Agent Runbook Generation#

An agent that says “you should probably add a readiness probe to your deployment” is giving advice. An agent that hands you a tested manifest with the readiness probe configured, verified against a real cluster, with rollback steps if the probe misconfigures – that agent is producing a deliverable. The difference matters.

The core thesis of infrastructure agent work is that the output is always a deliverable – a runbook, playbook, tested manifest, or validated configuration – never a direct action on someone else’s systems. This article covers the complete workflow for generating those deliverables: understanding requirements, planning steps, executing in a sandbox, capturing what worked, and packaging the result.

Why Runtime Security Matters#

Container images get scanned for vulnerabilities before deployment. Admission controllers enforce pod security standards at creation time. But neither addresses what happens after the container starts running. Runtime security fills this gap: it detects and prevents malicious behavior inside running containers.

A compromised container with a properly hardened runtime is limited in what damage it can cause. Without runtime hardening, a single container escape can compromise the entire node.

Devcontainer Sandbox Templates#

Devcontainers provide disposable, reproducible development environments that run in a container. You define the tools, extensions, and configuration in a .devcontainer/ directory, and any compatible host – GitHub Codespaces, Gitpod, VS Code with Docker, or the devcontainer CLI – builds and launches the environment from that definition.

For infrastructure validation, devcontainers solve a specific problem: giving every developer and every CI run the exact same set of tools at the exact same versions, without requiring them to install anything on their local machine. A Kubernetes devcontainer includes kind, kubectl, helm, and kustomize at pinned versions. A Terraform devcontainer includes terraform, tflint, checkov, and cloud CLIs. The environment is ready to use the moment it starts.

Sandbox to Production#

An agent that produces infrastructure deliverables works in a sandbox. It does not touch production. It does not reach into someone else’s cluster, database, or cloud account. It works in an isolated environment, tests its work, captures the results, and hands the human a verified deliverable they can execute on their own infrastructure.

This is not a limitation – it is a design choice. The output is always a deliverable, never a direct action on someone else’s systems. This boundary is what makes the approach safe enough for production infrastructure work and trustworthy enough for enterprise change management.