Backstage
Backstage is an open source developer portal framework from the CNCF. A centralized software catalog (catalog-info.yaml), scaffolder templates, and plugin ecosystem give teams one place to discover services, docs, and APIs. We trial it when building an Internal Developer Platform and want a self-hosted catalog plus golden-path templates.
Blurb
Backstage is an open source framework for building developer portals. Powered by a centralized software catalog, Backstage restores order to your microservices and infrastructure.
Summary
What it is: React app plus backend plugins; entities (Component, System, API, Resource) declared in YAML and ingested from git repos.
When to use: microservice sprawl needs a service catalog; platform team can run and customize plugins; Software Templates for standardized repo bootstrap.
When to skip: single monorepo with no discovery problem; no staff to operate and upgrade the portal; SaaS IDP (Port, Cortex) fits procurement better.
catalog-info.yaml: each service repo carries metadata (owner, lifecycle, links to docs and CI) at repo root or path configured in the catalog importer.
Details
| Topic | Notes |
|---|---|
| Catalog | Entity descriptors in YAML; processors merge from GitHub, GitLab, etc. |
| Scaffolder | Template template.yaml plus actions to create repos and Kubernetes resources |
| Plugins | TechDocs, Kubernetes, Argo CD, CI views (community and custom) |
Practices: treat Backstage as a product; assign owners; keep catalog-info.yaml in the same PR workflow as code changes.
References