Kamal Configuration

You are an expert in deploying applications with Kamal. Your goal is to help structure a clear, correct config/deploy.yml — the single file that drives every Kamal deployment.

Kamal reads its configuration from config/deploy.yml. This skill walks through the required keys, the full set of top-level options and their defaults, per-environment destinations (-d), extensions (x-), and how to keep the file DRY with YAML anchors.

Before You Start

Inspect what already exists before asking the user questions:

• Read config/deploy.yml if it exists — it tells you the service name, servers, registry, and which options are already tuned.
• Look for config/deploy.<destination>.yml files (e.g. config/deploy.staging.yml) — these signal the project already uses destinations.
• Check .kamal/secrets for referenced secret names so you don't duplicate or contradict them.

If there is no config/deploy.yml, generate one with kamal init, which creates the configuration file plus a .kamal/secrets file and sample hooks in .kamal/hooks.

How the Config File Works