Blueprints

Blueprints are pre-built application stacks that you can install with a single command. Each blueprint includes everything needed for a working deployment: the application, database, storage, and configuration.

Browsing blueprints

kip blueprint list

  NAME                 VERSION  DESCRIPTION
  ghost                1.0      Ghost publishing platform with MySQL database
  gitea                1.0      Gitea self-hosted Git service with PostgreSQL
  plausible            1.0      Plausible Analytics, privacy-friendly web analytics with PostgreSQL
  wordpress            1.0      WordPress blog with MySQL database and persistent uploads

Blueprint details

View what a blueprint will create and its configurable parameters:

kip blueprint info wordpress

  wordpress (v1.0)
  WordPress blog with MySQL database and persistent uploads

  Parameters:
    projectName          Project name (required)
    environment          Target environment (e.g. test, prod)
    storageSize          Storage size for uploads [default: 5Gi]
    dbStorage            Database storage size [default: 5Gi]

  Install:
    kip blueprint install wordpress --set projectName=my-project

Installing a blueprint

Install directly to your cluster:

kip blueprint install wordpress --set projectName=my-blog

  ✔  Namespace my-blog created

  Installing wordpress into my-blog...
    ✔  App/wordpress created
    ✔  Service/db created
    ✔  Volume/uploads created

  ✔  wordpress installed (3 resources)

With custom parameters

Override any parameter with --set:

kip blueprint install wordpress \
  --set projectName=company-blog \
  --set storageSize=20Gi \
  --set dbStorage=10Gi \
  --environment prod

Into a specific environment

kip blueprint install ghost \
  --set projectName=my-site \
  --set domain=https://blog.example.com \
  --environment prod

Generating a manifest

Generate a kipper.yaml file that you can review and customise before applying, instead of installing directly:

kip init --blueprint wordpress --set projectName=my-blog

  ✔  Generated kipper.yaml from wordpress blueprint
     Edit it, then run: kip apply -f kipper.yaml

This creates a standard kipper.yaml file, not a special blueprint format, just a regular manifest. Edit it to add routes, environment variables, resource profiles, or any other configuration. Then apply:

kip apply -f kipper.yaml

Available blueprints

WordPress

Full WordPress installation with MySQL database and persistent upload storage.

Component	Details
App	wordpress:6-apache on port 80
Database	MySQL with configurable storage
Storage	Persistent volume for wp-content/uploads
Service binding	MySQL credentials injected via WORDPRESS_DB_ prefix

Ghost

Ghost publishing platform with MySQL backend.

Component	Details
App	ghost:5-alpine on port 2368
Database	MySQL with configurable storage
Parameters	domain: the public URL for Ghost

Gitea

Self-hosted Git service with PostgreSQL and persistent repository storage.

Component	Details
App	gitea/gitea:1.22-rootless on port 3000
Database	PostgreSQL with configurable storage
Storage	Persistent volume for Git repositories

Plausible Analytics

Privacy-friendly web analytics.

Component	Details
App	ghcr.io/plausible/community-edition:v2.1 on port 8000
Database	PostgreSQL with configurable storage
Parameters	baseUrl (required): the public URL for analytics

Medusa

Open source e-commerce platform (Shopify alternative).

Component	Details
App	medusajs/medusa:latest on port 9000
Database	PostgreSQL with configurable storage
Cache	Redis

n8n

Workflow automation platform (Zapier alternative).

Component	Details
App	n8nio/n8n:latest on port 5678
Database	PostgreSQL with configurable storage

Uptime Kuma

Monitoring and status page. No database required. Data stored on a persistent volume.

Component	Details
App	louislam/uptime-kuma:1 on port 3001
Storage	Persistent volume for monitoring data

Outline

Team wiki and knowledge base.

Component	Details
App	outlinewiki/outline:latest on port 3000
Database	PostgreSQL with configurable storage
Cache	Redis
Storage	MinIO for file attachments
Parameters	domain (required): the public URL

Cal.com

Open source scheduling platform (Calendly alternative).

