# Component Interaction Map (/docs/runtime/component-interaction-map)



Runtime components are easier to understand when viewed as relationships rather than isolated products.

Core Interaction Patterns [#core-interaction-patterns]

Network and exposure [#network-and-exposure]

* **MetalLB** supports external service exposure in self-managed environments.
* **NGINX** and **APISIX** expose and route user-facing traffic.
* **External DNS** publishes hostnames for ingress and service endpoints.
* **cert-manager** secures those endpoints with managed certificates.

Access and security [#access-and-security]

* **Keycloak** provides identity for multiple Runtime UIs and APIs.
* **OpenFGA** adds fine-grained authorization where simple role-based access is not enough.
* **OpenBao** manages secrets and identity-bound access to sensitive values.
* **APISIX** integrates with **Keycloak** for API-facing access control.

Execution and state [#execution-and-state]

* **KubeAI** orchestrates inference-serving workloads.
* **vLLM** and **FasterWhisper** provide inference engines used within that serving layer.
* **Temporal** and **Argo Events** handle workflow execution and event-based automation.
* **PostgreSQL** stores structured operational state.
* **MinIO** stores object-style data and shared artifacts.

Observability [#observability]

* **Prometheus** collects metrics from Runtime services.
* **Grafana Alloy** forwards telemetry signals.
* **Loki** stores logs.
* **Tempo** stores traces.
* **Grafana** brings these signals together into dashboards and operational views.

Delivery [#delivery]

* **GitLab** produces versioned source and CI outputs.
* **Harbor** stores images and artifacts.
* **Argo CD** deploys the desired state into the cluster.

Important Examples [#important-examples]

Some interactions are especially important in practice:

* **PgAdmin -> PostgreSQL**
  PgAdmin exists to operate PostgreSQL more easily.
* **Grafana -> Prometheus, Loki, Tempo**
  Grafana is the common interface for metrics, logs, and traces.
* **MinIO -> Argo Events, Argo Workflows, Tempo, KubeAI**
  MinIO provides storage and credentials to several Runtime and higher-layer consumers.
* **Argo CD -> all platform components**
  Argo CD is the main GitOps deployment engine across the stack.
* **GitLab and Harbor -> Argo CD**
  GitLab and Harbor are upstream prerequisites because manifests, charts, and images must exist before Argo CD can deploy them.

Where To Go Next [#where-to-go-next]

For component-level details, use the Runtime [components](/docs/runtime/components) section. This page is intended as a summary of the main interaction model rather than an exhaustive dependency graph.