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Cloud and Container Plugins

Digital.ai Release supports two execution models for plugins: traditional plugins and container plugins.

Traditional Plugins (Jython-based)​

Traditional plugins run directly inside the Release server. They use the server’s shared runtime and rely on its environment for execution, which means plugins share resources and dependencies with the server itself. Setup is straightforward since there’s no need for an external runner. Traditional plugins also support features such as triggers and dashboard tiles.

This model is best for lightweight automation, event-driven workflows like webhooks or triggers, and situations where it doesn’t matter where the execution happens.

Container Plugins​

Container plugins, on the other hand, execute tasks on remote Release Runners that have specific capabilities defined. Each Release Runner advertises its capabilities—such as supported tools, environments, or infrastructure—using labels. When a container plugin task is triggered, Release matches the task’s requirements to runners with the appropriate capabilities, ensuring the task runs in the right environment.

Each task runs inside its own isolated container, managing its own runtime and dependencies. This model supports scalable and distributed execution, making it suitable for cloud-native and containerized environments. Container plugins are ideal when you need to run tasks in secure or restricted infrastructure, handle heavy or parallel workloads, or use tooling that requires custom runtimes or dependencies.

If your delivery pipeline needs distributed execution across environments, integration with cloud, Kubernetes, or external platforms, secure execution boundaries, high scalability, or custom runtimes and tooling, container plugins are the recommended choice. They allow you to scale execution across multiple runners and ensure each task runs in its own isolated container. There’s no dependency on the Release server environment, which increases flexibility. Security is improved since credentials and execution are isolated from the core system. Finally, container plugins provide portability, delivering consistent execution across different environments.

Runner Capabilities​

Capabilities are labels you assign to a Release Runner to define what types of tasks it can execute. Capabilities let you route tasks to specific runners, separate environments (such as dev, test, or prod), control execution based on infrastructure or tools, and optimize performance and locality. By matching tasks to runners with the right capabilities, you gain more control and flexibility over your automation.

For more information, see Runner Capabilities.

Available Plugins​