# Managing Oracle Oci

> Use when working with Oracle Oci — oracle Cloud Infrastructure management via the OCI CLI. Covers compute instances, networking, block storage, databases, and IAM. Use when managing Oracle Cloud resources, checking instance health, or reviewing OCI infrastructure.

- Skill: `cloudthinker-ai/managing-oracle-oci` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add cloudthinker-ai/managing-oracle-oci`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/cloudthinker-ai/managing-oracle-oci/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: DevOps & Infra
- Author: cloudthinker-ai (https://skillmd.com/u/cloudthinker-ai)
- Updated: 2026-09-08
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/cloudthinker-ai/managing-oracle-oci

---


# Managing Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Manage Oracle Cloud Infrastructure using the `oci` CLI.

## MANDATORY: Discovery-First Pattern

**Always discover available resources before performing analysis.**

### Phase 1: Discovery

```bash
#!/bin/bash

COMPARTMENT_ID="${OCI_COMPARTMENT_ID:?Set OCI_COMPARTMENT_ID}"

echo "=== Compute Instances ==="
oci compute instance list --compartment-id "$COMPARTMENT_ID" \
    --query 'data[*].{id:id,name:"display-name",state:"lifecycle-state",shape:shape,region:region}' \
    --output table 2>/dev/null | head -30

echo ""
echo "=== VCNs ==="
oci network vcn list --compartment-id "$COMPARTMENT_ID" \
    --query 'data[*].{id:id,name:"display-name",cidr:"cidr-block",state:"lifecycle-state"}' \
    --output table 2>/dev/null | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== Block Volumes ==="
oci bv volume list --compartment-id "$COMPARTMENT_ID" \
    --query 'data[*].{id:id,name:"display-name",size:"size-in-gbs",state:"lifecycle-state"}' \
    --output table 2>/dev/null | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== DB Systems ==="
oci db system list --compartment-id "$COMPARTMENT_ID" \
    --query 'data[*].{id:id,name:"display-name",shape:shape,state:"lifecycle-state"}' \
    --output table 2>/dev/null | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Autonomous Databases ==="
oci db autonomous-database list --compartment-id "$COMPARTMENT_ID" \
    --query 'data[*].{id:id,name:"display-name",cpus:"cpu-core-count",storage:"data-storage-size-in-tbs",state:"lifecycle-state"}' \
    --output table 2>/dev/null | head -10
```

### Phase 2: Analysis

```bash
#!/bin/bash

COMPARTMENT_ID="${OCI_COMPARTMENT_ID:?Set OCI_COMPARTMENT_ID}"
INSTANCE_ID="${1:?Instance OCID required}"

echo "=== Instance Details ==="
oci compute instance get --instance-id "$INSTANCE_ID" \
    --query 'data.{name:"display-name",state:"lifecycle-state",shape:shape,ocpus:"shape-config"."ocpus",memory:"shape-config"."memory-in-gbs",created:"time-created"}' \
    --output table 2>/dev/null

echo ""
echo "=== VNIC Attachments ==="
oci compute vnic-attachment list --compartment-id "$COMPARTMENT_ID" --instance-id "$INSTANCE_ID" \
    --query 'data[*].{id:"vnic-id",state:"lifecycle-state",subnet:"subnet-id"}' \
    --output table 2>/dev/null | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Boot Volume ==="
oci compute boot-volume-attachment list --compartment-id "$COMPARTMENT_ID" \
    --availability-domain "$(oci compute instance get --instance-id "$INSTANCE_ID" --query 'data."availability-domain"' --raw-output)" \
    --instance-id "$INSTANCE_ID" \
    --query 'data[*].{id:"boot-volume-id",state:"lifecycle-state"}' \
    --output table 2>/dev/null

echo ""
echo "=== Monitoring Metrics ==="
oci monitoring metric-data summarize-metrics-data --compartment-id "$COMPARTMENT_ID" \
    --namespace oci_computeagent \
    --query-text "CpuUtilization[1h]{resourceId = \"$INSTANCE_ID\"}.mean()" \
    --query 'data[*].{name:name,timestamps:"aggregated-datapoints"[*].timestamp,values:"aggregated-datapoints"[*].value}' \
    --output table 2>/dev/null | head -20
```

## Output Format

```
ID                    NAME       STATE     SHAPE         REGION
ocid1.instance.oc1    web-01     RUNNING   VM.Standard3  us-ashburn-1
ocid1.instance.oc2    db-01      RUNNING   VM.Standard3  us-ashburn-1
```

## Safety Rules
- Use read-only commands: `list`, `get`, `summarize-metrics-data`
- Never run `terminate`, `delete`, `update` without explicit user confirmation
- Always pass `--compartment-id` for resource listing
- Use `--query` and `--output table` for clean output
- Limit output with `| head -N` to stay under 50 lines

## Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. **NEVER assume resource names** — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. **NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions** — verify against the service documentation or `--help` output.
3. **NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions** — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. **ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain** — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. **ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully** — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

## Counter-Rationalizations

| Shortcut | Counter | Why |
|----------|---------|-----|
| "I'll skip discovery and check known resources" | Always run Phase 1 discovery first | Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors |
| "The user only asked for a quick check" | Follow the full discovery → analysis flow | Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures |
| "Default configuration is probably fine" | Audit configuration explicitly | Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled |
| "Metrics aren't needed for this" | Always check relevant metrics when available | API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues |
| "I don't have access to that" | Try the command and report the actual error | Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative |