Cloud Native Buildpacks

aid: buildpacks
name: Cloud Native Buildpacks
description: 'Cloud Native Buildpacks (CNBs) transform application source code into OCI-compliant container images that can
  run on any cloud, without requiring Dockerfiles. Initiated by Pivotal and Heroku in January 2018, CNB joined the CNCF as
  a Sandbox project in October 2018 and GRADUATED on 11 August 2026, the foundation''s highest maturity tier. It is licensed
  Apache-2.0. CNB is primarily a specification project: three independently versioned contracts — Buildpack API 0.12, Platform
  API 0.15 and Distribution API 0.3 — plus reference implementations (the pack CLI and the lifecycle). It centralizes container
  expertise through composable buildpacks, enables layer rebasing for efficient OS updates, and generates Software Bills of
  Materials in CycloneDX, SPDX and Syft formats. The pack CLI, the kpack Kubernetes operator and the public Buildpack Registry
  API are the primary integration points.'
type: Index
deliveryModel:
  model: self-hosted
  license: Apache-2.0
  open_source: true
  commercial: false
  callable_host: false
  label: Self-hosted open source · you run it yourself
  confidence: high
  source:
  - license
  generated: '2026-08-28'
  method: derived
accessModel:
  pricing: free
  onboarding: none
  trial: false
  try_now: true
  public: true
  label: Free open source · no account, no plans
  confidence: high
  source:
  - plans
  - license
  - probe
  generated: '2026-09-05'
  method: searched
  note: Apache-2.0 CNCF Graduated project. No plans, no pricing page, no account and no API key exist (plans/buildpacks-plans-pricing.yml,
    plan_count 0). The Buildpack Registry API at registry.buildpacks.io/api/v1 answers anonymously with HTTP 200, so try_now
    and public are true. This replaces a `freemium` value derived from the 2026-05-04 scaffold that asserted a fabricated
    free tier.
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/buildpacks.png
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/buildpacks/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
created: '2025-01-01'
modified: '2026-09-16'
specificationVersion: '0.23'
tags:
- Cloud Native Buildpacks
- Build Tools
- CI/CD
- Cloud-Native
- CNCF
- Container Images
- Containers
- OCI
- Open Source
tags_raw:
- Cloud Native Buildpacks
- Build Tools
- CI/CD
- Cloud Native
- CNCF
- Container Images
- Containers
- OCI
- Open Source
- Open-Source
apis:
- aid: buildpacks:buildpack-api
  name: Buildpack API Specification
  description: The Buildpack API is the contract between a buildpack and the lifecycle. It defines the detect and build executables,
    layers, build-plan provisions and requirements, and image extension lifecycle that buildpack authors implement to participate
    in a CNB build.
  humanURL: https://buildpacks.io/docs/reference/spec/buildpack-api/
  tags:
  - API Specification
  - Buildpacks
  - Container Images
  - OCI
  - Specification
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/reference/spec/buildpack-api/
  - type: GitHubRepository
    url: https://github.com/buildpacks/spec
  - url: https://github.com/buildpacks/spec/blob/main/buildpack.md
    type: Specification
  - url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/for-buildpack-authors/
    type: Documentation
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
- aid: buildpacks:platform-api
  name: Platform API Specification
  description: The Platform API is the contract between the CNB lifecycle and a platform such as pack, kpack, or a CI runner.
    It defines how builders, stacks, run images, and inputs are passed to the lifecycle phases (analyze, detect, restore,
    build, export, and rebase) and how outputs are consumed.
  humanURL: https://buildpacks.io/docs/reference/spec/platform-api/
  tags:
  - API Specification
  - Container Images
  - Lifecycle
  - Platform
  - Specification
  tags_raw:
  - API Specification
  - Container Images
  - Lifecycle
  - Platform
  - Platforms
  - Specification
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/reference/spec/platform-api/
  - type: GitHubRepository
    url: https://github.com/buildpacks/spec
  - url: https://github.com/buildpacks/spec/blob/main/platform.md
    type: Specification
  - url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/for-platform-operators/
    type: Documentation
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
- aid: buildpacks:distribution-api
  name: Distribution API Specification
  description: The Distribution API specifies how buildpacks and builders are packaged as OCI artifacts, signed, and distributed
    through OCI registries. It also covers how meta-buildpacks compose other buildpacks and how stacks and run images are
    referenced.
