wild-directory/ADDING-APPS.md

Adding Wild Cloud Apps

This guide is for contributors and maintainers who want to create or modify Wild Cloud apps. If you're looking to use existing apps, see README.md.

Overview

Wild Cloud apps are Kubernetes applications packaged as Kustomize configurations with standardized conventions for configuration management, secrets handling, and deployment.

Required Files

Each app directory must contain:

1. manifest.yaml - App metadata and configuration schema
2. kustomization.yaml - Kustomize configuration with Wild Cloud labels
3. Resource files - Kubernetes manifests (deployments, services, ingresses, etc.)

App Manifest (manifest.yaml)

The manifest defines the app's metadata, dependencies, configuration schema, and secret requirements.

This is the contents of an example manifest.yaml file for an app named "immich":

name: immich
description: Immich is a self-hosted photo and video backup solution that allows you to store, manage, and share your media files securely.
version: 1.0.0
icon: https://immich.app/assets/images/logo.png
requires:
  - name: redis
  - name: postgres
defaultConfig:
  serverImage: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-server:release
  mlImage: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-machine-learning:release
  timezone: UTC
  serverPort: 2283
  mlPort: 3003
  storage: 250Gi
  cacheStorage: 10Gi
  redisHostname: redis.redis.svc.cluster.local
  dbHostname: postgres.postgres.svc.cluster.local
  dbUsername: immich
  domain: immich.{{ .cloud.domain }}
requiredSecrets:
  - apps.immich.dbPassword
  - apps.postgres.password

Manifest Fields

Field	Required	Description
name	Yes	App identifier (must match directory name)
description	Yes	Brief app description shown in listings
version	Yes	App version (follow upstream versioning)
icon	No	URL to app icon for UI display
requires	No	List of dependency apps (e.g., postgres, redis)
defaultConfig	Yes	Default configuration values merged into operator's config.yaml
requiredSecrets	No	List of secrets in dotted-path format (e.g., apps.appname.dbPassword)

Important: All configuration keys referenced in templates (via {{ .apps.appname.key }}) must be defined in defaultConfig or be standard Wild Cloud variables.

Kustomization (kustomization.yaml)

The kustomization file defines how Kubernetes resources are built and applies Wild Cloud's standard labels.

apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Kustomization
namespace: immich
labels:
  - includeSelectors: true
    pairs:
      app: immich
      managedBy: kustomize
      partOf: wild-cloud
resources:
  - deployment-server.yaml
  - deployment-machine-learning.yaml
  - deployment-microservices.yaml
  - ingress.yaml
  - namespace.yaml
  - pvc.yaml
  - service.yaml
  - db-init-job.yaml

Kustomization Requirements

• Namespace: Must match the app name
• Labels: Must include standard Wild Cloud labels with includeSelectors: true
• Resources: List all Kubernetes manifest files

Labeling Strategy

Wild Cloud uses Kustomize's includeSelectors: true feature to automatically apply standard labels to all resources AND their selectors:

labels:
  - includeSelectors: true
    pairs:
      app: myapp              # App name (matches directory)
      managedBy: kustomize
      partOf: wild-cloud

This means individual resources can use simple, component-specific selectors like component: web, and Kustomize will automatically expand them to include all Wild Cloud labels.

Do NOT use Helm-style labels (app.kubernetes.io/name, app.kubernetes.io/instance). Use simple component labels (component: web, component: worker, etc.) instead.

Configuration Templates

Gomplate Templating

Resource files in this repository are templates that get compiled when users add apps via the web app, CLI, or API. Use gomplate syntax to reference configuration:

# Common template variables
domain: {{ .cloud.domain }}                    # Operator's domain
email: {{ .operator.email }}                   # Operator's email
image: {{ .apps.myapp.serverImage }}          # App-specific config
dbHost: {{ .apps.myapp.dbHostname }}          # App-specific config

Template variable sources:

1. Standard Wild Cloud variables ({{ .cloud.* }}, {{ .operator.* }})
2. App-specific variables defined in your manifest's defaultConfig

All template variables must be defined in one of these locations. The compiled files are placed in the instance's directory as standard Kubernetes manifests.

External DNS

Ingress resources should include external-dns annotations for automatic DNS management:

annotations:
  external-dns.alpha.kubernetes.io/target: {{ .cloud.domain }}
  external-dns.alpha.kubernetes.io/cloudflare-proxied: "false"

This creates a CNAME from the app subdomain to the cluster domain (e.g., myapp.cloud.example.com → cloud.example.com).

Database Patterns

Database Initialization Jobs

Apps requiring PostgreSQL or MySQL should include a database initialization job (db-init-job.yaml):

Purpose:

• Creates the application database (if it doesn't exist)
• Creates/updates the application user with proper credentials
• Grants necessary permissions
• Installs required database extensions (e.g., PostgreSQL's vector, cube, earthdistance)

Implementation requirements:

• Use restartPolicy: OnFailure
• Include in kustomization.yaml resources
• Use appropriate security context (e.g., runAsUser: 999 for PostgreSQL)

Example apps: immich, gitea, openproject, discourse

Database URL Configuration

When apps need database URLs with embedded credentials, always use a dedicated dbUrl secret.

