Agent skill

Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster

by divinevideo in divinevideo/divine-mobile

Fix cert-manager DNS01 ACME challenges stuck in "pending" state with "DNS record not yet propagated" inside GKE private clusters, even when TXT records exist in Cloudflare DNS.

MPL-2.0Auto-check passedDevelopment

Install Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster

skills CLI
$ npx skills add divinevideo/divine-mobile --skill certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install divinevideo/divine-mobile certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/divinevideo/divine-mobile.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster .claude/skills/certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster
GitHub stars
266
Token cost
~1.8k tokens
SKILL.md length
407 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
103
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MPL-2.0

At a glance

Fix cert-manager DNS01 ACME challenges stuck in "pending" state with "DNS record not yet propagated" inside GKE private clusters, even when TXT records exist in Cloudflare DNS.

  • Works in 2 steps: Google Cloud intercepts DNS to 8.8.8.8 → Cert-manager propagation check still…
  • Cert-manager challenges show pending for hours with propagation check failures
  • SKILL.md covers Problem, Context / Trigger Conditions, Root Causes Discovered and Solution, plus 3 more sections
  • Calls kubectl, openssl and pipx; needs CF_TOKEN

What it does

Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster is an agent skill from divinevideo/divine-mobile. Fix cert-manager DNS01 ACME challenges stuck in "pending" state with "DNS record not yet propagated" inside GKE private clusters, even when TXT records exist in Cloudflare DNS. Use when: (1) cert-manager challenges show "pending" for hours with propagation check failures, (2) dig from outside cluster shows correct TXT records but cert-manager can't verify them, (3) Using Cloudflare DNS01 solver in a GKE private cluster with Cloud NAT, (4) Google Cloud intercepts 8.8.8.8 DNS queries returning NXDOMAIN for…

Its SKILL.md is about 1.8k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Development, covering GraphQL and Debugging. It works with Google Kubernetes Engine, Cloudflare and Google Cloud. The licence is MPL-2.0.

When your agent uses it

  • Cert-manager challenges show pending for hours with propagation check failures
  • Dig from outside cluster shows correct TXT records but cert-manager cant verify them
  • Using Cloudflare DNS01 solver in a GKE private cluster with Cloud NAT
  • Google Cloud intercepts 8.8.8.8 DNS queries returning NXDOMAIN for Cloudflare-managed records

Example prompts

  • “pending”
  • “DNS record not yet propagated”
  • “/certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster”

Workflow steps

2 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Google Cloud intercepts DNS to 8.8.8.8
  2. Cert-manager propagation check still fails with correct resolvers

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit c3d6f7e. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • kubectl
    • openssl
    • pipx
    • curl

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use kubectl, pipx and curl, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:

    • CF_TOKEN

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster loads about 1.8k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 200 tokens; SKILL.md has 407 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~200
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.8k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from divinevideo/divine-mobile at commit c3d6f7e, republished under its MPL-2.0 licence (© divinevideo). 407 words, ~1,758 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster
description
Fix cert-manager DNS01 ACME challenges stuck in "pending" state with "DNS record not yet propagated" inside GKE private clusters, even when TXT records exist in Cloudflare DNS. Use when: (1) cert-manager challenges show "pending" for hours with propagation check failures, (2) dig from outside cluster shows correct TXT records but cert-manager can't verify them, (3) Using Cloudflare DNS01 solver in a GKE private cluster with Cloud NAT, (4) Google Cloud intercepts 8.8.8.8 DNS queries returning NXDOMAIN for Cloudflare-managed records, (5) Even --dns01-recursive-nameservers with 1.1.1.1 doesn't fix the propagation check despite TXT records being verifiable from busybox pods in the same namespace. Covers the full debugging flow and certbot manual workaround.
author
Claude Code
version
1.0.0
date
2026-03-28

Cert-Manager DNS01 Challenge Failure in GKE Private Clusters

Problem

Cert-manager DNS01 ACME challenges get stuck in "pending" state indefinitely inside GKE private clusters. The propagation check fails with "DNS record for X not yet propagated" even though the TXT records are correctly created in Cloudflare and verifiable from everywhere — including from inside the cluster using busybox pods.