  humanURL: https://buildpacks.io/docs/reference/spec/distribution-api/
  tags:
  - API Specification
  - Distribution
  - OCI
  - Packaging
  - Registries
  - Specification
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/reference/spec/distribution-api/
  - type: GitHubRepository
    url: https://github.com/buildpacks/spec
  - url: https://github.com/buildpacks/spec/blob/main/distribution.md
    type: Specification
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
- aid: buildpacks:pack-cli
  name: pack CLI
  tags:
  - CLI
  - Tooling
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  humanURL: https://buildpacks.io/docs/for-app-developers/how-to/build-inputs/
  properties:
  - url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/for-app-developers/how-to/build-inputs/
    type: Documentation
  - url: https://github.com/buildpacks/pack
    type: Source Code
  - type: CLI
    url: cli/buildpacks-cli.yml
  description: pack is the reference command-line interface for Cloud Native Buildpacks. It implements the Platform API to
    build OCI images from source on a developer's workstation, manages builders and buildpack packages, and integrates with
    Docker and OCI registries.
- aid: buildpacks:lifecycle
  name: CNB Lifecycle
  tags:
  - Lifecycle
  - Reference Implementation
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  humanURL: https://github.com/buildpacks/lifecycle
  properties:
  - url: https://github.com/buildpacks/lifecycle
    type: Source Code
  - url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/for-platform-operators/concepts/lifecycle/
    type: Documentation
  description: The CNB Lifecycle is the reference implementation of the Buildpack and Platform APIs. It runs the detect, analyze,
    restore, build, export, and rebase phases used by all CNB platforms to produce reproducible OCI images.
- aid: buildpacks:registry
  name: Buildpack Registry
  tags:
  - Discovery
  - Registry
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  humanURL: https://registry.buildpacks.io/
  properties:
  - url: https://registry.buildpacks.io/
    type: Registry
  - url: https://github.com/buildpacks/registry-api
    type: Source Code
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://github.com/buildpacks/registry-api
  - type: APIReference
    url: https://github.com/buildpacks/registry-api#endpoints
  - type: Specification
    url: https://github.com/buildpacks/spec/blob/main/extensions/buildpack-registry.md
  - type: AgentSkill
    url: skills/buildpacks-publish-a-buildpack-to-the-registry.md
  description: The Cloud Native Buildpacks registry indexes published buildpacks for discovery and reuse. It mirrors metadata
    for buildpack packages stored in OCI registries and exposes a browseable catalog at registry.buildpacks.io.
  baseURL: https://registry.buildpacks.io/api/v1
- aid: buildpacks:buildpacks-kpack-api
  name: Cloud Native Buildpacks Kpack API
  description: The kpack API from Cloud Native Buildpacks — 25 operation(s) for kpack.
  humanURL: https://buildpacks.io/docs/reference/spec/buildpack-api/
  baseURL: https://{kubernetes-apiserver}/apis/kpack.io/v1alpha1
  tags:
  - kpack
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/buildpacks-kpack-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Source Code
    url: https://github.com/buildpacks-community/kpack
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://github.com/buildpacks-community/kpack/blob/main/docs/image.md
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/buildpacks-data-model.yml
common:
- type: AgentSkill
  url: skills/buildpacks-build-an-image-with-kpack.md
- type: IssueTracker
  url: https://github.com/buildpacks/spec/issues
- type: Releases
  url: https://github.com/buildpacks/spec/releases
- type: CodeOfConduct
  url: https://github.com/buildpacks/.github/blob/main/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
- type: ContributionGuide
  url: https://github.com/buildpacks/spec/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md
- type: License
  name: Apache-2.0
  url: https://github.com/buildpacks/spec/blob/main/LICENSE
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/buildpacks-domain-security.yml
- type: Website
  url: https://buildpacks.io
- type: Documentation
  url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/buildpacks
- type: Blog
  url: https://medium.com/buildpacks
- url: https://medium.com/feed/buildpacks
  type: BlogRSS
  description: Discovered RSS/Atom feed for https://medium.com/buildpacks
- type: Community
  url: https://buildpacks.io/community/
- type: Registry
  url: https://registry.buildpacks.io/
- type: Specification
  url: https://github.com/buildpacks/spec/blob/main/buildpack.md
- type: MailingList
  url: https://lists.cncf.io/g/cncf-buildpacks/join
