wshobsonInstall Service Mesh Observability
Pick your agent. Every command is ready to paste.
npx skills add wshobson/agents --skill service-mesh-observabilityThe open skills CLI detects your agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and 70+ more) and installs to the right folder. Add -g to install globally.
01
Install it
Run the command above, or upload the folder in Claude.
02
Ask naturally
Describe the task. Your agent loads service-mesh-observability when the request matches its description.
03
Name it if needed
If it does not trigger, say “use the service-mesh-observability skill”. In Codex, type $service-mesh-observability.
The skill itself
SKILL.md
Service Mesh Observability
Complete guide to observability patterns for Istio, Linkerd, and service mesh deployments.
When to Use This Skill
- Setting up distributed tracing across services
- Implementing service mesh metrics and dashboards
- Debugging latency and error issues
- Defining SLOs for service communication
- Visualizing service dependencies
- Troubleshooting mesh connectivity
Core Concepts
1. Three Pillars of Observability
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Observability │
├─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┤
│ Metrics │ Traces │ Logs │
│ │ │ │
│ • Request rate │ • Span context │ • Access logs │
│ • Error rate │ • Latency │ • Error details │
│ • Latency P50 │ • Dependencies │ • Debug info │
│ • Saturation │ • Bottlenecks │ • Audit trail │
└─────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┘
2. Golden Signals for Mesh
| Signal | Description | Alert Threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Latency | Request duration P50, P99 | P99 > 500ms |
| Traffic | Requests per second | Anomaly detection |
| Errors | 5xx error rate | > 1% |
| Saturation | Resource utilization | > 80% |
Templates and detailed worked examples
Full template library and detailed worked examples live in references/details.md. Read that file when you need the concrete templates.
Best Practices
Do's
- Sample appropriately - 100% in dev, 1-10% in prod
- Use trace context - Propagate headers consistently
- Set up alerts - For golden signals
- Correlate metrics/traces - Use exemplars
- Retain strategically - Hot/cold storage tiers
Don'ts
- Don't over-sample - Storage costs add up
- Don't ignore cardinality - Limit label values
- Don't skip dashboards - Visualize dependencies
- Don't forget costs - Monitor observability costs
Tips for Service Mesh Observability
- • Start a fresh session after installing so your agent picks up the new skill.
- • It bundles reference files. The agent reads them only when needed, so they cost no context until then.
- • It is part of a pack with 40 skills. Install only the ones you need with --skill to keep triggers precise.
- • If two skills overlap, mention the one you want by name.
Questions about Service Mesh Observability
What does the Service Mesh Observability skill do?
Implement comprehensive observability for service meshes including distributed tracing, metrics, and visualization. Use when setting up mesh monitoring, debugging latency issues, or implementing SLOs for service communication.
How do I install Service Mesh Observability?
Run "npx skills add wshobson/agents --skill service-mesh-observability" in your project. The skills CLI installs it for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and 70+ other agents. In Claude on the web, upload the skill folder as a ZIP under Customize > Skills.
Does Service Mesh Observability work in Cursor and Codex?
Yes. Service Mesh Observability uses the open SKILL.md format, so it works in Claude Code, Claude, Cursor, OpenAI Codex, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and other agents that support agent skills.
Is Service Mesh Observability free?
Service Mesh Observability is open source on GitHub under the MIT license. It is free to install; check the license before commercial use.
Who made Service Mesh Observability?
Service Mesh Observability is published by wshobson in the wshobson/agents repository, together with 39 other skills.
