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Importing existing services

Many applications rely on existing cloud resources or dependencies before adopting a structured service framework. With nullplatform, you can bring these resources into the service schema to build a service catalog that includes both pre-existing and newly created elements.

Building a service catalog:

  • Helps identify which resources are used by which applications
  • Makes it easier to monitor and manage resource usage
  • Simplifies managing service parameters for applications

You can import services in three ways:

  • Directly from the UI
  • Programmatically using the API
  • Using infrastructure-as-code (IaC) tools like Terraform

Import using the UI​

You can import an existing service directly from the UI—making it easier to register pre-existing cloud resources without needing the CLI or API.

This flow is ideal when you already have a deployed service and want to track or expose it inside nullplatform without triggering any provisioning action. Instead of creating a new resource, you're simply defining where this service is visible across your organization.

How it works:

  1. Go to Platform settings > Services > + New service
  2. Select the existing service specification you want to use
  3. Fill in required attributes
  4. Define visibility: choose where the service should be visible (e.g., a namespace or specific applications)
  5. Click Create service

Once imported, the service will appear in the Development > Services view, and will be available for use by linked applications.

Import via API​

When you create a service instance in nullplatform, it triggers a provisioning action. However, this is not needed for resources that already exist. To import an existing resource, use the service creation API with these settings:

  • Set the imported value to true within the selectors field
  • Set the status to active
  • Provide all required attributes defined in the service schema

Here's an example request

np service create \
--body '{
  "name": "OpenWeather",
  "status": "active",
  "type": "dependency",
  "linkable_to": [
    "organization=1:account=2:namespace=3:application=4"
  ],
  "dimensions": {
    "environment": { 
      "required": true, 
      "values": ["dev", "stage"]
     },  
    "country": { 
      "required": true 
     }
  }, 
  "entity_nrn": "organization=1:account=2:namespace=3:application=4",
  "specification_id": "d33316ff-61e0-45d1-88d8-9e689e3859a4",
  "attributes": {
    "schema": {
      "type": "object",
      "required": [
        "api_key"
      ],
      "properties": {
        "api_key": {
          "type": "string",
          "export": {
            "secret": true
          },
          "readOnly": true
        }
      },
      "additionalProperties": false
    },
    "values": {}
  },
  "selectors": {
    "category": "SaaS",
    "imported": true,
    "provider": "OpenWeather",
    "sub_category": "Weather"
  }
}

Import using IaC tools​

If you use infrastructure-as-code (IaC) tools like Terraform or OpenTofu, you can use our dedicated plugin to configure and import services. This integration helps you:

  • Register existing resources as services
  • Link services to nullplatform entities like applications or namespaces

This makes it easier to populate your service catalog from infrastructure you already manage in code.