tiltup

Original：🇺🇸 English
Translated

Start Tilt dev environment in tmux, monitor bootstrap to healthy state, fix Tiltfile bugs without hard-coding or fallbacks. Use when starting tilt, debugging Tiltfile errors, or bootstrapping a dev environment.

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Source0xbigboss/claude-code
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NPX Install

npx skill4agent add 0xbigboss/claude-code tiltup

Tags

Translated version includes tags in frontmatter
tilt-environmenttmux-workflowtiltfile-debugdev-env-bootstrapk8s-dev-tools

SKILL.md Content

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Tilt Up

Principles (Always Active)

These apply whenever working with Tiltfiles, Tilt errors, or dev environment bootstrap:

Fix the Tiltfile, Not the Symptoms

  • Fix the source config directly - Tiltfile, Dockerfile, k8s manifest, or helm values
  • Never add shell workarounds - no wrapper scripts, no 
    || true
    , no 
    try/except pass
  • Never hard-code ports, paths, hostnames, image tags, or container names that should be dynamic
  • Never add fallbacks that mask the real error - if a resource fails, the failure must be visible
  • Never add sleep/retry loops for flaky dependencies - fix dependency ordering via 
    resource_deps()
    or 
    k8s_resource(deps=)
  • Never add polling for readiness that Tilt already handles - use 
    k8s_resource(readiness_probe=)
    or probe configs

Express Dependencies Declaratively

  • Port conflicts: fix the port allocation source, don't pick a different port
  • Resource ordering: use 
    resource_deps()
    , not sequential startup scripts
  • Env vars: use 
    silo.toml
    or gen-env output, not inline defaults
  • Image availability: use 
    image_deps
    or 
    deps
    , not sleep-until-ready

Tilt Live-Reloads

After editing a Tiltfile, Tilt picks up changes automatically. Never restart 
tilt up
 for:
  • Tiltfile edits
  • Source code changes
  • Kubernetes manifest updates
Restart only for: Tilt version upgrades, port/host config changes, crashes, cluster context switches.

Workflow (When Explicitly Starting Tilt)

Step 1: Assess Current State

  1. Check if tilt is already running:
    bash
    SESSION=$(basename $(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null) || basename $PWD)
tmux list-windows -t "$SESSION" -F '#{window_name}' 2>/dev/null | grep -q "^tilt$"
    If running, check health via 
    tilt get uiresources -o json
    and skip to Step 3.
  2. Check for required env files (
    .localnet.env
    , 
    .env.local
    , 
    silo.toml
    ):
    • If 
      silo.toml
      exists, use 
      silo up
      path
    • If gen-env script exists, run it first
    • If neither, check project README for bootstrap instructions
  3. Check for k3d cluster or Docker prerequisites.

Step 2: Start Tilt in tmux

Follow the 
tmux
skill patterns:
bash
SESSION=$(basename $(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null) || basename $PWD)

if ! tmux has-session -t "$SESSION" 2>/dev/null; then
  tmux new-session -d -s "$SESSION" -n tilt
  tmux send-keys -t "$SESSION:tilt" 'tilt up' Enter
elif ! tmux list-windows -t "$SESSION" -F '#{window_name}' | grep -q "^tilt$"; then
  tmux new-window -t "$SESSION" -n tilt
  tmux send-keys -t "$SESSION:tilt" 'tilt up' Enter
else
  echo "Tilt window already exists in session: $SESSION"
fi
For silo projects: 
silo up
instead of 
tilt up
.

Step 3: Monitor Bootstrap

Poll for convergence:
  1. Wait 10s for initial resource registration
  2. Poll every 15s, up to 20 iterations:
    bash
    tilt get uiresources -o json | jq -r '.items[] | select(.status.runtimeStatus == "error" or .status.updateStatus == "error" or .status.updateStatus == "pending") | "\(.metadata.name): runtime=\(.status.runtimeStatus) update=\(.status.updateStatus)"'
  3. Track resources: 
    pending
    -> 
    in_progress
    -> 
    ok
  4. Success: all resources reach 
    runtime=ok, update=ok
    (or 
    not_applicable
    )
  5. If resources stabilize in 
    error
    , proceed to Step 4

Step 4: Diagnose and Fix Errors

For each resource in error state:
  1. Read logs: 
    tilt logs <resource> --since 2m
  2. Read the Tiltfile and relevant k8s manifests
  3. Identify root cause in the config (not the running process)
  4. Apply fix following the Principles above
  5. Tilt live-reloads - re-poll status to verify
After 3 fix iterations on the same resource without progress:
  • Report the error with full logs
  • Identify whether it's a Tiltfile bug, upstream dependency, or infrastructure problem
  • Do not silently skip or disable the resource

Step 5: Report

## Tilt Status: <healthy|degraded|errored>

**Resources**: X/Y ok
**Session**: tmux $SESSION:tilt

### Errors (if any)
- <resource>: <root cause> — <what was fixed or what remains>