Context / Trigger Conditions

  • cert-manager with Cloudflare DNS01 solver
  • GKE private cluster (private nodes, public endpoint) with Cloud NAT
  • Challenges show presented: true but state: pending for hours
  • cert-manager logs show: "propagation check failed" err="DNS record for \"example.com\" not yet propagated"
  • dig TXT _acme-challenge.example.com from outside returns correct value
  • busybox nslookup from inside cluster also returns correct value
  • Certificate resource shows Ready: False with reason: RequestChanged

Root Causes Discovered

1. Google Cloud intercepts DNS to 8.8.8.8

Inside GKE VPCs, DNS queries to 8.8.8.8 are intercepted by Google Cloud infrastructure. For Cloudflare-managed domains, this can return NXDOMAIN even when the record exists. This is because Google routes 8.8.8.8 through their internal DNS infrastructure which may have different resolution behavior than the public Google DNS service.

Verification:

bash
# From inside cluster - returns NXDOMAIN
kubectl run dns-test --image=busybox:1.36 --rm -i --restart=Never -- \
  nslookup -type=TXT _acme-challenge.example.com 8.8.8.8

# From inside cluster - returns correct result
kubectl run dns-test --image=busybox:1.36 --rm -i --restart=Never -- \
  nslookup -type=TXT _acme-challenge.example.com 1.1.1.1
2. Cert-manager propagation check still fails with correct resolvers

Even after configuring --dns01-recursive-nameservers=1.1.1.1:53,1.0.0.1:53 and --dns01-recursive-nameservers-only=true, cert-manager's propagation check may still fail. The Go DNS library used by cert-manager (miekg/dns) behaves differently from busybox's nslookup. The exact cause is unclear but may relate to:

  • DNS response parsing differences between miekg/dns and system resolvers
  • TCP vs UDP DNS query differences
  • Internal cert-manager caching or timing issues
  • Cloud NAT interaction with DNS traffic patterns
Show full SKILL.md (155 more words)Show less

Solution

Attempt 1: Configure recursive DNS resolvers (may not be sufficient)

Add to cert-manager Helm values:

yaml
dns01RecursiveNameservers: "1.1.1.1:53,1.0.0.1:53"
dns01RecursiveNameserversOnly: true

IMPORTANT: Do NOT use 8.8.8.8 — Google Cloud intercepts this inside GKE VPCs.

For ArgoCD-managed cert-manager (Helm chart), add to the Application valuesObject:

yaml
valuesObject:
  dns01RecursiveNameservers: "1.1.1.1:53,1.0.0.1:53"
  dns01RecursiveNameserversOnly: true
Attempt 2: Manual cert generation with certbot (reliable workaround)

If the resolver fix doesn't work, generate the cert locally and inject it:

bash
# Install certbot with Cloudflare plugin
pipx install certbot
pipx inject certbot certbot-dns-cloudflare

# Get Cloudflare API token from cluster
CF_TOKEN=$(kubectl get secret cloudflare-api-token-secret -n cert-manager \
  -o jsonpath='{.data.api-token}' | base64 -d)

# Create credentials file
mkdir -p /tmp/certbot-cf
echo "dns_cloudflare_api_token = $CF_TOKEN" > /tmp/certbot-cf/cloudflare.ini
chmod 600 /tmp/certbot-cf/cloudflare.ini

# Generate certificate
certbot certonly \
  --dns-cloudflare \
  --dns-cloudflare-credentials /tmp/certbot-cf/cloudflare.ini \
  --dns-cloudflare-propagation-seconds 30 \
  -d '*.example.com' -d 'example.com' \
  --non-interactive --agree-tos --email admin@example.com \
  --config-dir /tmp/certbot-cf/config \
  --work-dir /tmp/certbot-cf/work \
  --logs-dir /tmp/certbot-cf/logs \
  --key-type ecdsa --elliptic-curve secp256r1

# Inject into cluster
kubectl create secret tls wildcard-tls-secret \
  --cert=/tmp/certbot-cf/config/live/example.com/fullchain.pem \
  --key=/tmp/certbot-cf/config/live/example.com/privkey.pem \
  -n nginx-gateway --dry-run=client -o yaml | kubectl apply -f -

