/cli-tool/components/skills/development/gke-basics/references/cli-reference.md

CLI & Tool Reference for GKE

Tool Preference

Default preference order:

1. GKE MCP Tools  (preferred — structured, auditable, no shell required)
2. gcloud CLI     (fallback — when MCP doesn't expose the operation)
3. kubectl        (fallback — purely in-cluster ops not covered by MCP)

When to use each

Interface	When to Use	Examples
GKE MCP Tools	Default for all cluster and K8s operations when MCP server is available. Structured I/O, supports dry-run, no shell/kubeconfig needed.	create_cluster, get_cluster, get_k8s_resource, apply_k8s_manifest, get_k8s_logs
gcloud CLI	No MCP equivalent, or user explicitly requested CLI. Required for: GIQ model discovery, available K8s versions, maintenance windows, monitoring components, IAM/SA setup, Cloud Logging queries.	gcloud container ai profiles, gcloud container get-server-config, gcloud iam service-accounts
kubectl	Neither MCP nor gcloud covers the operation, or user explicitly prefers kubectl. Required for: kubectl top, kubectl scale, kubectl exec, kubectl port-forward, Helm, custom CRDs not in MCP.	kubectl top pods, kubectl scale deployment, helm install

User preference override

If the user states a preference, respect it for the session:

• "Use gcloud" / "Use CLI" → gcloud for cluster ops, kubectl for K8s resource ops. Skip MCP.
• "Use kubectl" → kubectl for all K8s resource ops, gcloud for cluster-level ops. Skip MCP.
• "Use MCP" / no preference → Default. Use MCP for everything it supports.

Even with an override, fall back through the chain for unsupported operations (e.g., cluster creation always requires gcloud or MCP).

---

All MCP tools use hierarchical resource paths — see parent format at the bottom.

Cluster Operations

Operation	MCP Tool	CLI Fallback	Mode
List clusters	list_clusters	gcloud container clusters list	READ
Get cluster details	get_cluster	gcloud container clusters describe	READ
Create cluster	create_cluster	gcloud container clusters create-auto	MUTATE
Update cluster	update_cluster	gcloud container clusters update	DESTRUCTIVE
Get K8s versions	—	gcloud container get-server-config	READ
Get credentials	—	gcloud container clusters get-credentials	READ
Delete cluster	—	gcloud container clusters delete	DESTRUCTIVE

# List clusters in a project (all regions)
list_clusters(parent="projects/<PROJECT_ID>/locations/-")

# Get cluster details (all fields)
get_cluster(name="projects/<PROJECT_ID>/locations/<REGION>/clusters/<CLUSTER_NAME>", readMask="*")

# Create golden path Autopilot cluster
create_cluster(
  parent="projects/<PROJECT_ID>/locations/<REGION>",
  cluster='{"name":"<CLUSTER_NAME>","autopilot":{"enabled":true},"privateClusterConfig":{"enablePrivateNodes":true},...}'
)

# Get available Kubernetes versions (CLI-only)
gcloud container get-server-config --region <REGION> --format="yaml(channels)" --quiet

# Create golden path Autopilot cluster (see gke-cluster-creation.md for full templates)
gcloud container clusters create-auto <CLUSTER_NAME> \
  --region <REGION> --project <PROJECT_ID> \
  --enable-private-nodes --enable-master-authorized-networks \
  --enable-dns-access --release-channel regular \
  --enable-secret-manager --scoped-rbs-bindings \
  --quiet

# Get credentials (CLI-only)
gcloud container clusters get-credentials <CLUSTER_NAME> --region <REGION> --project <PROJECT_ID> --quiet

Node Pool Operations

Operation	MCP Tool	CLI Fallback	Mode
List node pools	list_node_pools	gcloud container node-pools list	READ
Get node pool	get_node_pool	gcloud container node-pools describe	READ
Create node pool	create_node_pool	gcloud container node-pools create	MUTATE
Update node pool	update_node_pool	gcloud container node-pools update	DESTRUCTIVE

list_node_pools(parent="projects/<PROJECT_ID>/locations/<REGION>/clusters/<CLUSTER_NAME>")

create_node_pool(
  parent="projects/<PROJECT_ID>/locations/<REGION>/clusters/<CLUSTER_NAME>",
  nodePool='{"name":"<POOL_NAME>","config":{"machineType":"e2-standard-4"},"initialNodeCount":3,...}'
)

Cluster Updates

Operation	MCP Tool	CLI Fallback	Mode
Update cluster settings	update_cluster	gcloud container clusters update	DESTRUCTIVE
Update monitoring	—	gcloud container clusters update --monitoring=...	DESTRUCTIVE
Set maintenance window	—	gcloud container clusters update --maintenance-window-*	DESTRUCTIVE

# Enable VPA via MCP
update_cluster(
  name="projects/<PROJECT_ID>/locations/<REGION>/clusters/<CLUSTER_NAME>",
  update='{"desiredVerticalPodAutoscaling":{"enabled":true}}'
)

# Update monitoring components (CLI-only)
gcloud container clusters update <CLUSTER_NAME> --region <REGION> \
  --monitoring=SYSTEM,API_SERVER,SCHEDULER,CONTROLLER_MANAGER,STORAGE,POD,DEPLOYMENT,STATEFULSET,DAEMONSET,HPA \
  --quiet

