Skip to main content

Golden Paths

"The path of least resistance should be the path of right resistance."

Golden Paths (also known as Paved Roads) are opinionated, supported, and automated paths to production for specific types of applications. They are designed to reduce cognitive load and accelerate development by providing a "standard" way of doing things that is pre-configured with best practices.

Why Golden Paths?​

In a complex cloud-native environment, developers often face a paradox of choice: too many tools, too many configurations, and too many ways to deploy. Golden Paths solve this by offering:

  • Reduced Decision Fatigue: Developers don't need to choose between 10 different CI/CD tools or infrastructure configurations.
  • Built-in Best Practices: Security, observability, and scalability are baked in from the start.
  • Self-Service: Teams can spin up a new service without waiting for the platform team.
  • Easier Support: The platform team can provide better support for a few well-defined paths than for a chaotic mix of technologies.

Examples​

A Golden Path is typically realized through a Software Template in the DevPortal.

1. Spring Boot on Kubernetes​

For backend services, a Golden Path might include:

  • A scaffolded Spring Boot application with standard dependencies.
  • A pre-configured Dockerfile.
  • Helm charts for Kubernetes deployment.
  • A CI/CD pipeline (e.g., GitHub Actions) that builds, tests, and deploys to a dev environment.
  • Integration with SonarQube for code quality.

2. React App on S3/CDN​

For frontend applications:

  • A React/Next.js boilerplate.
  • Build scripts optimized for production.
  • Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform) to provision an S3 bucket and CloudFront distribution.
  • Automated deployment on merge to main.

Golden Paths vs. Restrictions​

Golden Paths are not mandatory. Teams can choose to go "off-road" if they have specific needs that the Golden Path doesn't cover. However, going off-road means they take on more responsibility for maintaining their own infrastructure and tooling. The Golden Path is simply the easiest and most supported way to deliver value.