Gilbert Plugin

User Guide: gilbert-plugin

A Claude Code plugin for DevOps engineers working with Solo Enterprise for kgateway. Generates and reviews Gateway API routing manifests for upstream services with best practices.

Instead of manually authoring Gateway, HTTPRoute, and EnterpriseKgatewayTrafficPolicy YAML from scratch, you describe what you need in plain language and the plugin generates correct, production-hardened manifests — then automatically reviews them against a 7-step checklist before you ever run kubectl apply. Every generation and review session queries the live Solo.io documentation MCP server at runtime, so the output always reflects the current API schema rather than stale training data.

Marketplace: github.com/gmflau/gilbert-claude-plugins

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Prerequisites

• Claude Code CLI installed (claude --version to verify)
• Access to the internet (the plugin queries search.solo.io/mcp at runtime — no local install required)
• A project directory where you work with kgateway configs

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Installation

1. Launch Claude Code

claude

2. Add the marketplace and install the plugin

Inside Claude TUI:

/plugin marketplace add gmflau/gilbert-claude-plugins

/plugin install gilbert-plugin@team-tools

When prompted, choose Install for you (user scope).

This installs the plugin into ~/.claude/plugins/ — your personal Claude Code profile — so it is available in every project you open on this machine without needing to copy anything into each repo. Use project scope only if you want the plugin committed into a specific repository so your whole team gets it automatically when they clone.

3. Reload plugins

/reload-plugins

Claude Code loads plugins at startup. /reload-plugins applies the install to the current session without requiring a restart — you will see the new skills become available immediately after running it.

4. Confirm the installation

Type /kgateway in the Claude TUI — autocomplete will show the two installed skills, confirming the plugin is active:

/kgateway

Expected output:

/kgateway-review              Reviews Solo Enterprise for kgateway Gateway and HTTPRoute YAML manifests for correctness, security, and best practices. Use PROACTIVELY when: - A Gateway or HTTPRoute           
                              manifest has just been generated and needs validation - An engineer asks to review or audit existing kgateway routing YAML - Checking for deprecated CRDs (Gloo Gateway 2.0 v…    
/kgateway-generate            Full generate-then-review workflow for Solo Enterprise for kgateway routing manifests. Use PROACTIVELY when a DevOps engineer wants to create NEW routing configuration from      
                              scratch. This skill orchestrates the full pipeline: 1. Collects requirements (service, port, hostname, routing logic) 2. Delegates generation to the kgateway-routing agent 3… 

Type /mcp in the Claude TUI -

/mcp

Expected output:

Manage MCP serverss
4 servers
  
  User MCPs (/Users/gilbetlau/.claude.json)
> soloio-docs-mcp · ✔ connected · 3 tools 

soloio-docs-mcp · ✔ connected · 3 tools confirms the plugin wired up the Solo.io documentation MCP server at https://search.solo.io/mcp. The 3 tools (search, get_chunks, get_full_page) are what the kgateway-routing agent calls at runtime to look up live API schemas before generating or validating any manifest — ensuring output always reflects the current Solo Enterprise for kgateway release, not stale training data.

Type /agents in the Claude TUI, then navigate to the Library tab to verify the routing agent was installed:

/agents

Expected output in the Library tab:

Create new agent 

Project agents (/Users/gilbertlau/Documents/anthropic/SOLUTION/.claude/agents)
kgateway-routing · sonnet 

kgateway-routing · sonnet confirms the plugin's domain expert agent is registered and ready. This agent is invoked automatically by the kgateway-generate and kgateway-review skills — you never call it directly. It runs on Claude Sonnet, carries the full Solo Enterprise for kgateway API knowledge, and is the component that queries the soloio-docs-mcp server for live schema lookups during generation.

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What the Plugin Gives You

Component	What it does
/gilbert-plugin:kgateway-generate	Collects your requirements, generates Gateway + HTTPRoute YAML, and automatically reviews it before returning the result
/gilbert-plugin:kgateway-review	Runs a 7-step review on any existing manifest — paste YAML or point at a file
kgateway-routing agent	The underlying domain expert (invoked automatically — no need to call it directly)
Solo.io docs MCP	Live documentation search used during generation and review so manifests always match the current API schema

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Skill 1: Generate a New Routing Config

Invoke: /gilbert-plugin:kgateway-generate Or just describe what you need — Claude will invoke it automatically.