Kubernetes Resource Operations

Operation	MCP Tool	CLI Fallback	Mode
Get/list resources	get_k8s_resource	kubectl get	READ
Describe resource	describe_k8s_resource	kubectl describe	READ
Apply manifest	apply_k8s_manifest	kubectl apply	DESTRUCTIVE
Patch resource	patch_k8s_resource	kubectl patch	DESTRUCTIVE
Delete resource	delete_k8s_resource	kubectl delete	DESTRUCTIVE
List API resources	list_k8s_api_resources	kubectl api-resources	READ
Check auth	check_k8s_auth	kubectl auth can-i	READ

# List all deployments in a namespace
get_k8s_resource(
  parent="projects/<PROJECT_ID>/locations/<REGION>/clusters/<CLUSTER_NAME>",
  resourceType="deployment", namespace="<NAMESPACE>"
)

# Apply a manifest (with dry-run)
apply_k8s_manifest(parent="...", yamlManifest="...", dryRun=true)

# Patch deployment resources for rightsizing
patch_k8s_resource(
  parent="projects/<PROJECT_ID>/locations/<REGION>/clusters/<CLUSTER_NAME>",
  resourceType="deployment", name="<DEPLOYMENT>", namespace="<NAMESPACE>",
  patch='{"spec":{"template":{"spec":{"containers":[{"name":"app","resources":{"requests":{"cpu":"200m","memory":"256Mi"}}}]}}}}'
)

# Check RBAC permissions
check_k8s_auth(parent="...", verb="create", resourceType="deployments", namespace="<NAMESPACE>")

Diagnostics & Observability

Operation	MCP Tool	CLI Fallback	Mode
List events	list_k8s_events	kubectl events	READ
Get container logs	get_k8s_logs	kubectl logs	READ
Cluster info	get_k8s_cluster_info	kubectl cluster-info	READ
K8s version	get_k8s_version	kubectl version	READ
Rollout status	get_k8s_rollout_status	kubectl rollout status	READ
Query Cloud Logging	—	gcloud logging read	READ

# Get recent events across all namespaces
list_k8s_events(parent="...", allNamespaces=true, limit="50")

# Get logs (last 100 lines, or previous crash)
get_k8s_logs(parent="...", name="<POD>", namespace="<NS>", tail="100")
get_k8s_logs(parent="...", name="<POD>", namespace="<NS>", previous=true)

# Check rollout status
get_k8s_rollout_status(parent="...", resourceType="deployment", name="<DEPLOY>", namespace="<NS>")

Operations Tracking

Operation	MCP Tool	CLI Fallback	Mode
List operations	list_operations	gcloud container operations list	READ
Get operation	get_operation	gcloud container operations describe	READ
Cancel operation	cancel_operation	gcloud container operations cancel	DESTRUCTIVE

list_operations(parent="projects/<PROJECT_ID>/locations/<REGION>")
get_operation(name="projects/<PROJECT_ID>/locations/<REGION>/operations/<OP_ID>")

AI/ML Inference (GIQ) — CLI-Only

gcloud container ai profiles models list --quiet
gcloud container ai profiles list --model=<MODEL_NAME> --quiet
gcloud container ai profiles manifests create \
  --model=<MODEL_NAME> --model-server=<SERVER> \
  --accelerator-type=<ACCELERATOR> \
  --target-ntpot-milliseconds=<NTPOT> --quiet > inference.yaml

# Deploy generated manifest via MCP
apply_k8s_manifest(parent="...", yamlManifest="<contents of inference.yaml>")

kubectl-Only Operations

No MCP or gcloud equivalent:

kubectl top pods --all-namespaces --sort-by=cpu
kubectl top nodes
kubectl scale deployment <DEPLOYMENT> --replicas=<N> -n <NAMESPACE>
kubectl exec -it <POD_NAME> -n <NAMESPACE> -- /bin/sh
kubectl port-forward svc/<SERVICE> <LOCAL_PORT>:<REMOTE_PORT> -n <NAMESPACE>
kubectl cp <NAMESPACE>/<POD>:<PATH> <LOCAL_PATH>
kubectl run debug --rm -it --image=busybox -- /bin/sh
kubectl drain <NODE_NAME> --ignore-daemonsets --delete-emptydir-data
helm install <RELEASE> <CHART> -n <NAMESPACE>
helm upgrade <RELEASE> <CHART> -n <NAMESPACE>

parent / name Format Quick Reference

Project+Region:  projects/{PROJECT}/locations/{REGION}
Cluster:         projects/{PROJECT}/locations/{REGION}/clusters/{CLUSTER}
Node Pool:       projects/{PROJECT}/locations/{REGION}/clusters/{CLUSTER}/nodePools/{POOL}
Operation:       projects/{PROJECT}/locations/{REGION}/operations/{OP_ID}

Use locations/- to match all regions/zones when listing.

Error Handling

Error / Symptom	Likely Cause	Remediation
PERMISSION_DENIED on cluster create	Missing container.clusters.create IAM role	Grant roles/container.admin or roles/container.clusterAdmin
Quota exceeded	Regional vCPU, GPU, or IP address limits	Request quota increase or select a different region
IP exhaustion / CIDR conflict	Pod subnet too small or overlapping ranges	Re-plan IP ranges; may require cluster recreation (Day-0)
Workload Identity not working	Missing OIDC issuer or federated credential	Verify workloadIdentityConfig.workloadPool; configure federated identity binding
Private cluster unreachable	No authorized networks or DNS endpoint	Enable dnsEndpointConfig.allowExternalTraffic or add authorized networks
Secret Manager rotation failing	SA missing secretmanager.versions.access	Grant Secret Manager accessor role to workload's GSA
Control-plane metrics missing	Monitoring components not configured	Enable APISERVER, SCHEDULER, CONTROLLER_MANAGER in monitoringConfig