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Add-ons

This page explains concepts associated with HCP Waypoint add-on definitions and add-ons.

Background

HCP Waypoint add-ons are modular components that application developers can use to install supporting infrastructure to their application at any point in the application lifecycle. An add-on can install infrastructure or services, including databases, storage buckets, secrets engines, search engines, telemetry dashboards, and much more.

The platform team creates and maintains add-on definitions, which serve as templates for add-ons. This ensures that any infrastructure provisioned using add-ons is standardized and compliant with your organization's policies.

HCP Waypoint add-on definitions reference HCP Terraform no-code modules to define the common supporting infrastructure patterns.

Workflow

Refer to How does HCP Waypoint work? for an overview of the workflow. The following steps describe the add-on creation and consumption model:

  1. Platform engineers create the following artifacts:

    • A no-code module that references an HCP Waypoint application: No-code modules are HCP Terraform artifacts that allow you to deploy a module's resources without writing Terraform configuration. Refer to Designing No-Code Ready Modules in the Terraform documentation for additional information.
    • An HCP Waypoint add-on definition associated with the no-code module.

    Platform engineer creates and maintains no-code modules in HCP Terraform. They configure HCP Waypoint templates and add-on definitions to reference the no-code modules. Platform engineer creates and maintains no-code modules in HCP Terraform. They configure HCP Waypoint templates and add-on definitions to reference the no-code modules.

    Refer to Create and manage add-on definitions for details and instructions on how to complete this process.

  2. An application engineer goes to an HCP Waypoint application and selects a suitable add on they want to install, triggering the following automated procedure:

    • HCP Waypoint uses the add-on definition's Terraform no-code module to create a Terraform workspace in the HCP Terraform organization as configured by the platform engineer.
    • HCP Waypoint assigns the waypoint_add_on, waypoint_add_on_definition, and waypoint_application variables to the Terraform workspace. Your no-code module can reference these values to label the resources it deploys.
    • HCP Waypoint starts a Terraform run in the workspace. When the Terraform workspace run completes, the HCP Waypoint add-on and supporting infrastructure is ready.

    Application developer installs an add-on on an existing HCP Waypoint application. This triggers the no-code module in HCP Terraform to deploy the supporting infrastructure. Application developer installs an add-on on an existing HCP Waypoint application. This triggers the no-code module in HCP Terraform to deploy the supporting infrastructure.

    Refer to Use an add-on to deploy supporting infrastructure for details and instructions on how to complete this process.