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Containers scope

The Containers scope runs your application as Docker containers on Kubernetes. It's the default scope type in nullplatform and the right choice for web applications, APIs, microservices, and any long-running workload.

When to use it​

Use the Containers scope when your application runs as a Docker container and serves HTTP traffic, such as web apps, APIs, or microservices that need autoscaling and zero-downtime deployments.

Supported cloud providers​

The Containers scope works with the following managed Kubernetes services:

Cloud providerKubernetes service
AWSEKS
AzureAKS
AzureARO (Azure Red Hat OpenShift)
Google CloudGKE
Oracle CloudOKE

What it includes​

The Containers scope provides built-in support for:

  • Autoscaling and resource management: scale pods based on CPU, memory, or custom metrics, and set resource requests and limits per container
  • Blue-green deployments and traffic routing: deploy new versions alongside the current one, split traffic between versions, and roll back instantly
  • Health checks: configure liveness and readiness probes to ensure your application is healthy
  • Public and private access: expose your application to the internet or keep it internal to your account
  • Diagnostics: run built-in health checks on your scopes to identify issues

How it works​

When you create a Containers scope, nullplatform provisions Kubernetes resources in your cluster through the nullplatform agent:

  1. The scope is created and the agent receives a create action.
  2. The agent provisions Kubernetes resources (Deployment, Service, Ingress, HPA).
  3. On each deploy, the agent rolls out new container images using the configured deployment strategy.
  4. Traffic is routed to healthy pods automatically.

Get started​

To set up a Containers scope, you need a Kubernetes cluster, Helm, Gomplate, the nullplatform CLI, and an API key with agent roles.

The setup process follows these steps:

  1. Install the nullplatform agent in your cluster using Helm
  2. Clone the scopes repository and set SERVICE_PATH=k8s
  3. Configure your environment variables (API key, NRN, environment)
  4. Run the ./configure script to register the scope schema, actions, and notification channel
  5. Create your first Containers scope from the UI

The Kubernetes setup tutorial provides the full walkthrough with commands and checkpoints.

Customization​

The Containers scope covers the most common patterns out of the box. If you need to customize its behavior, for example to adjust deployment workflows or add organization-specific logic, see Override workflows in the Advanced section.

Next steps​