- type: Slack
  url: https://slack.cncf.io
- type: CNCF
  url: https://www.cncf.io/projects/buildpacks/
- type: DevStats
  url: https://buildpacks.devstats.cncf.io/
- name: Use Cases
  type: UseCases
  data:
  - name: App Developer Image Building
    url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/for-app-developers/
    features:
    - No Dockerfile Required
    - Automatic Dependency Detection
    - Multi-Language Support
    - Reproducible Builds
    - ARM Container Support
    - Windows Container Support
  - name: Platform Operator Integration
    url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/for-platform-operators/
    features:
    - CI/CD Pipeline Integration
    - pack CLI Integration
    - kpack Kubernetes Operator
    - Tekton Pipeline Support
    - CircleCI Integration
    - GitLab CI Integration
    - Custom Builder Creation
  - name: Buildpack Authoring
    url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/for-buildpack-authors/
    features:
    - Custom Language Support
    - Framework-Specific Buildpacks
    - Buildpack Packaging
    - Registry Distribution
    - Extension Authoring
    - Composable Buildpack Groups
  - name: OS-Level Security Patching
    url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/reference/spec/platform-api/
    features:
    - Layer Rebasing
    - Base Image Updates Without Rebuild
    - Minimal Rebuild Surface
    - Stack Switching
- name: Features
  type: Features
  data:
  - name: pack build
    url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/for-platform-operators/how-to/integrate-ci/pack/cli/
    features:
    - Source-to-Image Conversion
    - Builder Selection
    - Environment Variable Injection
    - Volume Mount Support
    - Cache Integration
  - name: pack builder
    url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/for-platform-operators/how-to/integrate-ci/pack/cli/
    features:
    - Create Custom Builders
    - Inspect Builder Contents
    - Trust Builder Configuration
    - Suggest Default Builders
  - name: pack rebase
    url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/for-platform-operators/how-to/integrate-ci/pack/cli/
    features:
    - Update Base Image Layers
    - No Source Rebuild Required
    - Fast Security Patching
  - name: pack sbom download
    url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/for-platform-operators/how-to/integrate-ci/pack/cli/
    features:
    - Software Bill of Materials
    - Dependency Inventory
    - Security Auditing
    - License Tracking
  - name: Buildpack Registry
    url: https://registry.buildpacks.io/
    features:
    - Community Buildpack Discovery
    - Namespace Registration
    - Version Tracking
    - Verified Buildpacks
- type: Packages
  url: packages/buildpacks-packages.yml
- type: SDKs
  url: packages/buildpacks-packages.yml
- type: CLI
  url: cli/buildpacks-cli.yml
- type: Conventions
  url: conventions/buildpacks-conventions.yml
- type: Idempotency
  url: conventions/buildpacks-conventions.yml
- type: Authentication
  url: authentication/buildpacks-authentication.yml
- type: ErrorCatalog
  url: errors/buildpacks-problem-types.yml
- type: Lifecycle
  url: lifecycle/buildpacks-lifecycle.yml
- type: Deprecation
  url: lifecycle/buildpacks-lifecycle.yml
- type: ChangeLog
  url: changelog/buildpacks-changelog.yml
- type: Conformance
  url: conformance/buildpacks-conformance.yml
- type: Compliance
  url: conformance/buildpacks-conformance.yml
- type: DataModel
  url: data-model/buildpacks-data-model.yml
- type: VulnerabilityDisclosure
  url: security/buildpacks-vulnerability-disclosure.yml
- type: Security
  url: security/buildpacks-vulnerability-disclosure.yml
- type: TrustCenter
  url: security/buildpacks-trust-center.yml
- type: LLMsTxt
  url: llms/buildpacks-llms.txt
- type: Overlay
  url: overlays/buildpacks-kpack-overlay.yaml
- type: AgentSkill
  url: skills/_index.yml
- type: Plans
  url: plans/buildpacks-plans-pricing.yml
- type: RateLimits
  url: rate-limits/buildpacks-rate-limits.yml
- type: FinOps
  url: finops/buildpacks-finops.yml
- type: OpenAPI
  url: openapi/_original/buildpacks-kpack-swagger.json
- type: DeveloperPortal
  url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/
- type: APIReference
  url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/reference/spec/
- type: GettingStarted
  url: https://buildpacks.io/docs/app-journey
- type: PrivacyPolicy
  url: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/privacy/
- type: Support
  url: https://buildpacks.io/community/
- type: x-RFCs
  url: https://github.com/buildpacks/rfcs
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com
x-enrichment:
  date: '2026-09-05'
  status: enriched
  artifacts_added: 19
  pass: local-v3