Introduction for Developers

Welcome, developer! This section is for you — the engineers, SREs, and architects who will be building, deploying, and managing applications on the Contain Platform.

Our platform is designed to provide you with a powerful, secure, and automated environment for running your containerized applications, allowing you to focus on writing code and delivering value, not on managing infrastructure.

A GitOps-Driven Philosophy

The primary way you will interact with the platform is through GitOps. Instead of using imperative commands like kubectl apply to make changes to your cluster, you will declare the desired state of your applications in a Git repository. The platform then automatically and continuously works to make the live environment match the state you've defined in Git.

This approach provides a fully automated, version-controlled, and auditable workflow for all your deployments.

Where to Go Next

This section is organized to help you find the right information for your needs, whether you are a new user, looking to solve a specific problem, or exploring a particular service.

First Steps

If you are new to the platform, this end-to-end tutorial is the best place to start.

• Getting Started: Deploy Your First Application: A complete walkthrough, from source code to a running service using GitOps.

How-To Guides

These in-depth guides cover common development tasks and best practices for running applications on the platform.

• Running Stateless Applications: Learn best practices for Deployments and how to ensure high availability for your services.
• Running Stateful Applications: Learn how to use StatefulSets and PodDisruptionBudgets for applications that require persistent storage.
• Configuring Application Networking: Learn how to connect your services securely in a "default-deny" environment.
• Managing Application Secrets: Learn the best practices for handling and consuming secrets in your applications.
• Configuring Pod Security Contexts: Learn the mandatory steps to make your application pods compliant with platform security policies.
• Exposing Applications to the Internet: Learn how to configure HTTPProxy and Certificate resources to make your application accessible via HTTPS.
• Deploying Applications with Helm: Learn how to deploy third-party software using the GitOps workflow.
• Automating Container Image Updates: Learn how to configure Flux to automatically update your applications when new container images are released.

Troubleshooting

When things go wrong, this guide provides a structured approach to diagnosing and solving common problems.

• Developer Troubleshooting Guide: Learn how to debug issues with GitOps, deployments, pods, and networking.

Service Quickstarts

For a comprehensive list of all available managed services and how to get started with them, see our A-Z list.

• Service Quickstarts: A complete index of getting started guides for every managed service.

Foundational Concepts

Before you dive in, it's helpful to understand the core principles and architecture of the platform. These documents provide the "why" behind the development workflow.

• Technical Introduction to the Platform: The best starting point to understand the platform's architecture, core principles, and managed service model.
• Kubernetes: Learn about the architecture of the Kubernetes clusters where your applications run.
• The GitOps Principle: Understand the foundational principle for all deployments on the platform.
• Observability: Learn how you can gain deep insights into your application's performance.