Welcome to OpenMCF Documentation

OpenMCF is an open-source multi-cloud infrastructure framework that lets you author KRM-style YAML manifests once, validate them with Protobuf + Buf, and deploy with Pulumi or OpenTofu.

Getting Started

New to OpenMCF? Start here:

Install the CLI via Homebrew
Validate your first manifest
Deploy to your cloud provider or Kubernetes cluster

CLI Reference

Master the OpenMCF command-line interface:

Unified Commands - kubectl-style apply and destroy commands
Complete CLI Reference - All commands, flags, and options
Pulumi Commands - Deploy with Pulumi (init, preview, up, refresh, destroy)
OpenTofu Commands - Deploy with OpenTofu (init, plan, apply, refresh, destroy)

Guides

In-depth guides for common scenarios:

Manifest Structure - Understanding and writing manifests
Credentials Management - Setting up cloud provider authentication
Kustomize Integration - Multi-environment deployments
Advanced Usage - Runtime overrides, URL manifests, and power techniques

Tutorials

Step-by-step walkthroughs for common deployment scenarios:

Deploy Your First AWS Resource - S3 bucket end-to-end
Deploy Your First Kubernetes Resource - PostgreSQL on Kubernetes
Multi-Environment Deployments - Kustomize overlays for dev/staging/prod
Deploy Across Providers - Cross-provider comparison

Examples

Copy-paste-ready manifest examples:

Manifest Gallery - Curated manifests across AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes, and more

Contributing

Join the OpenMCF community:

How to Contribute - Development setup, building, testing, and PR workflow
Adding Components - Create new deployment components

Deployment Components

Browse deployment components by cloud provider in the Catalog:

Key Features

One Model, Many Clouds: Single API structure across AWS, GCP, Azure, and Kubernetes
Validation First: Buf ProtoValidate catches errors before deployment
Battle-Tested Modules: Curated Pulumi and OpenTofu modules
CLI-First Workflow: Developer-grade CLI for all operations
Security & Governance: Provider credentials as stack inputs, consistent labeling

Quick Example

apiVersion: kubernetes.openmcf.org/v1
kind: KubernetesRedis
metadata:
  name: my-redis
  labels:
    openmcf.org/provisioner: pulumi
spec:
  namespace: redis
  container:
    replicas: 3
    resources:
      limits:
        memory: 2Gi
        cpu: 1000m

# Simple kubectl-style workflow
openmcf validate redis.yaml
openmcf apply -f redis.yaml

# Or use provisioner-specific commands
openmcf pulumi up -f redis.yaml --stack myorg/project/dev

Troubleshooting

Having issues? Common solutions:

Manifest validation errors — Check field names and types against the component's protobuf schema
Authentication and credentials — See the Credentials Management guide
Pulumi/OpenTofu-specific issues — Ensure the provisioner CLI is installed and your backend is configured
Network and connectivity — The CLI clones modules from GitHub; verify network access

For detailed solutions, see the full Troubleshooting Guide.

Resources

CLI Reference

Master the OpenMCF command-line interface:

Unified Commands - kubectl-style apply and destroy commands

Complete CLI Reference - All commands, flags, and options

Pulumi Commands - Deploy with Pulumi (init, preview, up, refresh, destroy)

OpenTofu Commands - Deploy with OpenTofu (init, plan, apply, refresh, destroy)

Tutorials

Step-by-step walkthroughs for common deployment scenarios:

Key Features

One Model, Many Clouds: Single API structure across AWS, GCP, Azure, and Kubernetes

Validation First: Buf ProtoValidate catches errors before deployment

Battle-Tested Modules: Curated Pulumi and OpenTofu modules

CLI-First Workflow: Developer-grade CLI for all operations

Security & Governance: Provider credentials as stack inputs, consistent labeling

Quick Example

apiVersion: kubernetes.openmcf.org/v1
kind: KubernetesRedis
metadata:
  name: my-redis
  labels:
    openmcf.org/provisioner: pulumi
spec:
  namespace: redis
  container:
    replicas: 3
    resources:
      limits:
        memory: 2Gi
        cpu: 1000m

# Simple kubectl-style workflow
openmcf validate redis.yaml
openmcf apply -f redis.yaml

# Or use provisioner-specific commands
openmcf pulumi up -f redis.yaml --stack myorg/project/dev

Troubleshooting

Having issues? Common solutions:

Manifest validation errors — Check field names and types against the component's protobuf schema

Authentication and credentials — See the Credentials Management guide

Pulumi/OpenTofu-specific issues — Ensure the provisioner CLI is installed and your backend is configured

Network and connectivity — The CLI clones modules from GitHub; verify network access

For detailed solutions, see the full Troubleshooting Guide.