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name: gke-golden-path description: >- Provides GKE golden path configuration defaults, production readiness checklists, and cluster default patterns. Use when designing GKE clusters, verifying GKE production readiness, or checking configurations against GKE defaults. Don't use for setting up workload autoscaling specifically (use gke-workload-scaling instead). metadata: version: "1.0.0" category: Containers

GKE Golden Path Configuration

The golden path is the recommended Autopilot configuration for production clusters. It defines sensible defaults — when the user requests different settings, apply them and note relevant trade-offs.

MCP Tools: get_cluster, create_cluster, update_cluster

Rules

1. Default to the golden path. Use golden path values unless the user requests otherwise. When deviating, note trade-offs but respect the user's choice.
2. Day-0 vs Day-1. Flag Day-0 decisions (networking, private nodes, subnets, IP allocation) prominently — they are hard/impossible to change after creation.
3. Tool preference: MCP > gcloud > kubectl. MCP is preferred as it directly interfaces with GKE APIs with structured data, reducing shell syntax errors and parsing ambiguities. See the gke-basics skill's CLI reference for full coverage matrix and override options. If the user says "use gcloud" or "use kubectl", respect that for the session.
4. Document decisions and rationale, especially for Day-0 choices and golden path deviations.

Required Inputs

If the user is unsure, use golden path defaults.

• Project ID (required)
• Region (required, e.g., us-central1)
• Cluster name (required)
• Environment type: dev/test or production (defaults to production)
• Networking: bring-your-own VPC/subnet or auto-create (default: auto-create)
• Scale expectations: expected node/pod count, workload types
• Cost constraints: Spot VM tolerance, budget considerations

Always-Apply Defaults

Recommended best practices applied by default. If the user requests a different setting, apply it and briefly note the security or operational trade-off.

Setting | Golden Path Value ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------- autopilot.enabled | true privateClusterConfig.enablePrivateNodes | true masterAuthorizedNetworksConfig.privateEndpointEnforcementEnabled | true secretManagerConfig.enabled + rotationInterval: 120s | true rbacBindingConfig.enableInsecureBinding* | false (both) workloadIdentityConfig.workloadPool | enabled networkConfig.datapathProvider | ADVANCED_DATAPATH networkConfig.dnsConfig.clusterDns | CLOUD_DNS autoscaling.autoscalingProfile | OPTIMIZE_UTILIZATION verticalPodAutoscaling.enabled | true monitoringConfig components | SYSTEM_COMPONENTS, STORAGE, POD, DEPLOYMENT, STATEFULSET, DAEMONSET, HPA, JOBSET, CADVISOR, KUBELET, DCGM, APISERVER, SCHEDULER, CONTROLLER_MANAGER loggingConfig components | SYSTEM_COMPONENTS, WORKLOADS (enabled by default) advancedDatapathObservabilityConfig.enableMetrics | true nodeConfig.shieldedInstanceConfig.enableSecureBoot | true nodeConfig.workloadMetadataConfig.mode | GKE_METADATA nodeConfig.gcfsConfig.enabled / gvnic.enabled | true / true addonsConfig.statefulHaConfig.enabled | true Storage CSI drivers (Filestore, GCS FUSE, Parallelstore) | enabled Pod Security Standards | restricted on production namespaces

Customer-Configurable Settings

These have golden path defaults but customers may deviate with valid justification. Ask before changing.

Setting | Default | Why Deviate ---------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | ----------- dnsEndpointConfig.allowExternalTraffic | true | Restrict if cluster only accessed from within VPC autoIpamConfig / createSubnetwork | true / true | Customer has pre-existing VPC/subnets maxPodsPerNode | 48 | 110 for high pod-density (costs more CIDR space) subnetwork | auto-created | Customer brings existing subnets Maintenance exclusion windows | configured (NO_MINOR_UPGRADES, 1yr) | Customer-specific scheduling nodeConfig.bootDisk.diskType | pd-balanced | pd-ssd for I/O-intensive, pd-standard for cost nodeConfig.machineType | ek-standard-8 (Autopilot) | Varies by workload; use ComputeClasses

Guardrails

• Do not request or output secrets (tokens, keys, service account JSON).
• Discover project/cluster context via MCP tools or gcloud config get-value project — don't ask users to paste project IDs.
• For Day-0 decisions, always ask clarifying questions before proceeding.
• For Day-1 features, propose golden path defaults with trade-offs and let the customer confirm.
• Do not promise zero downtime; advise PDBs, health probes, replicas, and staged upgrades.
• When auditing existing clusters, compare against golden path and report deviations with severity and remediation.

Golden Path Config

See golden-path-autopilot.yaml for the full cluster-level policy settings.