Workload Descriptor

When a CI workflow builds your code, it produces a Workload CR that OpenChoreo deploys. By default, the build creates a minimal Workload with just the container image. To define endpoints, environment variables, and configuration files, add a workload.yaml descriptor to your source repository.

With vs Without a Descriptor

	Without workload.yaml	With workload.yaml
Container image	Set from build output	Set from build output
Endpoints	None	Defined in descriptor
Environment variables	None	Defined in descriptor
Configuration files	None	Defined in descriptor
Use case	Simple services with no exposed endpoints	Services with HTTP/gRPC/WebSocket endpoints, custom configuration

Descriptor Format

Place a workload.yaml file in your application directory (the path specified by repository.appPath in your Component's workflow parameters):

# workload.yaml
apiVersion: openchoreo.dev/v1alpha1

metadata:
  name: reading-list-service

endpoints:
  - name: reading-list-api
    visibility:
      - external
    port: 8080
    type: HTTP
    schemaFile: docs/openapi.yaml

configurations:
  env:
    - name: LOG_LEVEL
      value: info
    - name: APP_ENV
      value: production
  files:
    - name: app-config
      mountPath: /etc/config/app.json
      value: |
        {"feature_flags": {"new_feature": true}}

Fields

metadata

Field	Required	Description
name	Yes	Name for the generated Workload CR

endpoints

Define the network endpoints your service exposes:

Field	Required	Description
name	Yes	Unique name for the endpoint
port	Yes	Port your application listens on
type	Yes	HTTP, gRPC, GraphQL, Websocket, TCP, or UDP
visibility	No	List of visibility levels: project, namespace, internal, external
schemaFile	No	Path to schema file (OpenAPI, Protobuf, GraphQL), relative to the workload.yaml location

configurations

configurations.env

Environment variables injected into the container:

Field	Required	Description
name	Yes	Environment variable name
value	Yes	Environment variable value

configurations.files

Configuration files mounted into the container:

Field	Required	Description
name	Yes	Unique name for the file mount
mountPath	Yes	Absolute path where the file is mounted
value	Yes	File content (inline)

File Placement

The CI workflow looks for workload.yaml at the root of your appPath. For example, if your Component specifies appPath: "/service-go-greeter", place the descriptor at:

your-repo/
  service-go-greeter/
    workload.yaml        ← descriptor file
    Dockerfile
    main.go
    openapi.yaml         ← referenced by schemaFile

See Also

• Workload — Full Workload CR specification (container, endpoints, dependencies)
• CI Overview — How CI workflows work
• Workload API Reference — Complete Workload CRD specification