The building blocks of a CNB image extension

Examine vim extension

tree $PWD/samples/extensions/vim

You should see something akin to the following:

.
├── bin
│   ├── detect     <- similar to a buildpack ./bin/detect
│   ├── generate   <- similar to a buildpack ./bin/build
├── extension.toml <- similar to a buildpack buildpack.toml

• The extension.toml describes the extension, containing information such as its name, ID, and version, as well as the Buildpack API that it implements. Though extensions are not buildpacks, they are expected to conform to the Buildpack API except where noted. Consult the spec for further details.
• ./bin/detect is invoked during the detect phase. It analyzes application source code to determine if the extension is needed and contributes build plan entries (much like a buildpack ./bin/detect). Just like for buildpacks, a ./bin/detect that exits with code 0 is considered to have passed detection, and fails otherwise.
• ./bin/generate is invoked during the generate phase (a new lifecycle phase that happens after detect). It outputs either or both of build.Dockerfile or run.Dockerfile for extending the builder or run image, respectively.
  • Only a limited set of Dockerfile instructions is supported - consult the spec for further details.

We’ll take a closer look at the executables for the vim extension in the next step. For guidance around writing extensions and more advanced use cases, see here.

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