tilt

Files

SKILL.mdagentsreferences

Install

Install only this skill with npx skills

npx skills add alisonaquinas/llm-ci-dev --skill 'tilt' -g -y

Install the containing skill bundle

/plugin install ci-cd@llm-skills

Download tilt-skill.zip

This skill is bundled inside ci-cd. Use npx skills when you only want this skill, or install the bundle once to make every included skill available through the plugin marketplace flow. Browse the full skill bundle repository at github.com/alisonaquinas/llm-ci-dev.

Invoke

Invoke this skill after installation

/ci-cd:tilt

SKILL.md

name: tilt description: Develop Kubernetes services locally with Tilt and Tiltfiles. Use when tasks mention tilt, Tiltfile, tilt up, tilt dev, local Kubernetes development with Tilt, or docker_build in Starlark.

Use this skill to keep Tilt-based local Kubernetes development workflows safe, fast, and reproducible across team environments.

Intent Router

Request	Reference	Load When
Install, prerequisites, local cluster setup	`references/install-and-setup.md`	User needs to install Tilt or set up a local cluster
tilt up/down/ci/trigger commands	`references/command-cookbook.md`	User needs to run Tilt CLI commands
Tiltfile, docker_build, k8s_yaml, live_update	`references/tiltfile-patterns.md`	User needs to write or debug a Tiltfile
Extensions, mono-repos, CI mode, Tilt Cloud	`references/extensions-and-teams.md`	User needs advanced team or CI patterns

Quick Start

# Verify Tilt installation and prerequisites
tilt doctor

# Start the interactive dev loop (TUI)
tilt up

# Start in streaming log mode (no TUI, good for terminals)
tilt up --stream

# Tear down all resources created by Tilt
tilt down

Core Command Tracks

Dev loop: tilt up — starts the TUI; rebuilds and redeploys on file change
CI mode: tilt ci — exits when all resources are healthy (or on failure)
Teardown: tilt down — deletes all resources managed by Tilt
Trigger: tilt trigger <resource> — force a manual rebuild of a resource
Inspect: tilt get/describe <resource> — show resource state
Logs: tilt logs — stream logs from all managed resources

Safety Guardrails

Always include allow_k8s_contexts('your-local-context') in the Tiltfile to prevent accidental deployment to production clusters.
Use tilt ci for CI pipelines — it exits when all resources are healthy, unlike tilt up which runs indefinitely.
Set resource dependencies with k8s_resource(resource_deps=[...]) to prevent deployment ordering issues.
Confirm the target Kubernetes context before running tilt up against remote clusters.
Use local_resource carefully — commands run on the host machine, not inside containers.
Review Tiltfile extension source before loading from external URLs.

Workflow

Run tilt doctor to verify prerequisites (Docker, kubectl, cluster access).
Write a Tiltfile at the repo root with docker_build and k8s_yaml calls.
Add allow_k8s_contexts('docker-desktop') to guard against wrong-context deploys.
Use k8s_resource(name, resource_deps=[...]) to declare dependency ordering.
Run tilt up for local development or tilt ci for automated pipelines.
Use live_update sync rules to push file changes without a full image rebuild.

# Troubleshoot a resource that is not becoming ready: check logs and force a rebuild
tilt logs my-service
tilt trigger my-service
tilt get uiresource my-service

Related Skills

kubectl — direct Kubernetes resource inspection alongside Tilt
docker — container image building underlying docker_build
skaffold — alternative Kubernetes dev loop tool

References

references/install-and-setup.md
references/command-cookbook.md
references/tiltfile-patterns.md
references/extensions-and-teams.md
Official docs: https://docs.tilt.dev/
Tiltfile API: https://api.tilt.dev/