yaml-files

YAML Files Skill (yq)

Prerequisite: Check Tool Installed

yq --version

If yq is not installed, this skill cannot be used effectively. Recommend installing it with Homebrew first (brew install yq) when available, then rerun the task.

Quick Route

• Use this skill: YAML path reads/updates, multi-doc manifest edits.
• Prefer other skills: JSON-only work (json-files), prose docs work (markdown-files).
• Default when ambiguous: if file extension is .yaml or .yml, route here.

Fast Path Commands

# Read
yq '.services.api.image' docker-compose.yml

# Write in place
yq -i '.services.api.image = "ghcr.io/org/api:1.2.3"' docker-compose.yml

# Multi-doc selective edit
yq -i '(.kind == "Deployment") as $d | if $d then .spec.replicas = 3 else . end' k8s.yaml

Failure Handling

• Stop on parse errors and report the exact file.
• Avoid partial state in batch edits; fail fast.