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.
View on GitHubwshobson/agents
cloud-infrastructure
January 19, 2026
Select agents to install to:
npx add-skill https://github.com/wshobson/agents/blob/main/plugins/cloud-infrastructure/skills/linkerd-patterns/SKILL.md -a claude-code --skill linkerd-patternsInstallation paths:
.claude/skills/linkerd-patterns/# Linkerd Patterns
Production patterns for Linkerd service mesh - the lightweight, security-first service mesh for Kubernetes.
## When to Use This Skill
- Setting up a lightweight service mesh
- Implementing automatic mTLS
- Configuring traffic splits for canary deployments
- Setting up service profiles for per-route metrics
- Implementing retries and timeouts
- Multi-cluster service mesh
## Core Concepts
### 1. Linkerd Architecture
```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Control Plane │
│ ┌─────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ │
│ │ destiny │ │ identity │ │ proxy-inject │ │
│ └─────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Data Plane │
│ ┌─────┐ ┌─────┐ ┌─────┐ │
│ │proxy│────│proxy│────│proxy│ │
│ └─────┘ └─────┘ └─────┘ │
│ │ │ │ │
│ ┌──┴──┐ ┌──┴──┐ ┌──┴──┐ │
│ │ app │ │ app │ │ app │ │
│ └─────┘ └─────┘ └─────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```
### 2. Key Resources
| Resource | Purpose |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| **ServiceProfile** | Per-route metrics, retries, timeouts |
| **TrafficSplit** | Canary deployments, A/B testing |
| **Server** | Define server-side policies |
| **ServerAuthorization** | Access control policies |
## Templates
### Template 1: Mesh Installation
```bash
# Install CLI
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSfL https://run.linkerd.io/install | sh
# Validate cluster
linkerd check --pre
# Install CRDs
linkerd install --crds | kubectl apply -f -
# Install control plane
linkerd install | kubectl apply -f -
# Verify installation
linkerd che