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Run npx skillmds@latest add arisng/gcloud-cli in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

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arisng (@arisng) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Gcloud CLI by arisng — Agent Skill

Name: Gcloud CLI
Author: arisng

Gcloud CLI

Execute Google Cloud Platform operations using the gcloud CLI (and gsutil/bq where applicable). Use when the user wants to: authenticate with GCP, manage GCP resources, deploy applications, configure projects or IAM, view logs, run SQL/BigQuery, or interact with any GCP service from the command line. Triggers on phrases like "gcloud", "Google Cloud CLI", "deploy to GCP", "create a VM", "Cloud Run", "GKE cluster", "Cloud Storage bucket", "set GCP project", "service account", "Cloud Functions", "App Engine deploy", or any request to manage Google Cloud resources via command line.

arisng 5dd9508 2 files · 14.4 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

gcloud CLI

Command Structure

gcloud [GROUP] [SUB-GROUP] COMMAND [FLAGS]

Examples:

gcloud compute instances list
gcloud run services deploy my-svc --image gcr.io/my-project/my-image
gcloud projects list

Configuration

# One-time setup
gcloud init

# Set active project
gcloud config set project PROJECT_ID

# Set default region/zone
gcloud config set compute/region us-central1
gcloud config set compute/zone us-central1-a

# View current config
gcloud config list

# Named configurations (switch between projects/envs)
gcloud config configurations create staging
gcloud config configurations activate staging

Authentication

# Interactive login (local dev)
gcloud auth login

# Application Default Credentials (SDK/code usage)
gcloud auth application-default login

# Service account key
gcloud auth activate-service-account SA_EMAIL --key-file=key.json

# Impersonate a service account
gcloud [COMMAND] --impersonate-service-account=SA_EMAIL

# Check who you're authenticated as
gcloud auth list

Output Formatting

--format=json          # Machine-readable
--format=yaml          # Human-readable structured
--format=table(col1,col2)  # Custom table columns
--format="value(name)" # Single field extraction

# Filtering
--filter="status=RUNNING"
--filter="name ~ '^prod-'"  # regex match
--sort-by=createTime
--limit=10

Useful Global Flags

Flag	Purpose
`--project=PROJECT_ID`	Override active project
`--region=REGION`	Override default region
`--zone=ZONE`	Override default zone
`--quiet` / `-q`	Skip confirmation prompts
`--verbosity=debug`	Debug output
`--dry-run`	Preview without executing (where supported)

Service Commands Reference

For service-specific commands (Compute Engine, Cloud Run, GKE, Cloud Storage, IAM, App Engine, Cloud Functions, Cloud SQL, BigQuery, Pub/Sub, Artifact Registry), see references/services.md.

Common Patterns

Get resource details

gcloud RESOURCE describe RESOURCE_NAME [--region/--zone]

Wait for long-running operations

# Most commands support --async; poll with:
gcloud compute operations wait OPERATION_ID

Use `--format=value()` in scripts

PROJECT=$(gcloud config get-value project)
IMAGE_DIGEST=$(gcloud container images describe gcr.io/$PROJECT/app:latest --format="value(image_summary.digest)")

IAM policy binding pattern

gcloud RESOURCE add-iam-policy-binding RESOURCE_ID \
  --member="serviceAccount:SA@PROJECT.iam.gserviceaccount.com" \
  --role="roles/ROLE"

---name: gcloud-clidescription: Execute Google Cloud Platform operations using the gcloud CLI (and gsutil/bq where applicable). Use when the user wants to: authenticate with GCP, manage GCP resources, deploy applications, configure projects or IAM, view logs, run SQL/BigQuery, or interact with any GCP service from the command line. Triggers on phrases like "gcloud", "Google Cloud CLI", "deploy to GCP", "create a VM", "Cloud Run", "GKE cluster", "Cloud Storage bucket", "set GCP project", "service account", "Cloud Functions", "App Engine deploy", or any request to manage Google Cloud resources via command line.---# gcloud CLI## Command Structure```gcloud [GROUP] [SUB-GROUP] COMMAND [FLAGS]```Examples:```bashgcloud compute instances listgcloud run services deploy my-svc --image gcr.io/my-project/my-imagegcloud projects list```## Configuration```bash# One-time setupgcloud init# Set active projectgcloud config set project PROJECT_ID# Set default region/zonegcloud config set compute/region us-central1gcloud config set compute/zone us-central1-a# View current configgcloud config list# Named configurations (switch between projects/envs)gcloud config configurations create staginggcloud config configurations activate staging```## Authentication```bash# Interactive login (local dev)gcloud auth login# Application Default Credentials (SDK/code usage)gcloud auth application-default login# Service account keygcloud auth activate-service-account SA_EMAIL --key-file=key.json# Impersonate a service accountgcloud [COMMAND] --impersonate-service-account=SA_EMAIL# Check who you're authenticated asgcloud auth list```## Output Formatting```bash--format=json # Machine-readable--format=yaml # Human-readable structured--format=table(col1,col2) # Custom table columns--format="value(name)" # Single field extraction# Filtering--filter="status=RUNNING"--filter="name ~ '^prod-'" # regex match--sort-by=createTime--limit=10```## Useful Global Flags| Flag | Purpose ||------|---------|| `--project=PROJECT_ID` | Override active project || `--region=REGION` | Override default region || `--zone=ZONE` | Override default zone || `--quiet` / `-q` | Skip confirmation prompts || `--verbosity=debug` | Debug output || `--dry-run` | Preview without executing (where supported) |## Service Commands ReferenceFor service-specific commands (Compute Engine, Cloud Run, GKE, Cloud Storage, IAM, App Engine, Cloud Functions, Cloud SQL, BigQuery, Pub/Sub, Artifact Registry), see [references/services.md](references/services.md).## Common Patterns### Get resource details```bashgcloud RESOURCE describe RESOURCE_NAME [--region/--zone]```### Wait for long-running operations```bash# Most commands support --async; poll with:gcloud compute operations wait OPERATION_ID```### Use `--format=value()` in scripts```bashPROJECT=$(gcloud config get-value project)IMAGE_DIGEST=$(gcloud container images describe gcr.io/$PROJECT/app:latest --format="value(image_summary.digest)")```### IAM policy binding pattern```bashgcloud RESOURCE add-iam-policy-binding RESOURCE_ID \ --member="serviceAccount:SA@PROJECT.iam.gserviceaccount.com" \ --role="roles/ROLE"```

Frequently asked questions