sprints

Appwrite Helm Chart - Sprint Plan Overview

This directory contains detailed documentation for each sprint in the development of the production-grade Appwrite Helm chart.

Sprint Breakdown

Sprint 1: Minimal Viable Deployment ⚡

Timeline: 2-4 hours
Goal: Get Appwrite running on K8s ASAP

Key Deliverables:

• ✅ Helm chart structure (Chart.yaml, values.yaml, templates)
• ✅ Core infrastructure (MariaDB, Redis, InfluxDB, Telegraf)
• ✅ Essential services (Appwrite API, Realtime, Assistant)
• ✅ Critical workers (5 workers: databases, mails, webhooks, deletes, builds)
• ✅ Basic networking (Services, Ingress with Traefik, TLS)
• ✅ Configuration (ConfigMap, Secrets)

Status: 🟡 In Progress

---

Sprint 2: Production-Ready Foundation 🏗️

Timeline: 3-5 hours
Goal: Complete all components and make it production-ready

Key Deliverables:

• ✅ All remaining workers (7 more: certificates, functions, messaging, migrations, audits, maintenance, schedule, usage)
• ✅ Advanced storage (S3/MinIO integration, dynamic PVC provisioning)
• ✅ Health & resilience (liveness/readiness probes, resource limits, PDBs, init containers)
• ✅ Comprehensive configuration management
• ✅ Database initialization jobs

Status: ⚪ Pending (Sprint 1)

---

Sprint 3: Scalability & Optimization 📈

Timeline: 2-3 hours
Goal: Enable horizontal scaling and implement best practices

Key Deliverables:

• ✅ Horizontal Pod Autoscaling (HPA for API, Realtime, Workers)
• ✅ Advanced networking (NetworkPolicies, multiple ingress configs)
• ✅ Observability (Prometheus ServiceMonitor, Grafana dashboards)
• ✅ Multi-environment support (dev/staging/prod values)
• ✅ Security enhancements (Pod Security Context, TLS everywhere)

Status: ⚪ Pending (Sprint 2)

---

Sprint 4: Production Polish & OSS Contribution ✨

Timeline: 2-3 hours
Goal: Finalize, document, test, and prepare for community contribution

Key Deliverables:

• ✅ Comprehensive documentation (README, INSTALL, TROUBLESHOOTING, ARCHITECTURE, etc.)
• ✅ Testing & validation (Helm tests, CI/CD pipeline, validation scripts)
• ✅ Advanced features (backup/restore jobs, migration guides)
• ✅ OSS contribution prep (CONTRIBUTING, CHANGELOG, packaging)

Status: ⚪ Pending (Sprint 3)

---

Total Estimated Time

10-15 hours of focused development across 4 sprints

Prerequisites

Infrastructure Requirements

• Kubernetes cluster (k0s, k3s, or any distribution)
• Kubernetes version: 1.24+
• Helm 3.8+
• Storage: OpenEBS or any PersistentVolume provisioner
• Ingress: Traefik (tested) or nginx
• TLS: cert-manager with Let's Encrypt
• S3 Storage: MinIO, AWS S3, or compatible

Development Tools

• kubectl
• helm
• docker (for local testing with k3d)
• git

Development Approach

Iterative Development

Each sprint builds on the previous one:

1. Sprint 1: Get it working (MVP)
2. Sprint 2: Make it complete (all features)
3. Sprint 3: Make it scalable (production-grade)
4. Sprint 4: Make it shareable (documentation & OSS)

Testing Strategy

• Local testing with k3d after Sprint 1
• Staging deployment after Sprint 2
• Load testing after Sprint 3
• External validation after Sprint 4

Version Control

• Git branches for each sprint
• Tag releases: v0.1.0 (Sprint 1), v0.2.0 (Sprint 2), etc.
• Main branch always deployable

Success Criteria

Sprint 1 Success

• Helm chart installs without errors
• Appwrite console accessible
• Can create database and collection
• All pods running

Sprint 2 Success

• All workers operational
• Data persists across restarts
• S3 storage working
• Survives pod failures

Sprint 3 Success

• Auto-scales under load
• Network policies enforced
• Metrics visible in Prometheus
• Multiple environments supported

