/vm-snapshot-list Skill

List virtual machine snapshots in OpenShift Virtualization. This read-only skill displays snapshot information including status, age, size, and recovery options.

Prerequisites

Required MCP Server: openshift-virtualization (OpenShift MCP Server)

Required MCP Tools:

resources_list (from openshift-virtualization) - List VirtualMachineSnapshot resources
resources_get (from openshift-virtualization) - Get snapshot details

Required Environment Variables:

KUBECONFIG - Path to Kubernetes configuration file with cluster access

Required Cluster Setup:

OpenShift cluster (>= 4.19)
OpenShift Virtualization operator installed
ServiceAccount with RBAC permissions to list VirtualMachineSnapshot resources

Prerequisite Verification

Before executing, verify MCP server availability:

Check MCP Server Configuration
- Verify openshift-virtualization exists in .mcp.json
- If missing → Report to user with setup instructions
Check Environment Variables
- Verify KUBECONFIG is set (check presence only, never expose value)
- If missing → Report to user

Human Notification Protocol:

When prerequisites fail:

❌ Cannot execute vm-snapshot-list: MCP server 'openshift-virtualization' is not available

📋 Setup Instructions:
1. Add openshift-virtualization to .mcp.json
2. Set KUBECONFIG environment variable
3. Restart Claude Code to reload MCP servers

🔗 Documentation: https://github.com/openshift/openshift-mcp-server

When to Use This Skill

Trigger this skill when:

User wants to list available snapshots for recovery
User wants to see snapshot status and age
User wants to verify snapshot existence before restore
User wants to identify old snapshots for deletion

User phrases that trigger this skill:

"List all snapshots for web-server VM"
"Show snapshots in namespace production"
"What snapshots exist?"
"Display VM snapshots"

Do NOT use this skill when:

User wants to create a snapshot → Use vm-snapshot-create skill
User wants to restore from snapshot → Use vm-snapshot-restore skill
User wants to delete snapshots → Use vm-snapshot-delete skill

Workflow

Step 1: Gather Information

Required Information from User:

Namespace - Namespace to list snapshots from
VM Name (Optional) - Filter snapshots by specific VM

If user doesn't provide namespace, ask for it.

Step 2: List Snapshots

MCP Tool: resources_list (from openshift-virtualization)

Parameters (with VM filter using label selector):

{
  "apiVersion": "snapshot.kubevirt.io/v1beta1",
  "kind": "VirtualMachineSnapshot",
  "namespace": "<namespace>",
  "labelSelector": "vm.kubevirt.io/name=<vm-name>"
}

Parameters (all snapshots in namespace):

{
  "apiVersion": "snapshot.kubevirt.io/v1beta1",
  "kind": "VirtualMachineSnapshot",
  "namespace": "<namespace>"
}

Note: The label selector vm.kubevirt.io/name=<vm-name> may not always exist. If no results are returned, fall back to listing all snapshots and filtering by checking spec.source.name field in the results.

Expected Output: List of VirtualMachineSnapshot resources

Parse each snapshot to extract:

metadata.name - Snapshot name
metadata.namespace - Namespace
metadata.creationTimestamp - Creation time
spec.source.name - VM name
status.phase - Status (InProgress, Succeeded, Failed)
status.readyToUse - Ready for restore (true/false)

Error Handling:

If namespace not found → Report error
If permission denied → Report RBAC error
If no snapshots found → Report "No snapshots found"

Step 3: Report Snapshot List

If snapshots found:

## VM Snapshots

**Namespace**: `<namespace>`
<if vm_name provided>
**VM**: `<vm-name>`
</if>

### Available Snapshots

| Snapshot Name | VM Name | Status | Created | Age | ReadyToUse |
|---------------|---------|--------|---------|-----|------------|
| `pre-upgrade-snapshot` | `database-01` | Succeeded ✓ | 2024-01-15 10:30 | 2 days | true |
| `backup-snapshot` | `database-01` | Succeeded ✓ | 2024-01-10 08:00 | 7 days | true |
| `test-snapshot` | `web-server` | Succeeded ✓ | 2024-01-14 14:20 | 3 days | true |

**Total Snapshots**: 3

---

### Snapshot Details

**Snapshot: `pre-upgrade-snapshot`**
- **VM**: `database-01`
- **Status**: Succeeded ✓
- **Created**: 2024-01-15 10:30:00 UTC
- **Age**: 2 days
- **Ready to Use**: true

**Snapshot: `backup-snapshot`**
- **VM**: `database-01`
- **Status**: Succeeded ✓
- **Created**: 2024-01-10 08:00:00 UTC
- **Age**: 7 days
- **Ready to Use**: true

**Snapshot: `test-snapshot`**
- **VM**: `web-server`
- **Status**: Succeeded ✓
- **Created**: 2024-01-14 14:20:00 UTC
- **Age**: 3 days
- **Ready to Use**: true

---

### Actions

**To restore from a snapshot:**

"Restore VM from snapshot "


**To delete a snapshot:**

"Delete snapshot "


**To create a new snapshot:**

"Create snapshot of VM "

If no snapshots found:

## VM Snapshots

**Namespace**: `<namespace>`
<if vm_name provided>
**VM**: `<vm-name>`
</if>

**No snapshots found.**

<if vm_name provided>
No snapshots exist for VM `<vm-name>` in namespace `<namespace>`.
</if>
<else>
No snapshots exist in namespace `<namespace>`.
</else>

**To create a snapshot:**

"Create snapshot of VM "

Common Issues

Issue 1: Permission Denied

Error: "Forbidden: User lacks permissions to list virtualmachinesnapshots"

Cause: Missing RBAC permissions for listing snapshots.

