What is the most useful script in your team's tools/ folder? Let me know in the comments below.
Here is why adding a dedicated tools/ directory to your platform repository is the highest leverage, lowest effort change you can make this quarter. It is not a dumping ground. It is a curated, version-controlled, executable collection of scripts, binaries, and utilities designed to operate your platform.
Now, even the most stressed engineer during an incident can run:
Every platform engineering team starts the same way. You build a beautiful internal developer portal (IDP), write some Terraform modules, and set up a few CI pipelines. But six months later, you hit the wall .
April 14, 2026 Reading Time: 4 minutes
# tools/find-orphaned-volumes #!/bin/bash # Lists PVCs not attached to a running pod kubectl get pvc --all-namespaces -o json | jq -r '.items[] | select(.status.phase=="Lost") | .metadata.name' Stop asking devs to install 14 different CLIs.
# tools/db-failover #!/bin/bash # Usage: Run when primary DB pod is stuck in CrashLoopBackoff echo "Initiating failover for database..." kubectl exec -it db-backup-pod -- ./restore-latest Keep the platform tidy without remembering complex jq queries.
What is the most useful script in your team's tools/ folder? Let me know in the comments below.
Here is why adding a dedicated tools/ directory to your platform repository is the highest leverage, lowest effort change you can make this quarter. It is not a dumping ground. It is a curated, version-controlled, executable collection of scripts, binaries, and utilities designed to operate your platform. platform tools folder
Now, even the most stressed engineer during an incident can run: What is the most useful script in your team's tools/ folder
Every platform engineering team starts the same way. You build a beautiful internal developer portal (IDP), write some Terraform modules, and set up a few CI pipelines. But six months later, you hit the wall . It is not a dumping ground
April 14, 2026 Reading Time: 4 minutes
# tools/find-orphaned-volumes #!/bin/bash # Lists PVCs not attached to a running pod kubectl get pvc --all-namespaces -o json | jq -r '.items[] | select(.status.phase=="Lost") | .metadata.name' Stop asking devs to install 14 different CLIs.
# tools/db-failover #!/bin/bash # Usage: Run when primary DB pod is stuck in CrashLoopBackoff echo "Initiating failover for database..." kubectl exec -it db-backup-pod -- ./restore-latest Keep the platform tidy without remembering complex jq queries.