What Claude will ask you

Before generating anything, the skill collects:

Field	Example
Upstream service name	payments-api
Upstream service port	8080
Upstream service namespace	payments
Hostname(s) to route	api.example.com
Gateway name	http
Gateway namespace	kgateway-system
Routing logic	path prefix /api/v1, header match, traffic split
Traffic policy (optional)	timeouts, retries
TLS/HTTPS (optional)	yes / no

Example prompt

I am using Solo Enterprise for kgateway 2.1.4. Create an HTTPRoute for my
payments-api service on api.example.com. Gateway is 'http' in kgateway-system.
Service is in the payments namespace on port 8080. Route all traffic with
path prefix /api/v1. Store generated artifacts in the Solo/ folder.

What you get back

1. Generated manifests — complete, kubectl apply-ready YAML separated by ---:

   • Gateway (if not already in the cluster)
   • HTTPRoute with your routing rules
   • EnterpriseKgatewayTrafficPolicy (only if you requested traffic policies)

2. Review report — automatically run on the generated YAML, formatted as:

   ## kgateway Manifest Review Report
   
   ### ✅ Passed Checks
   ### ⚠️ Warnings (should fix before production)
   ### 🚨 Critical Issues (must fix before applying)
   ### 💡 Recommendations
   
   ### Verdict: READY TO APPLY | NEEDS FIXES | BLOCKED
   

3. Next steps — suggestions for hardening, TLS, or additional policies

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Skill 2: Review an Existing Manifest

Invoke: /gilbert-plugin:kgateway-review Or paste a manifest and ask Claude to review it — it will invoke the skill automatically.

Example prompts

Review all resources in the Solo/ folder for correctness and enhance security.

/gilbert-plugin:kgateway-review

Then paste your YAML.

What the 7-step review checks

Step	Checks
1. Resource identification	Lists all kinds found; flags unknown or deprecated CRDs immediately
2. API version	Blocks gateway.solo.io/v2 (Gloo 2.0 — incompatible with kgateway 2.1+) and v1beta1
3. Gateway validation	gatewayClassName: enterprise-kgateway, listener protocol, TLS certs, allowedRoutes scope
4. HTTPRoute validation	parentRefs correctness, hostnames, backendRefs with port, cross-namespace ReferenceGrant
5. Traffic policy (if present)	targetRefs, timeout values, valid Envoy retry conditions
6. Security	Wildcard hostnames, missing HTTPS redirect, hardcoded secrets, namespace isolation
7. Structured report	✅ / ⚠️ / 🚨 report with a final verdict

Common issues caught

Issue	Severity
Wrong gatewayClassName	Critical
Missing parentRefs.namespace	Critical
GlooTrafficPolicy used (Gloo 2.0 CRD)	Critical
Cross-namespace backendRef without ReferenceGrant	Critical
Missing port in backendRefs	Critical
Missing hostnames (routes all hosts)	Warning
allowedRoutes: All in production	Warning
No HTTPS redirect on external HTTP listener	Warning

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Resources the Plugin Understands

Resource	apiVersion	Description
Gateway	gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1	Envoy proxy + listeners
HTTPRoute	gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1	Routing rules to upstream services
EnterpriseKgatewayTrafficPolicy	enterprisekgateway.solo.io/v1alpha1	Retries, timeouts, ext auth, JWT

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Full Demo Walkthrough

1. Create a Gateway resource to work from

mkdir Solo

cat << 'EOF' > ./Solo/gateway.yaml
kind: Gateway
apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
metadata:
  name: http
  namespace: kgateway-system
spec:
  gatewayClassName: enterprise-kgateway
  listeners:
  - protocol: HTTP
    port: 8080
    name: http
    allowedRoutes:
      namespaces:
        from: All
EOF

2. Open Claude Code

claude

3. Generate a route

Inside the Claude TUI, enter the following:

I am using Solo Enterprise for kgateway 2.1.4. Create an HTTPRoute for my payments-api service on api.example.com based on Solo/gateway.yaml. Store generated artifacts in the Solo folder.

Claude will invoke kgateway-generate, ask any missing questions, generate the YAML, auto-review it, and return the report.

Provide the input to the prompt: Enter

service port 8080, service namespace payments-api, routing logic path prefix /api/v1

Then continue to respond to subseqent prompts to improve the gatewy and httproute yaml configurations.

4. Review and harden existing configs

Review all resources in Solo folder for correctness and enhance security

Claude will invoke kgateway-review on each resource and return a structured report with any warnings or blockers.

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