When the database is down, you don't want to Google kubectl commands.
April 14, 2026 Reading Time: 4 minutes
# Platform Makefile .PHONY: tools/% tools/%: @echo "🔧 Running platform tool: $ " @./tools/$ clean-volumes: tools/clean-orphaned-volumes db-failover: tools/db-failover
Now, even the most stressed engineer during an incident can run:
What is the most useful script in your team's tools/ folder? Let me know in the comments below.
make db-failover Instead of: Finding the wiki, clicking three links, copying a broken command, and crying. My team used to spend 2 hours every Monday morning cleaning up stale environments. One person ran kubectl get ns , another ran a Python script locally, and a third manually deleted ECR images.
# 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.
The Secret Weapon of Platform Teams: Why You Need a tools/ Folder
