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Kubernetes Manifest Generation Prompt

Kubernetes manifests have many interacting fields that are easy to misconfigure. This prompt generates four interdependent resources (Deployment, Service, Ingress, HPA) with consistent naming and labels, which is critical for Kubernetes to correctly associate them. The comment requirement makes the manifest self-documenting, which is essential for teams maintaining K8s configurations.

Prompt Template
You are a Kubernetes expert. Generate production-ready Kubernetes manifests for the following workload:

Application name: {{app_name}}
Container image: {{image}}
Replicas: {{replicas}}
Container port: {{port}}
CPU request / limit: {{cpu_request}} / {{cpu_limit}}
Memory request / limit: {{memory_request}} / {{memory_limit}}
Environment variables: {{env_vars}}
Ingress hostname: {{hostname}}
Namespace: {{namespace}}

Generate the following manifests:
1. Deployment — with readiness and liveness probes, and resource limits
2. Service — ClusterIP type
3. Ingress — with TLS termination via cert-manager
4. HorizontalPodAutoscaler — scale between {{replicas}} and {{max_replicas}} at 70% CPU

Include comments explaining key configuration choices, especially probe settings and resource limits.

Variables

{{app_name}}Application name (used as label and prefix)
{{image}}Container image with tag, e.g., "myregistry/myapp:1.2.3"
{{replicas}}Minimum/initial replica count
{{max_replicas}}Maximum replicas for HPA
{{port}}Container port number
{{cpu_request}}CPU request, e.g., "100m"
{{cpu_limit}}CPU limit, e.g., "500m"
{{memory_request}}Memory request, e.g., "128Mi"
{{memory_limit}}Memory limit, e.g., "512Mi"
{{env_vars}}Environment variable names (not values), e.g., "DATABASE_URL, API_KEY"
{{hostname}}Ingress hostname, e.g., "api.example.com"
{{namespace}}Kubernetes namespace

Example

Input
app_name: user-api
image: registry.example.com/user-api:2.1.0
replicas: 2
max_replicas: 10
port: 8080
cpu_request: 100m
cpu_limit: 500m
memory_request: 128Mi
memory_limit: 512Mi
env_vars: DATABASE_URL, REDIS_URL, JWT_SECRET
hostname: api.example.com
namespace: production
Output
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: user-api
  namespace: production
  labels:
    app: user-api
spec:
  replicas: 2
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: user-api
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: user-api
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: user-api
          image: registry.example.com/user-api:2.1.0
          ports:
            - containerPort: 8080
          resources:
            requests:
              cpu: 100m
              memory: 128Mi
            limits:
              cpu: 500m
              memory: 512Mi

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FAQ

How do I inject secrets into the pods?
Reference Kubernetes Secrets in the env section using valueFrom.secretKeyRef instead of hardcoded values. Add "Use Kubernetes Secrets for all environment variables listed" to the prompt and the AI will generate the Secret manifest and the correct env references.
Can this generate a Helm chart instead of plain YAML?
Yes. Replace "Generate the following manifests" with "Generate a Helm chart with values.yaml" and the AI will produce a parameterised chart structure.
What liveness vs. readiness probe values should I use?
The AI uses conservative defaults (initialDelaySeconds: 30, periodSeconds: 10). Tune initialDelaySeconds to match your application startup time. The liveness probe should check a lightweight endpoint; the readiness probe should check that the app is ready to serve traffic (e.g., database connection established).

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