Creating Tasks

Task Directory Structure

Each task is a directory inside the lab root with at least two characters whose name begins with a digit. Tasks are read in directory-name order; use zero-padded prefixes such as 01- to make that order clear.

01-exploring-pods/
├── assignment.md        # Task instructions with YAML frontmatter
├── setup-ubuntu-1       # Runs before learner starts the task
├── check-ubuntu-1       # Validates learner's work (exit 0 = pass)
└── solve-ubuntu-1       # Provides the solution

• •Recommended: use two-digit numeric prefixes such as 01-, 02-, and 03-.
• •The name after the prefix is descriptive but not shown to learners — only the title in frontmatter is displayed
• •For labs with VMs, script files use {operation}-{vm-name} (for example, check-ubuntu-1).

assignment.md Format

The assignment.md file has two parts: a YAML frontmatter block (between --- delimiters) and the task content in Markdown.

---
slug: "explore-pods"
id: "explore-pods"
type: "challenge"
title: "Explore Running Pods"
teaser: "Use kubectl to inspect pods in a running cluster."
notes:
  - type: text
    contents: |
      Kubernetes Pods are the smallest deployable units. In this task,
      you will explore pods running in your cluster.
tabs:
  - title: "Terminal"
    type: terminal
    hostname: ubuntu-1
  - title: "Kubernetes Dashboard"
    type: service
    id: "kubernetes-dashboard"
    hostname: ubuntu-1
    port: 8001
difficulty: "basic"
skip: false
---

List all pods in the default namespace:

```bash
kubectl get pods
```

You should see the pods created by the lab setup script. Note the STATUS column — all pods should show `Running`.

Describe one of the pods to see its details:

```bash
kubectl describe pod <pod-name>
```

Frontmatter Fields

The bundle parses these fields and requires delimited frontmatter when it builds a task. For ordinary labs, pov validate silently skips absent or unterminated frontmatter; when it can parse delimited YAML, it rejects service tabs without a valid id. Puzzle labs add their own constraints.

Tab Types

# Terminal tab
- title: "Server Terminal"
  type: terminal
  hostname: ubuntu-1

# Service tab
- title: "Dashboard"
  type: service
  id: dashboard
  hostname: ubuntu-1
  port: 8080

# Code editor tab
- title: "Config File"
  type: code
  hostname: ubuntu-1
  path: /etc/myapp/config.yaml

# AWS credentials tab
- title: "AWS Console"
  type: aws_credentials

# GCP credentials tab
- title: "GCP Console"
  type: gcp_credentials

# Azure credentials tab
- title: "Azure Portal"
  type: azure_credentials