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Architecture

Shoulders follows a multi-layered approach:

1. Cluster Layer (1-cluster/)​

Creates a Kubernetes cluster using vind (vCluster in Docker) for local development. Vind provides automatic LoadBalancer support, sleep/wake capability and pull-through image caching.

2. Addons Layer (2-addons/)​

Installs platform components using FluxCD for GitOps-based deployment. Flux Kustomizations enforce install order: helm repositories → namespaces → helm releases → crossplane → gateway → dex → headlamp.

  • Helm Repositories & Releases — Cilium, Crossplane, CloudNativePG, Strimzi, Kyverno, Prometheus stack, Loki, Tempo, Alloy, Dex, Headlamp, Trivy Operator, Falco, Policy Reporter.
  • Crossplane Abstractions — XRDs, Compositions and Functions defining the developer-facing API.
  • Gateway — Gateway API CRDs and a Cilium-backed Gateway resource for HTTP routing.
  • Headlamp — developer portal with the Shoulders plugin loaded via pluginsManager.

3. User Space (3-user-space/)​

Developer-facing resources where teams provision applications and infrastructure using high-level abstractions. team-a/ contains canonical examples.

4. Interfaces​

  • CLI (shoulders-cli/) — bootstrap, workspaces, apps, logs, dashboards.
  • MCP Server (shoulders-mcp-server/) — same operations for AI assistants via MCP.
  • Developer Portal (shoulders-portal-plugin/) — self-service UI inside Headlamp.