Google Cloud Global Load Balancer Configurator
Design and deploy opinionated global external Application Load Balancers on Google Cloud.
The documents require IAM pre-checks, showing the project and discovered resources, generating a preview for drift, and providing destroy.sh, which gives partial confirmation, isolation, and recovery controls. Points are deducted because permissions may still be compute.admin, storage.admin, or editor/owner rather than demonstrably least privilege; credential, logging, and sensitive-configuration data flows are not systematically disclosed; and confirmation and rollback boundaries for Infrastructure Manager apply and rm -rf .terraform are incomplete.
The skill specifies an ordered workflow, set -e, resource prefixes, and reverse-order destruction, making the happy path understandable. Points are deducted because there are no tests or execution evidence, abnormal-input and post-failure diagnostics are thin, GKE is listed as a supported origin but resource-discovery.md provides no GKE discovery command, and partial deployment recovery is not systematically described.
The target products, scenarios, and explicit non-use cases are reasonably clear, and the skill separates design, generation, deployment, and drift detection. Points are deducted because trigger conditions and input/output boundaries remain mostly prose-based, complex hybrid architectures and unsupported existing-resource cases are not bounded clearly, there is no evidence of Chinese-language interaction support, and reachability of the Google Cloud/gcloud core in mainland China is not established.
The skill uses metadata, purpose, assumptions, a staged flow, and reference files for progressive disclosure, with Terraform/gcloud examples, limitation notes, Apache-2.0 licensing, and module-version guidance. Points are deducted because the skill has no visible version, changelog, explicit maintainer responsibility, or update path; several production-grade or official claims lack test or version evidence; and installation, troubleshooting, and FAQ coverage are limited.
The skill covers the intended journey from requirements discovery through configuration summary, Terraform/gcloud generation, deployment, and drift handling, so it could reduce manual design effort. Points are deducted because the supplied files contain no executable artifacts, representative outputs, or third-party execution evidence; command, provider, or product mismatches could require substantial user rework, so direct usability and comparative benefit cannot be verified statically.
The documents cite first-party Google Cloud and Terraform materials and express several rules as auditable commands and mappings, providing limited traceability. Points are deducted because there are no committed tests, CI coverage, or real deployment records; static review cannot confirm that commands, API arguments, module versions, and recommended security rules are reproducible at the assessed revision.
- Deployment can affect highly privileged cloud resources; require explicit user confirmation and replace editor/owner-style access with verified least-privilege roles.
- The gcloud and Terraform snippets were not executed; especially verify GKE discovery, Service Extensions, Cloud Armor rules, module arguments, and destruction ordering.
- destroy.sh, Infrastructure Manager apply, and .terraform cleanup can affect infrastructure or local state; preserve state and confirm recovery procedures before deployment.
- Core operation depends on Google Cloud credentials, gcloud, and overseas services; mainland-China reachability and Chinese-language interaction are not evidenced.
What does this skill do, and when should you use it?
This skill guides a six-step design process for Google Cloud global external Application Load Balancers with Cloud CDN, Cloud Armor, and Service Extensions. It discovers supported Google Cloud backend resources and maps workload types to recommended caching and security settings. It can generate Terraform HCL or gcloud CLI scripts, perform IAM pre-checks, support deployment, and analyze configuration drift. Without access to gcloud, it is limited to design guidance and Terraform generation.
Reads the resource-discovery, code-generation, deployment, and drift-detection guidance in the references directory; discovers the Google Cloud project and supported backend resources; collects load balancer, origin, workload, routing, logging, caching, and security requirements sequentially; proposes Cloud CDN and Cloud Armor settings by workload type; generates Terraform HCL or gcloud Bash scripts; performs IAM pre-checks; deploys through Infrastructure Manager or Bash scripts; and detects or analyzes configuration drift on deployed global external Application Load Balancers.
- A Google Cloud web engineer needs a global HTTPS load balancer for static assets with Cloud CDN and Cloud Armor.
- A platform team needs to combine Cloud Storage, Compute Engine MIGs, GKE, Cloud Run, or external origins behind a multi-origin global load balancer.
- An API team needs different caching, rate-limiting, and OWASP recommendations for cacheable APIs versus transactional endpoints.
- An infrastructure team wants Terraform HCL or gcloud CLI deployment output with IAM checks before actuation.
- An operations team needs to analyze or reconcile drift in an existing global external Application Load Balancer.
What are this skill's strengths and limitations?
- Covers a six-step flow from requirements discovery through deployment and drift detection.
- Provides concrete Cloud CDN and Cloud Armor recommendations for static content, cacheable APIs, transactional APIs, and SSR applications.
- Supports Cloud Storage buckets, Compute Engine MIGs, GKE clusters, Cloud Run services, and external origins.
- Generates Terraform HCL or gcloud CLI Bash scripts.
- Automated discovery and managed deployment require an executable Google Cloud CLI.
- The source does not specify required IAM roles, version requirements, or include the generated deployment scripts.
- The source provides no test suite, sample outputs, or platform validation record.
- The scope is primarily Google Cloud global external load balancing; non-Google Cloud, purely regional, and internal configurations are excluded except in hybrid or global failover designs.
How do you install this skill?
Run npx skills add google/skills, then select google-cloud-global-frontend-configuration from the interactive skill selection. The README does not document another installation method or a specific target directory.
How do you use this skill?
In an environment where the skill is installed and gcloud is executable, use a request such as: Design a Google Cloud global external Application Load Balancer for my application with Cloud CDN and Cloud Armor, and generate Terraform HCL. Follow the six-step flow to provide project, origins, workload types, routing, and deployment choices. If gcloud is unavailable, request design guidance or Terraform generation.