Solution:

Check permissions: oc auth can-i list virtualmachinesnapshots -n <namespace>
Contact cluster admin to grant list/get permissions for virtualmachinesnapshots
Try listing in a different namespace where you have permissions

Issue 2: No Snapshots Found

Error: "No snapshots exist in namespace <namespace>"

Cause: Namespace has no snapshots, or wrong namespace.

Solution:

Verify correct namespace name
List snapshots without VM filter to see all snapshots
Check other namespaces: Use namespaces_list to see available namespaces
Check if snapshots were recently deleted: Use events_list in namespace

Issue 3: Snapshot Shows Failed Status

Error: Snapshot listed but status.phase: Failed or readyToUse: false

Cause: Snapshot creation failed due to storage issues, hot-plugged volumes, or missing VolumeSnapshotClass.

Solution:

Get snapshot details: Use resources_get to check status.conditions for error messages
Check cluster events: Use events_list for snapshot-related errors
Common fixes:
- VolumeSnapshotClass missing: Contact cluster admin
- Hot-plugged volumes: Stop VM, persist volumes, recreate snapshot
- Failed permanently: Delete and recreate snapshot

Dependencies

Required MCP Servers

openshift-virtualization - OpenShift MCP server with kubevirt toolset

Required MCP Tools

resources_list (from openshift-virtualization) - List Kubernetes resources by type
- Used for: Listing VirtualMachineSnapshot resources
- Parameters: apiVersion, kind, namespace, labelSelector (optional)
- Source: https://github.com/openshift/openshift-mcp-server

Related Skills

vm-snapshot-create - Create VM snapshots
vm-snapshot-restore - Restore VMs from snapshots
vm-snapshot-delete - Delete VM snapshots
vm-inventory - List VMs before creating snapshots

Reference Documentation

Security Considerations

RBAC Enforcement: Requires list permissions for VirtualMachineSnapshot resources
Namespace Isolation: Only lists snapshots within specified namespace
Read-Only Operation: No modifications or destructive actions
KUBECONFIG Security: Credentials never exposed in output

Example Usage

Example 1: List Snapshots for Specific VM

User: "List all snapshots for database-01"

Agent: "Which namespace is database-01 in?"

User: "production"

Agent: [Invokes vm-snapshot-list skill]
       [Lists snapshots with VM filter]

## VM Snapshots

**Namespace**: `production`
**VM**: `database-01`

### Available Snapshots

| Snapshot Name | VM Name | Status | Created | Age | ReadyToUse |
|---------------|---------|--------|---------|-----|------------|
| `database-01-pre-upgrade` | `database-01` | Succeeded ✓ | 2024-01-15 10:30 | 2 hours | true |
| `database-01-daily-backup` | `database-01` | Succeeded ✓ | 2024-01-14 02:00 | 1 day | true |

**Total Snapshots**: 2

---

### Snapshot Details

**Snapshot: `database-01-pre-upgrade`**
- **VM**: `database-01`
- **Status**: Succeeded ✓
- **Created**: 2024-01-15 10:30:00 UTC
- **Age**: 2 hours
- **Ready to Use**: true

**Snapshot: `database-01-daily-backup`**
- **VM**: `database-01`
- **Status**: Succeeded ✓
- **Created**: 2024-01-14 02:00:00 UTC
- **Age**: 1 day
- **Ready to Use**: true

---

### Actions

**To restore from a snapshot:**
"Restore VM database-01 from snapshot <snapshot-name>"

**To delete a snapshot:**
"Delete snapshot <snapshot-name>"

**To create a new snapshot:**
"Create snapshot of VM database-01"

Example 2: List All Snapshots in Namespace

User: "Show me all snapshots in namespace production"

Agent: [Invokes vm-snapshot-list skill]
       [Lists all snapshots without VM filter]

## VM Snapshots

**Namespace**: `production`

### Available Snapshots

| Snapshot Name | VM Name | Status | Created | Age | ReadyToUse |
|---------------|---------|--------|---------|-----|------------|
| `database-01-pre-upgrade` | `database-01` | Succeeded ✓ | 2024-01-15 10:30 | 2 hours | true |
| `database-01-daily-backup` | `database-01` | Succeeded ✓ | 2024-01-14 02:00 | 1 day | true |
| `web-server-backup` | `web-server` | Succeeded ✓ | 2024-01-13 03:00 | 2 days | true |

**Total Snapshots**: 3

VMs with snapshots: `database-01` (2), `web-server` (1)

Example 3: No Snapshots Found

User: "List snapshots for test-vm"

Agent: "Which namespace is test-vm in?"

User: "dev"

Agent: [Invokes vm-snapshot-list skill]
       [Lists snapshots - none found]

## VM Snapshots

**Namespace**: `dev`
**VM**: `test-vm`

**No snapshots found.**

No snapshots exist for VM `test-vm` in namespace `dev`.

**To create a snapshot:**
"Create snapshot of VM test-vm"