linkerd-patterns Skill for Claude: What It Does and How to Install It

Makes Claude set up Linkerd: install, inject workloads, add retries, split canary traffic, write access policy and link clusters.

Installs: 10.4K; on skills.sh
Stars: 42.1K; on GitHub
Updated: Oct 2026; last repo commit

This is a Linkerd guide from wshobson's agents collection. SKILL.md shows the control plane and data plane, lists four key resources (ServiceProfile, TrafficSplit, Server, ServerAuthorization) and gives seven templates.

The templates run from mesh installation and namespace injection to service profiles with retries, canary traffic splits, server authorization, HTTPRoute and multi-cluster setup. Monitoring and debugging command lists follow. Everything is in SKILL.md.

Good for

Platform engineers adding a lightweight mesh to Kubernetes
Teams that want automatic mTLS between services
Developers setting retries and timeouts per route
Operators linking more than one cluster

Install linkerd-patterns

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the linkerd-patterns skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

/plugin marketplace add wshobson/agents
/plugin install cloud-infrastructure@claude-code-workflows

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Pick one route. The plugin routes install the whole cloud-infrastructure plugin: 7 agents, 0 commands and 8 skills (counted from the plugin folder in the repo tree, which has no hooks or MCP config files). The skills-only routes install just this skill, with no agents or commands.

Built from the package data we hold. Not yet tested by us. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Implement Linkerd service mesh patterns for lightweight, security-focused service mesh deployments. Use when setting up Linkerd, configuring traffic policies, or implementing zero-trust networking with minimal overhead.

Sections in SKILL.md

When to Use This Skill
Core Concepts
1. Linkerd Architecture
2. Key Resources
Templates
Template 1: Mesh Installation
Template 2: Inject Namespace
Template 3: Service Profile with Retries
Template 4: Traffic Split (Canary)
Template 5: Server Authorization Policy
Template 6: HTTPRoute for Advanced Routing
Template 7: Multi-cluster Setup
Monitoring Commands
Debugging
Best Practices
Do's

Key facts

Author: wshobson (repo owner)
License: MIT
Installs on skills.sh: 10,413 (Nov 2, 2026)
GitHub stars: 42,081 for the whole wshobson/agents repo (Nov 2, 2026)
Last repo commit: Oct 30, 2026
What it includes: 1 file: SKILL.md (7 templates, monitoring and debugging commands). No scripts
skills.sh audits: Gen Agent Trust Hub: pass; Socket: pass; Snyk: pass (Nov 2, 2026)
Part of: The cloud-infrastructure plugin (version 1.3.3) in wshobson/agents. Counted from the plugin folder: 7 agents, 0 commands and 8 skills
Works in: Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, OpenCode, Antigravity CLI, GitHub Copilot and Pi, per the README. Skills-only installers ask which tool you use

What it includes

Control plane (destiny, identity, proxy-inject) and the proxies beside each app
Linkerd architecture
ServiceProfile, TrafficSplit, Server and ServerAuthorization, with their purpose
Key resources
Install the CLI with Homebrew, then CRDs, control plane and the optional viz extension
Uses brew install, linkerd install piped to kubectl apply, and linkerd check.
Runs code · Template 1: Mesh installation
Annotate a namespace or deployment so Linkerd adds its proxy
Write · Template 2: Inject namespace
Per-route retries and timeouts
Write · Template 3: Service profile with retries
Send a share of traffic to a new version
Write · Template 4: Traffic split (canary)
Define a server and allow specific clients or unauthenticated traffic
Write · Template 5: Server authorization policy
Advanced routing with an HTTPRoute
Write · Template 6: HTTPRoute
Install the multicluster extension, link clusters, export a service
Uses linkerd multicluster commands and a kubectl label.
Runs code · Template 7: Multi-cluster setup
linkerd viz top, routes, stat, edges, dashboard, tap, identity and check
Also reads proxy logs with kubectl logs.
Runs code · Monitoring and debugging commands

From the official docs

Permissions

Medium risk

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

Install commands change your cluster
Template 1 runs linkerd install | kubectl apply -f - for the CRDs and the control plane. Check your kubectl context before you approve it. github.com
Multi-cluster linking exports services
Template 7 pipes linkerd multicluster install and linkerd multicluster link into kubectl apply, then labels a service with mirror.linkerd.io/exported=true. Run it only against clusters you mean to connect. github.com

Security advisories

No published security advisories as of Nov 2, 2026.

Technical details

Turning on read-only	No read-only mode. Use version control and review commands before they run.
Talks to	Homebrew download of the linkerd CLI. The Kubernetes API servers of your clusters
Sign-in and keys	SKILL.md does not mention any account or key.
Scopes	Claude can write Linkerd YAML files in your project when you ask for mesh setup Template 1 installs the Linkerd CLI with Homebrew and pipes linkerd install output to kubectl apply The multi-cluster template links clusters with an API server address and labels a service to export it

Questions

How do I install linkerd-patterns?

Use the install box at the top of this page. It offers the cloud-infrastructure plugin and two skills-only commands. Pick a skills-only command if you want just this skill without the plugin's other parts.

What does the linkerd-patterns skill do?

It gives Claude Linkerd patterns for Kubernetes. Claude uses them to write install steps, injection annotations, ServiceProfile, TrafficSplit, authorization and multi-cluster setup.

Linkerd or Istio skill?

Pick by the mesh you run. This skill is for Linkerd and describes it as lightweight and security-first. The istio-traffic-management skill in the same plugin covers Istio's VirtualService, DestinationRule and Gateway.

Should I install the whole cloud-infrastructure plugin?

Only if you want the rest. The plugin folder holds 7 agents, 0 commands and 8 skills, counted from the repo tree, and the tree shows no hooks or MCP config files in it. The plugin's other skills include istio-traffic-management, mtls-configuration and service-mesh-observability.

Does Linkerd turn on mTLS by itself?

SKILL.md says so in its best practices: "Enable mTLS everywhere - It's automatic with Linkerd". The mtls-configuration skill covers certificate setup in more depth.

Is linkerd-patterns safe to install?

The folder holds only SKILL.md, with no scripts. Claude writes YAML and may suggest the commands it lists, including a Homebrew install and linkerd install piped to kubectl apply. Check your kubectl context and read each command before you approve it.

Does linkerd-patterns work in Codex, Cursor or the Claude app?

The README documents Claude Code and Codex CLI plugin routes, and skills-only installs for the tools it lists: Cursor, OpenCode, Antigravity CLI, GitHub Copilot and Pi. We left the Claude app upload out of the install box because this skill's commands run in a terminal.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: wshobson/agents
Folder: plugins/cloud-infrastructure/skills/linkerd-patterns

wshobson/agents skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 3

linkerd-patterns SKILL.md · github.com
istio-traffic-management SKILL.md · github.com
wshobson/agents README · github.com