Sprint 4 Success

• Documentation complete
• External tester deploys successfully
• Passes Helm best practice checks
• Ready for Artifact Hub

Architecture Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     Kubernetes Cluster                       │
│                                                              │
│  ┌────────────┐         ┌──────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │  Traefik   │────────▶│   Appwrite Services          │   │
│  │  Ingress   │         │  - API (HPA: 2-10 pods)      │   │
│  └────────────┘         │  - Realtime (HPA: 2-8 pods)  │   │
│                         │  - Assistant                  │   │
│  ┌────────────┐         └──────────────────────────────┘   │
│  │ cert-mgr   │                        │                    │
│  │ (Let's     │                        │                    │
│  │  Encrypt)  │         ┌──────────────▼──────────────┐    │
│  └────────────┘         │   Workers (12 deployments)   │    │
│                         │  - databases, mails, webhooks │    │
│  ┌────────────┐         │  - builds, functions, certs   │    │
│  │ Prometheus │◀────────│  - messaging, migrations      │    │
│  │  Grafana   │         │  - audits, deletes, schedule  │    │
│  └────────────┘         │  - maintenance, usage         │    │
│                         └──────────────────────────────┘    │
│                                        │                     │
│                         ┌──────────────▼──────────────┐     │
│                         │   Infrastructure             │     │
│                         │  - MariaDB (StatefulSet)     │     │
│                         │  - Redis (StatefulSet)       │     │
│                         │  - InfluxDB (StatefulSet)    │     │
│                         │  - Telegraf (Deployment)     │     │
│                         └──────────────────────────────┘     │
│                                        │                     │
│                         ┌──────────────▼──────────────┐     │
│                         │   Storage                    │     │
│                         │  - OpenEBS PVCs              │     │
│                         │  - MinIO S3 (external)       │     │
│                         └──────────────────────────────┘     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Key Technical Decisions

1. Storage Strategy

• Database: OpenEBS PVCs (local storage for low latency)
• Files: MinIO S3 (scalable, distributed)
• Rationale: Best of both worlds - fast DB, scalable files

2. Scaling Strategy

• API/Realtime: HPA based on CPU/Memory
• Workers: HPA with potential for KEDA (queue-based)
• Databases: StatefulSet, manual scaling
• Rationale: Auto-scale stateless, controlled scaling for stateful

3. Security Approach

• Network: NetworkPolicies (default deny)
• Secrets: Support for sealed-secrets, external secrets operator
• Pod Security: Non-root users, security contexts
• TLS: cert-manager with Let's Encrypt
• Rationale: Defense in depth

4. Configuration Management

• Base Config: ConfigMap (non-sensitive)
• Secrets: Kubernetes Secrets (sealed)
• Overrides: values.yaml per environment
• Rationale: Separation of concerns, environment parity

5. Observability

• Metrics: Prometheus + Grafana
• Logs: Fluent-based (future)
• Traces: OpenTelemetry (future)
• Health: Kubernetes probes + custom checks
• Rationale: Industry standard, widely supported

Comparison with Alternatives

vs. byawitz/appwrite-k8s

Feature	Our Chart	byawitz
Status	Production-ready	Semi-ready
Helm Chart	Complete	WIP
Documentation	Comprehensive	Basic
Autoscaling	Yes (HPA)	Manual only
NetworkPolicies	Yes	No
Monitoring	Prometheus	InfluxDB only
Multi-env	Yes	No
Tests	Yes	No

vs. Docker Compose (Official)

Feature	Kubernetes	Docker Compose
Scalability	Excellent	Limited
HA	Built-in	Manual
Orchestration	Kubernetes	Docker Swarm
Cloud Native	Yes	No
Learning Curve	Steeper	Easier
Production Grade	Yes	Yes

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Each sprint's documentation includes:

• Detailed technical specs
• Implementation guidelines
• Test criteria
• Known limitations

See Sprint 1 to get started.

License

MIT (same as Appwrite)

Maintainers

• @tumbak - Initial development

Acknowledgments

• Appwrite team for the amazing platform
• byawitz for pioneering K8s support
• Helm community for best practices