Items types
Each item of the Catalog has a certain type (field type) and different types represents different artifacts that are handled in specific ways by the Console.
The information needed to work with these artifacts are the assets (field resources) of an item, and their shape varies from type to type (refer to the manifests section for and in-depth explation).
What follows is the list of item types currently supported by the Software Catalog.
Plugins
Plugins are services that can be instantiated from the microservices section of the Console Design area. Practically speaking, plugins are Docker images that comes with some predefined configurations to make them work in Console projects (e.g., environment variables, config maps, probes...).
Templates
Teamplates can be instantiated in Console the same as plugins. The difference is that they provide an archive that is cloned in the Project scope, instead of a Docker image, giving developers direct access to the codebase to evolve it at will.
Templates are meant to be starting points with the bear minimum needed to start a service. Just like plugins, templates may also come with some predefined configurations.
Examples
Examples works no differently than templates, in the sense that they too provide an archive with base configurations. Unlike templates, examples should come with some features already implemented and tailored to help the user better familiarize with the development environment.
Applications
Applications are bundles of resources that brings together services (i.e., plugins, templates, and examples), endpoints, CRUD collections, and public variables to ease the setup of large-scale artifacts.
Sidecars
Sidecars are secondary utility containers running side by side with the main container in the same host. They are Docker images that can be instantiated from the dedicated section of the Console Design area.
Proxies
Proxies are specific configurations used to invoke APIs that are not part of the current project but may be exposed by an external provider or another project. Proxies can be instantiated from the dedicated section of the Console Design area.
Infrastructure resources
Infrastructure resources are custom objects that are not part of the standard Console supported resources. They can be managed from the dedicated section of the Console Design area.
Extensions
Extensions are custom pages that enhances Console capabilities by integrating it into the sidebar navigation. Since extensions have their own dedicated section, they are left out by the Software Catalog UI. Extensions can still be managed with miactl, and API calls.