfig_tool(name="prod-cluster", namespace="capi-system")

Machine Management

capi_machines_list_tool(namespace="capi-system") capi_machinedeployments_list_tool(namespace="capi-system")

Scale Cluster

capi_machinedeployment_scale_tool( name="prod-cluster-md-0", namespace="capi-system", replicas=5 )

See CONTEXT-SWITCHING.md for detailed patterns.

Multi-Cluster Helm

Deploy charts to specific clusters:

install_helm_chart( name="nginx", chart="bitnami/nginx", namespace="web", context="production-cluster" )

list_helm_releases( namespace="web", context="staging-cluster" )

Multi-Cluster GitOps

Flux Across Clusters

flux_kustomizations_list_tool( namespace="flux-system", context="cluster-1" )

flux_reconcile_tool( kind="kustomization", name="apps", namespace="flux-system", context="cluster-2" )

ArgoCD Across Clusters

argocd_apps_list_tool(namespace="argocd", context="management-cluster")

Federation Patterns

Secret Synchronization

get_secrets(namespace="app", context="source-cluster")

kubectl_apply(secret_manifest, namespace="app", context="target-cluster")

Cross-Cluster Service Discovery

With Cilium ClusterMesh or Istio multi-cluster:

cilium_nodes_list_tool(context="cluster-1") istio_proxy_status_tool(context="cluster-2")

Best Practices

• Naming Convention: Use descriptive context names (prod-us-east-1 , staging-eu-west-1 )

• Access Control: Different kubeconfigs per environment

• Always Specify Context: Avoid accidental cross-cluster operations

• Cluster Groups: Organize by purpose (prod-* , staging-* , dev-* )

Related Skills

• k8s-troubleshoot - Debug across clusters

• k8s-gitops - GitOps multi-cluster

• k8s-capi - Cluster API management