❌ Wrong - Kustomize cannot process runtime env var substitution:

- name: DB_URL
  value: "postgresql://user:$(DB_PASSWORD)@host/db"  # This won't work!

✅ Correct - Use a dedicated secret:

- name: DB_URL
  valueFrom:
    secretKeyRef:
      name: myapp-secrets
      key: apps.myapp.dbUrl

Add apps.myapp.dbUrl to your manifest's requiredSecrets, and the system will generate the complete URL with embedded credentials automatically when the app is added.

Security Requirements

Security Contexts

All pods must comply with Pod Security Standards. Include security contexts at both pod and container levels:

spec:
  template:
    spec:
      securityContext:
        runAsNonRoot: true
        runAsUser: 999        # Use appropriate non-root UID
        runAsGroup: 999       # Use appropriate GID
        seccompProfile:
          type: RuntimeDefault
      containers:
      - name: container-name
        securityContext:
          allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
          capabilities:
            drop: [ALL]
          readOnlyRootFilesystem: false  # Set to true when possible

Common user IDs:

• PostgreSQL: runAsUser: 999
• Redis: runAsUser: 999
• MySQL: Consult the container image documentation

Secrets Management

Secrets use a full dotted-path naming convention to prevent naming conflicts:

In manifest:

requiredSecrets:
  - apps.myapp.dbPassword
  - apps.postgres.password

In resources:

env:
  - name: DB_PASSWORD
    valueFrom:
      secretKeyRef:
        name: myapp-secrets
        key: apps.myapp.dbPassword  # Full dotted path, not just "dbPassword"

Secret workflow:

1. List secrets in manifest's requiredSecrets
2. When adding an app, the system generates random values in the instance's secrets.yaml
3. When deploying, the system creates a Kubernetes Secret named <app-name>-secrets
4. Resources reference secrets using full dotted paths

Important: Never commit secrets.yaml to Git. Templates should only reference secrets, never contain actual secret values.

Converting from Helm Charts

Wild Cloud prefers Kustomize over Helm for simplicity and Git-friendliness. When an official Helm chart exists, convert it rather than creating manifests from scratch.

Conversion Process

1. Extract and render the Helm chart:

helm fetch --untar --untardir charts repo/chart-name
helm template --output-dir base --namespace myapp --values values.yaml myapp charts/chart-name
cd base/chart-name

2. Add namespace manifest:

cat <<EOF > namespace.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: myapp
EOF

3. Create kustomization:

kustomize create --autodetect

4. Convert to Wild Cloud format:
   • Create manifest.yaml with app metadata
   • Replace hardcoded values with gomplate variables (e.g., {{ .cloud.domain }})
   • Update secrets to use dotted-path convention
   • Replace Helm labels with Wild Cloud standard labels
   • Add includeSelectors: true to kustomization
   • Use simple component labels (component: web, not app.kubernetes.io/name)
   • Add security contexts to all pods
   • Add external-dns annotations to ingresses

Example Label Migration

❌ Helm style:

labels:
  app.kubernetes.io/name: myapp
  app.kubernetes.io/instance: release-name
  app.kubernetes.io/component: server

✅ Wild Cloud style:

# In kustomization.yaml (applied automatically)
labels:
  - includeSelectors: true
    pairs:
      app: myapp
      managedBy: kustomize
      partOf: wild-cloud

# In individual resources
labels:
  component: server  # Simple component label

Validation Checklist

Before submitting a new or modified app, verify:

• Manifest

  • name matches directory name
  • All required fields present (name, description, version, defaultConfig)
  • All template variables defined in defaultConfig or are standard Wild Cloud variables
  • Secrets use dotted-path format (e.g., apps.appname.secretname)
  • Dependencies listed in requires (if any)

• Kustomization

  • Includes standard Wild Cloud labels with includeSelectors: true
  • Namespace matches app name
  • All resource files listed under resources:

• Resources

  • All hardcoded values replaced with gomplate variables
  • Secrets reference full dotted paths
  • Security contexts on all pods (both pod-level and container-level)
  • Simple component labels, no Helm-style labels
  • Ingresses include external-dns annotations
  • Database apps include init jobs (if applicable)

• Testing

  • Templates compile successfully with sample config
  • App deploys without errors in test cluster
  • All dependencies work correctly

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! To contribute:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a new app directory following the structure above
3. Test your app thoroughly
4. Submit a pull request with:
   • Description of the app and its purpose
   • Any special configuration notes
   • Dependencies required

Notice: Third-Party Software

The Kubernetes manifests and Kustomize files in this directory are designed to deploy third-party software.

Unless otherwise stated, the software deployed by these manifests is not authored or maintained by this project. All copyrights, licenses, and responsibilities for that software remain with the respective upstream authors.

These files are provided solely for convenience and automation. Users are responsible for reviewing and complying with the licenses of the software they deploy.

This project is licensed under the GNU AGPLv3 or later, but this license does not apply to the third-party software being deployed.

See individual deployment directories for upstream project links and container sources.