Cloud Native Tools

49 modules are currently being reworked. Watch this section over the next few days.

Tools change. This is your reference guide to the current cloud native ecosystem.

These are implementation guides for specific tools — how to install, configure, operate, and troubleshoot them. For the principles and practices behind these tools, see Platform Engineering.

Structure

toolkits/
├── cicd-delivery/                      # CI/CD & Delivery (13 modules)
│   ├── ci-cd-pipelines/               # Dagger, Tekton, Argo Workflows
│   ├── gitops-deployments/            # ArgoCD, Argo Rollouts, Flux, Helm
│   ├── source-control/               # GitLab, Gitea/Forgejo, GitHub Advanced
│   └── container-registries/          # Harbor, Zot, Dragonfly
│
├── observability-intelligence/         # Observability (14 modules)
│   ├── observability/                 # Prometheus, OTel, Grafana, Loki, Pixie, Hubble, Coroot
│   └── aiops-tools/                   # Anomaly detection, event correlation
│
├── infrastructure-networking/          # Infrastructure (33 modules)
│   ├── iac-tools/                     # Terraform, OpenTofu, Pulumi, Ansible, Wing, SST, System Initiative, Nitric
│   ├── k8s-distributions/            # k3s, k0s, MicroK8s, Talos, OpenShift, Managed K8s
│   ├── networking/                    # Cilium, Service Mesh
│   ├── platforms/                     # Backstage, Crossplane, cert-manager
│   └── storage/                       # Rook/Ceph, MinIO, Longhorn
│
├── security-quality/                   # Security & Quality (13 modules)
│   ├── security-tools/               # Vault, OPA/Gatekeeper, Falco, Tetragon, KubeArmor
│   └── code-quality/                  # SonarQube, Semgrep, CodeQL, Snyk, Trivy
│
├── developer-experience/               # Developer Experience (11 modules)
│   ├── devex-tools/                   # K9s, Telepresence, Local K8s, DevPod, Gitpod/Codespaces
│   └── scaling-reliability/           # Karpenter, KEDA, Velero
│
└── data-ai-platforms/                  # Data & AI Platforms (12 modules)
    ├── ml-platforms/                   # Kubeflow, MLflow, Feature Stores, vLLM, Ray Serve, LangChain
    └── cloud-native-databases/        # CockroachDB, CloudNativePG, Neon/PlanetScale, Vitess

Toolkit Groups

CI/CD & Delivery (13 modules)

Toolkit	Modules	Key Tools
CI/CD Pipelines	3	Dagger, Tekton, Argo Workflows
GitOps & Deployments	4	ArgoCD, Argo Rollouts, Flux, Helm
Source Control	3	GitLab, Gitea/Forgejo, GitHub Advanced
Container Registries	3	Harbor, Zot, Dragonfly

Observability (14 modules)

Toolkit	Modules	Key Tools
Observability Stack	8	Prometheus, OpenTelemetry, Grafana, Loki, Pixie, Hubble, Coroot
AIOps Tools	6	Anomaly detection, event correlation, root cause analysis

Infrastructure (33 modules)

Toolkit	Modules	Key Tools
IaC Tools	10	Terraform, OpenTofu, Pulumi, Ansible, Wing, SST, System Initiative, Nitric
K8s Distributions	6	k3s, k0s, MicroK8s, Talos, OpenShift, Managed K8s
Networking	2	Cilium, Service Mesh
Platforms	3	Backstage, Crossplane, cert-manager
Storage	3	Rook/Ceph, MinIO, Longhorn
Subtotal	24

Security & Quality (13 modules)

Toolkit	Modules	Key Tools
Security Tools	6	Vault, OPA/Gatekeeper, Falco, Tetragon, KubeArmor
Code Quality	5	SonarQube, Semgrep, CodeQL, Snyk, Trivy

Developer Experience (11 modules)

Toolkit	Modules	Key Tools
DevEx Tools	5	K9s, Telepresence, Local K8s, DevPod, Gitpod/Codespaces
Scaling & Reliability	3	Karpenter, KEDA, Velero

Data & AI Platforms (12 modules)

Toolkit	Modules	Key Tools
ML Platforms	6	Kubeflow, MLflow, Feature Stores, vLLM, Ray Serve, LangChain
Cloud-Native Databases	4	CockroachDB, CloudNativePG, Neon/PlanetScale, Vitess

Summary

Group	Toolkits	Modules
CI/CD & Delivery	4	13
Observability	2	14
Infrastructure	5	24
Security & Quality	2	11
Developer Experience	2	8
Data & AI Platforms	2	10
Total	17	80

How to Use Toolkits

Read Foundations first — understand the theory behind the tool
Read the Discipline — understand the practices the tool implements
Pick tools based on need — not everything applies to your stack
Hands-on practice — every toolkit includes exercises
Stay current — tools evolve, check release notes

Tool Selection Philosophy

We include tools that are:

CNCF Graduated/Incubating — community validation
Production-proven — battle-tested at scale
Actively maintained — regular releases, active community
Interoperable — works with the broader ecosystem

Quick Start

Pick a toolkit based on your current focus:

Starting observability? Begin with Prometheus
Implementing GitOps? Start with ArgoCD
Managing infrastructure? Check out Terraform
Building a platform? Check out Backstage
Securing clusters? Start with Falco
ML workloads? Begin with Kubeflow

Prerequisites

Before diving into toolkits:

Complete relevant Foundations modules
Understand the Discipline the tool supports
Have a Kubernetes cluster (kind/minikube for learning)

“Principles tell you why. Tools tell you how.”