Platform lifecycle

A platform goes from a declaration of packages to running infrastructure through four steps. platform:up runs them for you, but it's worth knowing what each does.

flowchart LR
  C["compose.yaml<br/><small>packages</small>"] --> M["model:compose<br/><small>merge</small>"]
  M --> P["model:prepare<br/><small>Ansible runtime</small>"]
  P --> B["model:bundle<br/><small>.pm artifact</small>"]
  B --> U["platform:up<br/><small>deploy</small>"]

1. Compose

plasmactl model:compose

Reads compose.yaml, fetches each package from its git source, and merges them into a single composed model. Packages are developed in separate repos and brought together here.

2. Prepare

plasmactl model:prepare

Turns the composed model into a runnable Ansible runtime.

3. Bundle

plasmactl model:bundle

Produces a deployable Platform Model artifact (.pm) — a self-contained, versioned snapshot of everything the platform needs.

4. Up

plasmactl platform:up

Runs the full pipeline — bump → compose → prepare → deploy — bringing the platform up on your infrastructure. In practice you deploy against a zone target for correct variable resolution (see Deploying).

Composability

Packages live in their own repositories, are declared in a platform's compose.yaml, and are composed and deployed together. This is what lets a platform mix plasma-core with domain packages and your own.

→ Next: Nodes & topology.