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Understanding the Widget Custom Resource

The Widget Custom Resource (CR) defines a dynamic, declarative model for UI components within Krateo PlatformOps.

It acts as the bridge between frontend-defined layout specifications and the backend logic provided by the snowplow web service.

Overview​

A Widget resource describes how a particular UI component (e.g., a button, a form, a chart) should be rendered in the Krateo frontend.

Unlike traditional custom resources that follow fixed schemas, the Widget CR is partially dynamic — it combines:

  • a frontend-defined section, where UI developers can freely describe the widget’s behavior and layout
  • a runtime-managed section, handled by snowplow, which performs resolution, evaluation, and enrichment tasks

This hybrid design allows frontend developers to define what a component should look like, while snowplow determines how it behaves at runtime.

Refer to the Krateo Widgets documentation for a more detailed guide on Widgets.

Runtime Flow​

Frontend Developer ──► defines JSON Schema (widgetData)
                          │
                          ▼
                  krateoctl generates CRD
                          │
                          ▼
                  Widget Custom Resource created (user)
                          │
                          ▼
                  snowplow resolves CR on demand
                          │
                          ▼
               evaluated results written to status
                          │
                          ▼
              Krateo Frontend reads status → renders component