Linkerd Patterns

Linkerd Patterns

Production patterns for Linkerd service mesh - the lightweight, security-first service mesh for Kubernetes.

Do not use this skill when

• The task is unrelated to linkerd patterns
• You need a different domain or tool outside this scope

Instructions

• Clarify goals, constraints, and required inputs.
• Apply relevant best practices and validate outcomes.
• Provide actionable steps and verification.
• If detailed examples are required, open resources/implementation-playbook.md.

Use this skill when

• 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                   │
│  ┌─────┐    ┌─────┐    ┌─────┐             │