---
id: 901234
card_url: "https://mdrss.com/platforms/devops-and-infrastructure/901234"
permalink_url: "https://mdrss.com/m/901234"
thread_url: "https://mdrss.com/s/platforms"
markdown_url: "https://mdrss.com/platforms/devops-and-infrastructure/901234/901234.md"
title: "Linkerd Patterns"
annotation: "Production patterns for Linkerd service mesh - the lightweight, security-first service mesh for Kubernetes. Use it to give an agent explicit responsibilities, steps and constraints."
state: published
thread: platforms
domain: platforms
category: devops-and-infrastructure
type: guide
tags: ["cloud-reliability", "devops-and-infrastructure", "template", "linkerd", "patterns", "service", "mesh", "devops", "platforms", "collider-club"]
ontology_terms: ["concept:devops-and-infrastructure", "org:collider-club"]
relation_terms: []
license: "MIT"
version: 1
snapshot_at: "2026-08-04T16:17:00.000Z"
source_url: "https://github.com/wshobson/agents"
source_kind: "collider-club-curated"
platform_scam_risk: 5
platform_evidence_score: 100
evidence_urls:
  - "https://github.com/wshobson/agents"
  - "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wshobson/agents/c4b82b0ad771190355eb8e204b1329732a18449a/plugins/cloud-infrastructure/skills/linkerd-patterns/SKILL.md"
  - "https://collider.club"
  - "https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT"
---
# Linkerd Patterns

> Production patterns for Linkerd service mesh - the lightweight, security-first service mesh for Kubernetes. Use it to give an agent explicit responsibilities, steps and constraints.

> Editorial note: curated source snapshot published by [Collider.club](https://collider.club) under the MIT License. Source attribution is preserved in the front matter.

## Original source metadata

```yaml
name: linkerd-patterns
description: Implement Linkerd service mesh patterns for lightweight, security-focused service mesh deployments. Use when setting up Linkerd, configuring traffic policies, or implementing zero-trust networking with minimal overhead.
```

## Source snapshot

# Linkerd Patterns

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

## When to Use This Skill

- 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                   │
│  ┌─────┐    ┌─────┐    ┌─────┐             │
│  │proxy│────│proxy│────│proxy│             │
│  └─────┘    └─────┘    └─────┘             │
│     │           │           │               │
│  ┌──┴──┐    ┌──┴──┐    ┌──┴──┐            │
│  │ app │    │ app │    │ app │            │
│  └─────┘    └─────┘    └─────┘            │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

### 2. Key Resources

| Resource                | Purpose                              |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| **ServiceProfile**      | Per-route metrics, retries, timeouts |
| **TrafficSplit**        | Canary deployments, A/B testing      |
| **Server**              | Define server-side policies          |
| **ServerAuthorization** | Access control policies              |

## Templates

### Template 1: Mesh Installation

```bash
# Install CLI
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSfL https://run.linkerd.io/install | sh

# Validate cluster
linkerd check --pre

# Install CRDs
linkerd install --crds | kubectl apply -f -

# Install control plane
linkerd install | kubectl apply -f -

# Verify installation
linkerd check

# Install viz extension (optional)
linkerd viz install | kubectl apply -f -
```

### Template 2: Inject Namespace

```yaml
# Automatic injection for namespace
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: my-app
  annotations:
    linkerd.io/inject: enabled
---
# Or inject specific deployment
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: my-app
  annotations:
    linkerd.io/inject: enabled
spec:
  template:
    metadata:
      annotations:
        linkerd.io/inject: enabled
```

### Template 3: Service Profile with Retries

```yaml
apiVersion: linkerd.io/v1alpha2
kind: ServiceProfile
metadata:
  name: my-service.my-namespace.svc.cluster.local
  namespace: my-namespace
spec:
  routes:
    - name: GET /api/users
      condition:
        method: GET
        pathRegex: /api/users
      responseClasses:
        - condition:
            status:
              min: 500
              max: 599
          isFailure: true
      isRetryable: true
    - name: POST /api/users
      condition:
        method: POST
        pathRegex: /api/users
      # POST not retryable by default
      isRetryable: false
    - name: GET /api/users/{id}
      condition:
        method: GET
        pathRegex: /api/users/[^/]+
      timeout: 5s
      isRetryable: true
  retryBudget:
    retryRatio: 0.2
    minRetriesPerSecond: 10
    ttl: 10s
```

