gcp-architecture
Google Cloud Platform architecture patterns and best practices. Use when designing, deploying, or reviewing GCP infrastructure including GKE, Cloud Run, Cloud Functions, BigQuery, and IAM.
Best use case
gcp-architecture is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.
Google Cloud Platform architecture patterns and best practices. Use when designing, deploying, or reviewing GCP infrastructure including GKE, Cloud Run, Cloud Functions, BigQuery, and IAM.
Teams using gcp-architecture should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.
When to use this skill
- You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.
When not to use this skill
- You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
- You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.
Installation
Claude Code / Cursor / Codex
Manual Installation
- Download SKILL.md from GitHub
- Place it in
.claude/skills/gcp-architecture/SKILL.mdinside your project - Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill
How gcp-architecture Compares
| Feature / Agent | gcp-architecture | Standard Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | Not specified | Limited / Varies |
| Context Awareness | High | Baseline |
| Installation Complexity | Unknown | N/A |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this skill do?
Google Cloud Platform architecture patterns and best practices. Use when designing, deploying, or reviewing GCP infrastructure including GKE, Cloud Run, Cloud Functions, BigQuery, and IAM.
Where can I find the source code?
You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.
SKILL.md Source
# Google Cloud Platform Architecture
Comprehensive guide for building secure, scalable infrastructure on Google Cloud Platform.
## When to Use
- Designing GCP architecture for new projects
- Deploying applications to GCP services
- Setting up networking (VPC, firewall rules)
- Configuring IAM policies and service accounts
- Working with GKE (Google Kubernetes Engine)
- Optimizing costs and performance
## Core Services Overview
### Compute
| Service | Use Case | Key Features |
|---------|----------|--------------|
| Compute Engine | Virtual machines | Full control, custom images |
| GKE | Managed Kubernetes | Autopilot mode, node auto-provisioning |
| Cloud Run | Serverless containers | Scale to zero, any container |
| Cloud Functions | Serverless functions | Event-driven, 2nd gen |
| App Engine | PaaS | Standard/Flexible environments |
### Storage
| Service | Use Case | Key Features |
|---------|----------|--------------|
| Cloud Storage | Object storage | Multi-regional, lifecycle |
| Persistent Disk | Block storage (GCE) | SSD/HDD, snapshots |
| Filestore | Managed NFS | High performance |
| Cloud SQL | Managed SQL | MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server |
| Firestore | NoSQL document | Serverless, realtime |
| BigQuery | Data warehouse | Serverless, petabyte-scale |
| Cloud Spanner | Global SQL | Horizontal scaling |
| Memorystore | Managed Redis | In-memory cache |
### Networking
| Service | Use Case | Key Features |
|---------|----------|--------------|
| VPC | Virtual network | Global, shared VPC |
| Cloud Load Balancing | Global LB | Layer 4/7, anycast IPs |
| Cloud CDN | Content delivery | Edge caching |
| Cloud DNS | DNS management | 100% SLA |
| Cloud NAT | Outbound NAT | No external IPs needed |
## VPC Architecture
### Shared VPC Pattern
```
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Host Project (Shared VPC) │
│ │
│ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ VPC Network: shared-vpc │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ ┌─────────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ Subnet: prod-app │ │ Subnet: prod-data │ │ │
│ │ │ 10.0.0.0/20 │ │ 10.0.16.0/20 │ │ │
│ │ │ us-central1 │ │ us-central1 │ │ │
│ │ └─────────────────────┘ └─────────────────────┘ │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ ┌─────────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ Subnet: staging-app │ │ Subnet: staging-data│ │ │
│ │ │ 10.1.0.0/20 │ │ 10.1.16.0/20 │ │ │
│ │ │ us-central1 │ │ us-central1 │ │ │
│ │ └─────────────────────┘ └─────────────────────┘ │ │
│ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│ │
▼ ▼
┌─────────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────────┐
│ Service Project A │ │ Service Project B │
│ (Production) │ │ (Staging) │
│ │ │ │
│ GKE, Cloud Run │ │ GKE, Cloud Run │
│ Cloud SQL │ │ Cloud SQL │
└─────────────────────┘ └─────────────────────┘
```
### Terraform VPC
```hcl
# VPC Network
resource "google_compute_network" "main" {
name = "${var.project_id}-vpc"
auto_create_subnetworks = false
routing_mode = "GLOBAL"
}
# Subnets
resource "google_compute_subnetwork" "app" {
name = "${var.project_id}-app-subnet"
ip_cidr_range = "10.0.0.0/20"
region = var.region
network = google_compute_network.main.id
secondary_ip_range {
range_name = "pods"
ip_cidr_range = "10.100.0.0/16"
}
secondary_ip_range {
range_name = "services"
ip_cidr_range = "10.200.0.0/20"
}
private_ip_google_access = true
log_config {
aggregation_interval = "INTERVAL_5_SEC"
flow_sampling = 0.5
metadata = "INCLUDE_ALL_METADATA"
}
}
# Cloud NAT
resource "google_compute_router" "main" {
name = "${var.project_id}-router"
region = var.region
network = google_compute_network.main.id
}
resource "google_compute_router_nat" "main" {
name = "${var.project_id}-nat"
router = google_compute_router.main.name
region = var.region
nat_ip_allocate_option = "AUTO_ONLY"
source_subnetwork_ip_ranges_to_nat = "ALL_SUBNETWORKS_ALL_IP_RANGES"
log_config {
enable = true
filter = "ERRORS_ONLY"
}
}
# Firewall Rules
resource "google_compute_firewall" "allow_internal" {
name = "${var.project_id}-allow-internal"
network = google_compute_network.main.name
allow {
protocol = "tcp"
}
allow {
protocol = "udp"
}
allow {
protocol = "icmp"
}
source_ranges = ["10.0.0.0/8"]
}
resource "google_compute_firewall" "allow_health_checks" {
name = "${var.project_id}-allow-health-checks"
network = google_compute_network.main.name
allow {
protocol = "tcp"
}
source_ranges = [
"35.191.0.0/16", # GCP Health Checks
"130.211.0.0/22", # GCP Health Checks
]
target_tags = ["allow-health-checks"]
}
```
## IAM & Service Accounts
### Service Account Best Practices
```hcl
# Application Service Account
resource "google_service_account" "app" {
account_id = "${var.project_id}-app-sa"
display_name = "Application Service Account"
}
# Workload Identity for GKE
resource "google_service_account_iam_binding" "workload_identity" {
service_account_id = google_service_account.app.name
role = "roles/iam.workloadIdentityUser"
members = [
"serviceAccount:${var.project_id}.svc.id.goog[${var.namespace}/${var.k8s_service_account}]"
]
}
# Grant specific permissions
resource "google_project_iam_member" "app_storage" {
project = var.project_id
role = "roles/storage.objectUser"
member = "serviceAccount:${google_service_account.app.email}"
condition {
title = "Only app bucket"
expression = "resource.name.startsWith('projects/_/buckets/${var.project_id}-app-data')"
}
}
resource "google_project_iam_member" "app_secretmanager" {
project = var.project_id
role = "roles/secretmanager.secretAccessor"
member = "serviceAccount:${google_service_account.app.email}"
}
resource "google_project_iam_member" "app_cloudsql" {
project = var.project_id
role = "roles/cloudsql.client"
member = "serviceAccount:${google_service_account.app.email}"
}
```
### Custom IAM Role
```hcl
resource "google_project_iam_custom_role" "app_deployer" {
role_id = "appDeployer"
title = "Application Deployer"
description = "Can deploy applications to Cloud Run and GKE"
permissions = [
"run.services.create",
"run.services.update",
"run.services.delete",
"run.services.get",
"container.deployments.create",
"container.deployments.update",
"container.services.create",
"container.services.update",
]
}
```
## GKE (Google Kubernetes Engine)
### GKE Autopilot Cluster
```hcl
resource "google_container_cluster" "main" {
name = "${var.project_id}-gke"
location = var.region
# Autopilot mode
enable_autopilot = true
network = google_compute_network.main.name
subnetwork = google_compute_subnetwork.app.name
ip_allocation_policy {
cluster_secondary_range_name = "pods"
services_secondary_range_name = "services"
}
private_cluster_config {
enable_private_nodes = true
enable_private_endpoint = false
master_ipv4_cidr_block = "172.16.0.0/28"
}
master_authorized_networks_config {
cidr_blocks {
cidr_block = var.authorized_network
display_name = "Authorized Network"
}
}
release_channel {
channel = "REGULAR"
}
workload_identity_config {
workload_pool = "${var.project_id}.svc.id.goog"
}
# Security
binary_authorization {
evaluation_mode = "PROJECT_SINGLETON_POLICY_ENFORCE"
}
deletion_protection = var.environment == "prod"
}
```
### GKE Standard Cluster
```hcl
resource "google_container_cluster" "standard" {
name = "${var.project_id}-gke-standard"
location = var.region
# Remove default node pool
remove_default_node_pool = true
initial_node_count = 1
network = google_compute_network.main.name
subnetwork = google_compute_subnetwork.app.name
ip_allocation_policy {
cluster_secondary_range_name = "pods"
services_secondary_range_name = "services"
}
workload_identity_config {
workload_pool = "${var.project_id}.svc.id.goog"
}
addons_config {
http_load_balancing {
disabled = false
}
horizontal_pod_autoscaling {
disabled = false
}
gce_persistent_disk_csi_driver_config {
enabled = true
}
}
}
resource "google_container_node_pool" "primary" {
name = "primary-pool"
cluster = google_container_cluster.standard.name
location = var.region
node_count = var.environment == "prod" ? 3 : 1
autoscaling {
min_node_count = var.environment == "prod" ? 3 : 1
max_node_count = 10
}
management {
auto_repair = true
auto_upgrade = true
}
node_config {
machine_type = "e2-standard-4"
disk_size_gb = 100
disk_type = "pd-ssd"
oauth_scopes = [
"https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform"
]
service_account = google_service_account.gke_nodes.email
workload_metadata_config {
mode = "GKE_METADATA"
}
shielded_instance_config {
enable_secure_boot = true
enable_integrity_monitoring = true
}
labels = {
environment = var.environment
}
tags = ["gke-node", var.environment]
}
}
```
## Cloud Run
### Cloud Run Service
```hcl
resource "google_cloud_run_v2_service" "app" {
name = "${var.project_id}-app"
location = var.region
ingress = "INGRESS_TRAFFIC_INTERNAL_LOAD_BALANCER"
template {
service_account = google_service_account.app.email
scaling {
min_instance_count = var.environment == "prod" ? 1 : 0
max_instance_count = 100
}
containers {
image = "${var.region}-docker.pkg.dev/${var.project_id}/app/myapp:${var.image_tag}"
ports {
container_port = 8080
}
resources {
limits = {
cpu = "2"
memory = "1Gi"
}
cpu_idle = true # Scale to zero
}
env {
name = "PROJECT_ID"
value = var.project_id
}
env {
name = "DATABASE_URL"
value_source {
secret_key_ref {
secret = google_secret_manager_secret.db_url.secret_id
version = "latest"
}
}
}
startup_probe {
http_get {
path = "/health"
}
initial_delay_seconds = 10
period_seconds = 3
failure_threshold = 3
}
liveness_probe {
http_get {
path = "/health"
}
period_seconds = 30
failure_threshold = 3
}
}
vpc_access {
network_interfaces {
network = google_compute_network.main.name
subnetwork = google_compute_subnetwork.app.name
}
egress = "PRIVATE_RANGES_ONLY"
}
}
traffic {
type = "TRAFFIC_TARGET_ALLOCATION_TYPE_LATEST"
percent = 100
}
}
# IAM - Allow unauthenticated (public API)
resource "google_cloud_run_v2_service_iam_member" "public" {
count = var.public_access ? 1 : 0
location = google_cloud_run_v2_service.app.location
name = google_cloud_run_v2_service.app.name
role = "roles/run.invoker"
member = "allUsers"
}
# Custom domain
resource "google_cloud_run_domain_mapping" "app" {
location = var.region
name = var.domain
metadata {
namespace = var.project_id
}
spec {
route_name = google_cloud_run_v2_service.app.name
}
}
```
## Cloud SQL
### PostgreSQL Instance
```hcl
resource "google_sql_database_instance" "main" {
name = "${var.project_id}-postgres"
database_version = "POSTGRES_15"
region = var.region
settings {
tier = var.environment == "prod" ? "db-custom-4-16384" : "db-f1-micro"
availability_type = var.environment == "prod" ? "REGIONAL" : "ZONAL"
disk_size = 100
disk_type = "PD_SSD"
disk_autoresize = true
backup_configuration {
enabled = true
start_time = "03:00"
point_in_time_recovery_enabled = var.environment == "prod"
transaction_log_retention_days = 7
backup_retention_settings {
retained_backups = var.environment == "prod" ? 30 : 7
}
}
ip_configuration {
ipv4_enabled = false
private_network = google_compute_network.main.id
require_ssl = true
}
database_flags {
name = "log_checkpoints"
value = "on"
}
database_flags {
name = "log_connections"
value = "on"
}
database_flags {
name = "log_disconnections"
value = "on"
}
maintenance_window {
day = 7 # Sunday
hour = 3
update_track = "stable"
}
insights_config {
query_insights_enabled = true
query_string_length = 1024
record_application_tags = true
record_client_address = true
}
}
deletion_protection = var.environment == "prod"
}
resource "google_sql_database" "main" {
name = var.database_name
instance = google_sql_database_instance.main.name
}
resource "google_sql_user" "app" {
name = "app"
instance = google_sql_database_instance.main.name
password = random_password.db.result
}
```
## Cloud Storage
### Secure Bucket
```hcl
resource "google_storage_bucket" "data" {
name = "${var.project_id}-data"
location = var.region
force_destroy = var.environment != "prod"
uniform_bucket_level_access = true
versioning {
enabled = true
}
encryption {
default_kms_key_name = google_kms_crypto_key.storage.id
}
lifecycle_rule {
condition {
age = 90
}
action {
type = "SetStorageClass"
storage_class = "NEARLINE"
}
}
lifecycle_rule {
condition {
age = 365
}
action {
type = "SetStorageClass"
storage_class = "COLDLINE"
}
}
lifecycle_rule {
condition {
num_newer_versions = 3
}
action {
type = "Delete"
}
}
cors {
origin = ["https://${var.domain}"]
method = ["GET", "PUT", "POST"]
response_header = ["*"]
max_age_seconds = 3600
}
labels = local.common_labels
}
# Prevent public access
resource "google_storage_bucket_iam_binding" "prevent_public" {
bucket = google_storage_bucket.data.name
role = "roles/storage.objectViewer"
members = [
"serviceAccount:${google_service_account.app.email}",
]
}
```
## Cost Optimization
### Committed Use Discounts
| Commitment | Discount |
|------------|----------|
| 1-year CUD | 37% |
| 3-year CUD | 55% |
| Spot VMs | 60-91% |
### Budget Alerts
```hcl
resource "google_billing_budget" "main" {
billing_account = var.billing_account_id
display_name = "${var.project_id} Budget"
budget_filter {
projects = ["projects/${var.project_id}"]
}
amount {
specified_amount {
currency_code = "USD"
units = var.monthly_budget
}
}
threshold_rules {
threshold_percent = 0.5
spend_basis = "CURRENT_SPEND"
}
threshold_rules {
threshold_percent = 0.8
spend_basis = "CURRENT_SPEND"
}
threshold_rules {
threshold_percent = 1.0
spend_basis = "FORECASTED_SPEND"
}
all_updates_rule {
pubsub_topic = google_pubsub_topic.budget_alerts.id
}
}
```
## CLI Reference
```bash
# Auth
gcloud auth login
gcloud auth application-default login
gcloud config set project PROJECT_ID
# Compute
gcloud compute instances list
gcloud compute instances start INSTANCE
gcloud compute ssh INSTANCE --zone ZONE
# GKE
gcloud container clusters get-credentials CLUSTER --region REGION
gcloud container clusters list
# Cloud Run
gcloud run services list
gcloud run deploy SERVICE --image IMAGE --region REGION
gcloud run services update-traffic SERVICE --to-latest
# Cloud SQL
gcloud sql instances list
gcloud sql connect INSTANCE --user USER
# Storage
gsutil ls gs://BUCKET/
gsutil cp FILE gs://BUCKET/
gsutil rsync -r ./folder gs://BUCKET/folder
# Secrets
gcloud secrets list
gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret SECRET_NAME
# Logs
gcloud logging read "resource.type=cloud_run_revision" --limit 100
```
## Security Checklist
- [ ] VPC Service Controls enabled
- [ ] Private Google Access enabled
- [ ] Cloud NAT for outbound traffic
- [ ] Workload Identity for GKE
- [ ] Binary Authorization enabled
- [ ] Cloud Armor for DDoS protection
- [ ] Secret Manager for credentials
- [ ] Cloud Audit Logs enabled
- [ ] Security Command Center enabled
## Integration
Works with:
- `/terraform` - GCP provider configuration
- `/k8s` - GKE deployments
- `/devops` - GCP deployment pipelines
- `/security` - GCP security reviewRelated Skills
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