What is a platform?

A platform orchestrates builds by invoking the lifecycle binary together with buildpacks and application source code to produce a runnable OCI image.

Examples

Examples of a platform might include:

  • A local CLI tool that uses buildpacks to create OCI images. One such tool is the Pack CLI
  • A plugin for a continuous integration service that uses buildpacks to create OCI images. One such plugin is the buildpacks plugin in Tekton
  • A cloud application platform that uses buildpacks to build source code before deployment. One such platform is kpack

API

The platform specification details what a platform does, and how it interacts with lifecycles and builders.

For the latest version of the Platform API, see releases on the spec repo.