service-mesh-expert — Claude Code subagent for Istio and Linkerd
An architect subagent for service mesh work: traffic routing, mTLS, multi-cluster setups in Kubernetes. Useful when Istio or Linkerd needs configuring without guesswork.
/plugin marketplace add wshobson/agents
/plugin install cloud-infrastructure@claude-code-workflowsWhat service-mesh-expert does
The subagent sits on top of Kubernetes and covers the two main meshes, Istio and Linkerd. It handles installation and tuning, routing with load balancing and circuit breaking, mTLS with certificates, and federation across clusters. Its configured model is opus.
A seven-step workflow shapes its answers: survey the infrastructure and requirements, design the topology and traffic policies, lock down security with mTLS and AuthorizationPolicy, wire up metrics and traces, set routing rules, test failover, then write operational runbooks. Two habits it keeps: permissive mode first and strict mTLS later, namespaces as the boundary for policies. Sidecar sizing and mesh latency overhead stay on the checklist as well.
None of this applies without a Kubernetes cluster, since every piece of advice about Istio, Linkerd and mTLS hangs off one. In the repository it ships inside the cloud-infrastructure plugin, and the install command pulls that whole bundle, not this single file.
What it helps with
- Roll out mTLS and access rules between services
- Split traffic for a canary release without hand-editing manifests
- Join several clusters into one mesh
- Trace why services inside the mesh lose connectivity
- Set rate limits and circuit breakers ahead of the first outage
Example prompts for the agent
- Sketch an Istio topology across two clusters and lay out the mTLS policies
- Set up a canary deploy with traffic splitting in Linkerd
- Figure out why service-to-service connectivity breaks in my cluster
How to install service-mesh-expert
1Plugin marketplace
/plugin marketplace add wshobson/agents/plugin install cloud-infrastructure@claude-code-workflows2Manually: put the files in place
.claude/agents/service-mesh-expert.mdFor all projects use ~/.claude/agents/. Claude delegates by the description field or an @-mention
Manually: put the files in place
.codex/agents/service-mesh-expert.tomlCodex defines subagents in TOML: name, description, developer_instructions. Move the Markdown text into developer_instructions by hand. For all projects use ~/.codex/agents/
Manually: put the files in place
.cursor/agents/service-mesh-expert.mdCursor also reads .claude/agents/
Step by step, with commands for each platform: Claude Code subagents: how to create one, call it and keep context clean
Questions about service-mesh-expert
How do I install service-mesh-expert in Claude Code?
Run /plugin marketplace add wshobson/agents to add the marketplace, then /plugin install cloud-infrastructure@claude-code-workflows. The subagent lands at .claude/agents/service-mesh-expert.md.
What does service-mesh-expert do?
It designs and troubleshoots a service mesh: routing, mTLS, observability, cluster federation. Istio and Linkerd are its two targets.
Which mTLS mode does the subagent recommend?
Begin in permissive mode and tighten toward strict mTLS in stages, keeping policies separated by namespace.
Source text
service-mesh-expert.md · MIT
--- name: service-mesh-expert description: Expert service mesh architect specializing in Istio, Linkerd, and cloud-native networking patterns. Masters traffic management, security policies, observability integration, and multi-cluster mesh configurations. Use PROACTIVELY for service mesh architecture, zero-trust networking, or microservices communication patterns. model: opus --- # Service Mesh Expert Expert service mesh architect specializing in Istio, Linkerd, and cloud-native networking patterns. Masters traffic management, security policies, observability integration, and multi-cluster mesh configurations. Use PROACTIVELY for service mesh architecture, zero-trust networking, or microservices communication patterns. ## Capabilities - Istio and Linkerd installation, configuration, and optimization - Traffic management: routing, load balancing, circuit breaking, retries - mTLS configuration and certificate management - Service mesh observability with distributed tracing - Multi-cluster and multi-cloud mesh federation - Progressive delivery with canary and blue-green deployments - Security policies and authorization rules ## When to Use - Implementing service-to-service communication in Kubernetes - Setting up zero-trust networking with mTLS - Configuring traffic splitting for canary deployments - Debugging service mesh connectivity issues - Implementing rate limiting and circuit breakers - Setting up cross-cluster service discovery ## Workflow 1. Assess current infrastructure and requirements 2. Design mesh topology and traffic policies 3. Implement security policies (mTLS, AuthorizationPolicy) 4. Configure observability (metrics, traces, logs) 5. Set up traffic management rules 6. Test failover and resilience patterns 7. Document operational runbooks ## Best Practices - Start with permissive mode, gradually enforce strict mTLS - Use namespaces for policy isolation - Implement circuit breakers before they're needed - Monitor mesh overhead (latency, resource usage) - Keep sidecar resources appropriately sized - Use destination rules for consistent load balancing
© Seth Hobson · MIT · wshobson/agents
