---

name: container-orchestration description: "Docker, Kubernetes, and AWS ECS/Fargate patterns. Triggers on: Dockerfile, docker-compose, kubernetes, k8s, helm, pod, deployment, service, ingress, container, image, ecs, fargate, task definition, ecs service, awsvpc, FARGATE_SPOT, ALB, ecs vs kubernetes." when_to_use: "Use when running containers at scale — Dockerfile/compose authoring plus Kubernetes or ECS/Fargate orchestration — e.g. 'write a multi-stage Dockerfile', 'author a Helm chart or k8s Deployment+Service', 'set up an ECS Fargate task definition', 'ECS vs Kubernetes'. Reach for docker-ops for Docker-only build/compose work." license: MIT compatibility: "Docker 20+, Kubernetes 1.25+, Helm 3+" allowed-tools: "Read Write Bash" metadata: author: claude-mods

Container Orchestration

Facts verified as of 2026-07.

Docker and Kubernetes patterns for containerized applications.

Dockerfile Best Practices

# Use specific version, not :latest
FROM python:3.11-slim AS builder

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Copy dependency files first (better caching)
COPY requirements.txt .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt

# Copy application code
COPY src/ ./src/

# Production stage (multi-stage build)
FROM python:3.11-slim

WORKDIR /app

# Create non-root user
RUN useradd --create-home appuser
USER appuser

# Copy from builder
COPY --from=builder /app /app

# Set environment
ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1

# Health check
HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=3s \
  CMD curl -f http://localhost:8000/health || exit 1

EXPOSE 8000
CMD ["python", "-m", "uvicorn", "src.main:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0"]

Dockerfile Rules

DO:
- Use specific base image versions
- Use multi-stage builds
- Run as non-root user
- Order commands by change frequency
- Use .dockerignore
- Add health checks

DON'T:
- Use :latest tag
- Run as root
- Copy unnecessary files
- Store secrets in image
- Install dev dependencies in production

Docker Compose

# docker-compose.yml
version: "3.9"

services:
  app:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:pass@db:5432/app
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8000/health"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3

  db:
    image: postgres:15-alpine
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: user
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: pass
      POSTGRES_DB: app
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U user -d app"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

volumes:
  postgres_data:

Kubernetes Basics

Deployment

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: app
  labels:
    app: myapp
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: myapp
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: myapp
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: app
        image: myapp:1.0.0
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8000
        resources:
          requests:
            memory: "128Mi"
            cpu: "100m"
          limits:
            memory: "256Mi"
            cpu: "500m"
        livenessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /health
            port: 8000
          initialDelaySeconds: 10
          periodSeconds: 30
        readinessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /ready
            port: 8000
          initialDelaySeconds: 5
          periodSeconds: 10
        env:
        - name: DATABASE_URL
          valueFrom:
            secretKeyRef:
              name: app-secrets
              key: database-url

Service

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: app-service
spec:
  selector:
    app: myapp
  ports:
  - port: 80
    targetPort: 8000
  type: ClusterIP

Ingress

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: app-ingress
  annotations:
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/rewrite-target: /
spec:
  ingressClassName: nginx
  rules:
  - host: app.example.com
    http:
      paths:
      - path: /
        pathType: Prefix
        backend:
          service:
            name: app-service
            port:
              number: 80

kubectl Quick Reference

Command	Description
kubectl get pods	List pods
kubectl logs <pod>	View logs
kubectl exec -it <pod> -- sh	Shell into pod
kubectl apply -f manifest.yaml	Apply config
kubectl rollout restart deployment/app	Restart deployment
kubectl rollout status deployment/app	Check rollout
kubectl describe pod <pod>	Debug pod
kubectl port-forward svc/app 8080:80	Local port forward

Additional Resources

• ./references/dockerfile-patterns.md - Advanced Dockerfile techniques
• ./references/k8s-manifests.md - Full Kubernetes manifest examples
• ./references/helm-patterns.md - Helm chart structure and values
• ./references/ecs-fargate.md - Amazon ECS on AWS Fargate (task definitions, services, awsvpc networking, IAM roles, secrets, scaling, ALB/NLB, ECS vs Kubernetes)

Scripts

• ./scripts/build-push.sh - Build and push Docker image

Assets

• ./assets/Dockerfile.template - Production Dockerfile template
• ./assets/docker-compose.template.yml - Compose starter template