# Clean up
rm -rf /tmp/certbot-cf

Verification

bash
# Check the certificate served by the gateway
echo | openssl s_client -connect upload.example.com:443 \
  -servername upload.example.com 2>/dev/null | \
  openssl x509 -noout -subject -ext subjectAltName

# Test endpoint
curl -s https://upload.example.com/

Debugging Commands

bash
# Check challenge status
kubectl get challenges -n nginx-gateway

# Check challenge details (key = expected TXT value)
kubectl get challenge <name> -n nginx-gateway \
  -o jsonpath='domain: {.spec.dnsName}, key: {.spec.key}, presented: {.status.presented}'

# Check cert-manager args
kubectl get deployment cert-manager -n cert-manager \
  -o jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].args}'

# Check certificate status
kubectl get certificate wildcard-tls -n nginx-gateway -o yaml

# Check what cert is currently in the secret
kubectl get secret wildcard-tls-secret -n nginx-gateway \
  -o jsonpath='{.data.tls\.crt}' | base64 -d | \
  openssl x509 -noout -subject -ext subjectAltName

# Test DNS from inside cluster
kubectl run dns-test --image=busybox:1.36 --rm -i --restart=Never -- \
  nslookup -type=TXT _acme-challenge.example.com 1.1.1.1

# Delete stale order to force refresh
kubectl delete order <order-name> -n nginx-gateway

Notes

  • The manually generated cert expires after 90 days and won't auto-renew
  • cert-manager will eventually overwrite the manually injected secret when/if it successfully issues its own cert — this is fine and desired
  • When requesting both wildcard (*.example.com) and base (example.com), ACME requires separate authorizations that both use _acme-challenge.example.com TXT records with different values
  • ArgoCD root apps with automated.enabled: false won't auto-sync — you need to trigger manually via kubectl patch app root -n argocd --type merge -p '{"operation":{"sync":...}}'
  • The cert-manager container is distroless (no shell) — you can't exec into it to debug DNS

© divinevideo, MPL-2.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in .agents/skills/certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster of divinevideo/divine-mobile.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit c3d6f7e

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Questions about Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster

What does Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster do?

Fix cert-manager DNS01 ACME challenges stuck in "pending" state with "DNS record not yet propagated" inside GKE private clusters, even when TXT records exist in Cloudflare DNS. Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster is an agent skill from divinevideo/divine-mobile. Fix cert-manager DNS01 ACME challenges stuck in "pending" state with "DNS record not yet propagated" inside GKE private clusters, even when TXT records exist in Cloudflare DNS.

When should I use Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster?

Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster fits situations like: cert-manager challenges show pending for hours with propagation check failures; dig from outside cluster shows correct TXT records but cert-manager cant verify them; using Cloudflare DNS01 solver in a GKE private cluster with Cloud NAT; google Cloud intercepts 8.8.8.8 DNS queries returning NXDOMAIN for Cloudflare-managed records.

How do I install Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add divinevideo/divine-mobile --skill certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster in divinevideo/divine-mobile) into .claude/skills/certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster in Codex?

Run `npx skills add divinevideo/divine-mobile --skill certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster in divinevideo/divine-mobile) into .agents/skills/certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add divinevideo/divine-mobile --skill certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster, .gemini/skills/certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster, .github/skills/certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster and .opencode/skills/certmanager-dns01-gke-private-cluster in your project.

What does Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster needs the command-line tools its instructions call (kubectl, openssl, pipx and curl) and credentials named CF_TOKEN.

Does Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Its commands use curl, which can reach the network depending on how they are called. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster use?

Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster is published under the MPL-2.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster use?

About 1.8k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 7k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster?

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Who maintains Certmanager Dns01 Gke Private Cluster?

divinevideo (a GitHub organization) maintains it in divinevideo/divine-mobile, which has 266 GitHub stars. The repository holds 103 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 10, 2026.

Source: divinevideo/divine-mobile on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.