### Template 4: Traffic Split (Canary)

```yaml
apiVersion: split.smi-spec.io/v1alpha1
kind: TrafficSplit
metadata:
  name: my-service-canary
  namespace: my-namespace
spec:
  service: my-service
  backends:
    - service: my-service-stable
      weight: 900m # 90%
    - service: my-service-canary
      weight: 100m # 10%
```

### Template 5: Server Authorization Policy

```yaml
# Define the server
apiVersion: policy.linkerd.io/v1beta1
kind: Server
metadata:
  name: my-service-http
  namespace: my-namespace
spec:
  podSelector:
    matchLabels:
      app: my-service
  port: http
  proxyProtocol: HTTP/1
---
# Allow traffic from specific clients
apiVersion: policy.linkerd.io/v1beta1
kind: ServerAuthorization
metadata:
  name: allow-frontend
  namespace: my-namespace
spec:
  server:
    name: my-service-http
  client:
    meshTLS:
      serviceAccounts:
        - name: frontend
          namespace: my-namespace
---
# Allow unauthenticated traffic (e.g., from ingress)
apiVersion: policy.linkerd.io/v1beta1
kind: ServerAuthorization
metadata:
  name: allow-ingress
  namespace: my-namespace
spec:
  server:
    name: my-service-http
  client:
    unauthenticated: true
    networks:
      - cidr: 10.0.0.0/8
```

### Template 6: HTTPRoute for Advanced Routing

```yaml
apiVersion: policy.linkerd.io/v1beta2
kind: HTTPRoute
metadata:
  name: my-route
  namespace: my-namespace
spec:
  parentRefs:
    - name: my-service
      kind: Service
      group: core
      port: 8080
  rules:
    - matches:
        - path:
            type: PathPrefix
            value: /api/v2
        - headers:
            - name: x-api-version
              value: v2
      backendRefs:
        - name: my-service-v2
          port: 8080
    - matches:
        - path:
            type: PathPrefix
            value: /api
      backendRefs:
        - name: my-service-v1
          port: 8080
```

### Template 7: Multi-cluster Setup

```bash
# On each cluster, install with cluster credentials
linkerd multicluster install | kubectl apply -f -

# Link clusters
linkerd multicluster link --cluster-name west \
  --api-server-address https://west.example.com:6443 \
  | kubectl apply -f -

# Export a service to other clusters
kubectl label svc/my-service mirror.linkerd.io/exported=true

# Verify cross-cluster connectivity
linkerd multicluster check
linkerd multicluster gateways
```

## Monitoring Commands

```bash
# Live traffic view
linkerd viz top deploy/my-app

# Per-route metrics
linkerd viz routes deploy/my-app

# Check proxy status
linkerd viz stat deploy -n my-namespace

# View service dependencies
linkerd viz edges deploy -n my-namespace

# Dashboard
linkerd viz dashboard
```

## Debugging

```bash
# Check injection status
linkerd check --proxy -n my-namespace

# View proxy logs
kubectl logs deploy/my-app -c linkerd-proxy

# Debug identity/TLS
linkerd identity -n my-namespace

# Tap traffic (live)
linkerd viz tap deploy/my-app --to deploy/my-backend
```

## Best Practices

### Do's

- **Enable mTLS everywhere** - It's automatic with Linkerd
- **Use ServiceProfiles** - Get per-route metrics and retries
- **Set retry budgets** - Prevent retry storms
- **Monitor golden metrics** - Success rate, latency, throughput

### Don'ts

- **Don't skip check** - Always run `linkerd check` after changes
- **Don't over-configure** - Linkerd defaults are sensible
- **Don't ignore ServiceProfiles** - They unlock advanced features
- **Don't forget timeouts** - Set appropriate values per route

---

## About Collider.club

This card belongs to the curated knowledge base of **[Collider.club](https://collider.club)** — a closed
business club for entrepreneurs, engineers, investors and domain experts building projects for
international markets. Members work across DeFi, AI/ML, FinTech, Web3, banking, hardware and venture
capital, and the club runs closed sessions on high-margin niches with anonymous speakers.

- Club: <https://collider.club>
- Collection: Collider.club curated card library (`mdrss-card/v2`)
- Maintainer: Collider.club editorial team

## License

MIT License — Copyright (c) 2026 Collider.club.
Full text: [LICENSE](../../LICENSE) · <https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT>