OpenShift Expert
Expert knowledge base for OpenShift Container Platform architecture, operations, and deployment patterns. Contains 3,820 justified beliefs covering the operator-driven platform model, networking, virtualization, security, edge deployments, and 50+ subsystems.
What is this?
This is an External Epistemic Memory (EEM) — a model-agnostic knowledge base that any LLM can use via the reasons CLI or tool calling. Unlike a LoRA or fine-tune, this knowledge is not baked into model weights. It is external, inspectable, correctable, and works with any model.
Stats
| Metric | Value |
|---|
| Total beliefs | 3,820 |
| Status | 3,820 IN / 0 OUT |
| Premises (observations) | 3,670 |
| Derived (justified conclusions) | 150 |
| Nogoods (contradictions) | 0 |
| Retraction rate | 0% |
| Max derivation depth | 7 |
Top Topics
| Topic | Beliefs |
|---|
| ocp | 560 |
| default | 312 |
| api | 224 |
| cluster | 192 |
| operator | 192 |
| openshift | 159 |
| namespace | 124 |
| node | 120 |
| hcp | 110 |
| config | 108 |
| network | 99 |
| image | 91 |
| virt | 91 |
| install | 85 |
| supported | 74 |
| policy | 72 |
Domain Coverage
- OCP Core Platform: operator-driven immutable model, cluster versioning, install-time constraints, platform topology variants (511 beliefs)
- Hosted Control Planes (HCP): multi-tenant control planes, NodePool management, hosted cluster lifecycle (107 beliefs)
- CLI & API:
oc commands, API resources, resource management, debugging (63 beliefs)
- OpenShift Virtualization (CNV): VM lifecycle, live migration, virtual networking, storage for VMs (82 beliefs)
- Networking — OVN-Kubernetes: default CNI, pod networking, service routing, hybrid overlay (27 beliefs)
- Networking — Policy & Firewalls: network policies, egress firewalls, admin network policies, user-defined networks (40 beliefs)
- Networking — SR-IOV: hardware-accelerated networking, VF management, node policies (28 beliefs)
- Networking — Ingress & Routes: HAProxy ingress controller, route configuration, TLS termination (34 beliefs)
- Networking — IPsec & Encryption: IPsec tunnel configuration, node-to-node encryption (12 beliefs)
- Operators & OLM: Operator Lifecycle Manager, OperatorHub, File-Based Catalogs, bundle management (87 beliefs)
- Etcd: cluster database, backup/restore, performance tuning, defragmentation (37 beliefs)
- Security — SCCs & RBAC: Security Context Constraints, role-based access control, project isolation (28 beliefs)
- Security — OAuth & Authentication: OAuth server, identity providers, token management (24 beliefs)
- Security — Webhook Admission: validating/mutating webhooks, enforcement model (16 beliefs)
- Builds & Images: S2I builds, Shipwright, image streams, image registry, samples operator (70 beliefs)
- CI/CD & GitOps: Jenkins pipelines, OpenShift GitOps (ArgoCD), deployment strategies (36 beliefs)
- Edge — ZTP & SNO: Zero Touch Provisioning, Single Node OpenShift, TALM upgrades, vDU workloads (53 beliefs)
- Node Management: MachineConfig Operator, machine sets, autoscaling, health checks, tuned profiles (57 beliefs)
- Observability: monitoring stack, logging, Network Observability (NetObserv), flow collection (54 beliefs)
- Console: web console, console plugins, developer/admin perspectives (43 beliefs)
- Storage: CSI drivers, dynamic provisioning, persistent volumes (10 beliefs)
- Backup & DR: OADP, etcd backup, cluster restore (13 beliefs)
- Platform Variants: Nutanix, IBM Cloud, IBM Power, bare metal, ROSA, OCI (101 beliefs)
- RHCOS & Node OS: Red Hat CoreOS, immutable OS, ignition, ostree updates (13 beliefs)
- Additional topics: NMState, MetalLB, templates, jobs, probes, ConfigMaps, HPA, PDB, scheduler, RHOSO, RHOAI (remaining beliefs)
How to Use
Import into a reasons database
1reasons init
2reasons import-json network.json
Query beliefs
1reasons search "operator lifecycle"
2reasons explain operator-driven-immutable-platform-model
3reasons show install-time-irreversible-constraints
Use as an MCP tool or CLI
Any LLM agent that can call reasons search, reasons show, and reasons explain can use this knowledge base. The agent does not need to be told it is an expert — the knowledge base speaks for itself.
Key Beliefs
| Node | Summary |
|---|
operator-driven-immutable-platform-model | The entire OpenShift platform operates through an operator-driven model with immutable infrastructure |
install-time-irreversible-constraints | Multiple cluster-defining decisions are permanently locked at install time and cannot be changed |
observability-follows-platform-enablement-pattern | OpenShift observability is a specific instance of the platform-wide multi-component enablement pattern |
edge-fleet-management-pipeline | Edge cluster lifecycle follows a managed pipeline: ZTP + GitOps provisions, TALM orchestrates upgrades |
multi-cni-network-architecture | OpenShift uses a layered CNI architecture: OVN-Kubernetes primary, Multus for additional networks |
webhook-admission-enforcement-model | Webhook admission follows a constrained enforcement model with TLS requirements |
node-config-immutable-delivery-pipeline | Node configuration follows an immutable delivery pipeline via MachineConfig Operator |
complete-software-delivery-from-build-to-console | OpenShift provides a unified software delivery model covering application and operator lifecycles |
platform-model-with-topology-variants | Single operator-driven platform model recognizing two sanctioned topology variants |
consoleplugin-compat-level-1 | ConsolePlugin has Compatibility Level 1: stable for at least 12 months or 3 minor releases |
Sources
Built from exploration of OpenShift Container Platform documentation, API references, and operational experience across networking, virtualization, security, edge, and platform management subsystems.
Files
| File | Description |
|---|
network.json | Full belief network (machine-readable, portable) |
reasons.db | SQLite database (gitignored, regenerate with reasons import-json network.json) |
CLAUDE.md | Agent instructions for using this knowledge base |
entries/ | 904 exploration entries — raw observations behind the premises |
Quality
- All 3,820 beliefs are IN (none retracted)
- 3,670 premises grounded in direct observations of OpenShift behavior and documentation
- 150 derived beliefs justified from premises via SL justifications
- 0 nogoods — no contradictions detected
- Max derivation depth of 7, indicating multi-step reasoning chains
- Built and reviewed using ftl-reasons derive and review-beliefs pipeline
Limitations
- Focused on OpenShift Container Platform as of mid-2026
- OpenShift evolves across minor releases; some beliefs may become stale
- Heavier coverage of networking, virtualization, and operators than storage or serverless
- Platform variant coverage (Nutanix, IBM, bare metal) varies in depth
- No ATMS or assumption-based beliefs (single-context TMS only)
Authors
- Ben Thomasson (@benthomasson)
License
mit