Component	Details
App	calcom/cal.com:latest on port 3000
Database	PostgreSQL with configurable storage
Parameters	domain (required): the public URL

Invoice Ninja

Invoicing and billing platform.

Component	Details
App	invoiceninja/invoiceninja:5 on port 9000
Database	MySQL with configurable storage
Storage	Persistent volume for documents
Parameters	domain (required): the public URL

Mattermost

Team messaging platform (Slack alternative).

Component	Details
App	mattermost/mattermost-team-edition:11.7.2 on port 8065
Database	PostgreSQL (10Gi default)
Storage	Persistent volume for uploads and attachments
Parameters	domain (required): the public URL. Optional: smtpHost, smtpPort, smtpUsername, smtpPassword, smtpFrom, smtpSecurity, pushNotificationServer

Email notifications. Set smtpHost (plus smtpUsername, smtpPassword, and smtpFrom) and Mattermost sends email from first boot. smtpSecurity defaults to STARTTLS on port 587, which is what most hosted mail relays use. Set it to TLS for providers that want implicit TLS on port 465, or none for an unauthenticated internal relay. Leave smtpHost empty and no email config is written, so you can still set it later in the System Console.

Mobile push. Leave pushNotificationServer empty and push is off. The free Team Edition image we ship can only reach Mattermost's test push proxy (https://push-test.mattermost.com), which works with the official app store apps but is rate limited and meant for evaluation, not production. Production push runs through Mattermost's hosted service and needs a paid Mattermost plan plus the enterprise-edition image, so it's a deliberate later step, not a default.

Rocket.Chat

Team communication platform.

Component	Details
App	rocket.chat:8.4.3 on port 3000
Database	MongoDB (10Gi default)
Parameters	domain (required): the public URL. Optional: smtpHost, smtpPort, smtpUsername, smtpPassword, smtpFrom, smtpSecurity

Email notifications. Same SMTP parameters as Mattermost. Set smtpHost and the rest, and Rocket.Chat writes the SMTP settings on startup (it uses the OVERWRITE_SETTING_ mechanism, so the values are locked in the admin panel). smtpSecurity defaults to STARTTLS on port 587.

Mobile push. Rocket.Chat push is not something the blueprint can switch on, because it runs through Rocket.Chat Cloud. After install, connect the workspace to Rocket.Chat Cloud from the admin panel (Settings, then Connectivity). That's the step that lights up push for the official app store apps. The free community tier includes a monthly push allowance through that gateway. If you skip the Cloud connect, push silently never fires, which is the usual reason notifications "don't work" on a fresh Rocket.Chat.

How blueprints work

A blueprint is a kipper.yaml template with Go template placeholders. When you install a blueprint, Kipper:

1. Loads the template from the built-in registry
2. Applies your parameter values (with defaults for optional ones)
3. Renders the template to a standard Kipper manifest
4. Creates the namespace if needed
5. Applies all resources to the cluster

The rendered output is identical to a hand-written kipper.yaml, with no special tracking or metadata. You can export it later with kip export and manage it via GitOps like any other manifest.

Creating custom blueprints

A blueprint file contains two YAML documents separated by ---:

1. Metadata: name, description, version, parameters
2. Template: a kipper.yaml with Go template placeholders (e.g. .projectName)

The file has two YAML documents separated by ---. The first document defines the metadata and parameters. The second document is the manifest template using Go text/template syntax. Placeholders like .projectName and .replicas are replaced with parameter values at render time.

After rendering with --set projectName=acme --set replicas=3, the template produces:

project: acme

apps:
  api:
    image: registry.example.com/api:latest
    port: 8080
    replicas: 3

services:
  db:
    type: postgres
    storage: 5Gi

All parameter values are strings. Use quotes in the template for numeric fields that YAML might interpret differently.

Parameters use Go text/template syntax. All parameter values are strings. Use quotes in the template for numeric fields that YAML might interpret differently.