Glossary

Product vocabulary for Kollect — custom resources, sink roles, and multi-cluster terms. For architecture context see Understand the basics and Platform decisions.

Core pipeline

Term	Definition
Profile	A KollectProfile — static schema defining what to extract: target GVK plus JSONPath/CEL attribute rules. Not reconciled; admission-validated. See ADR-0204.
Target	A KollectTarget — what to watch: namespace selectors, label selectors, profileRef, and informer registration. The target controller reconciles collection state.
Inventory	A KollectInventory — aggregate + export: binds targets, holds the in-memory snapshot, debounces export, and writes to sinkRefs.
Sink	A family sink CR — KollectSnapshotSink (Git, GitLab, S3, GCS), KollectDatabaseSink (Postgres, MongoDB), or KollectEventSink (Kafka) — where to send inventory in the tenant namespace.
Scope	A KollectScope — optional policy gate limiting allowed GVKs, namespaces, and sinks for multitenant installs. Enforced at admission, not reconciled.
Connection test	A KollectConnectionTest — probes family sink reachability and sets ConnectionVerified (ADR-0403).
GVK	Group, Version, Kind — identifies the Kubernetes API type a profile collects (for example apps/v1 Deployment).
Attribute	Named extraction rule on a profile: maps a logical key (for example image) to a JSONPath or cel: expression.
Snapshot	The canonical in-memory inventory artifact per KollectInventory before any sink write. All exports are projections of this snapshot (ADR-0401).
Projection	A sink-specific rendering of the snapshot — JSON in Git, objects on S3/GCS, upsert rows in Postgres/MongoDB, or events on Kafka.
Export debounce	Minimum interval between identical exports per sink ref (exportMinInterval precedence); reduces write amplification (ADR-0413, ADR-0603).

Sink roles

Term	Definition
Snapshot store	Sink role that writes whole current state each cycle (Git, S3/GCS Parquet, HTTP). Deletes are implicit — absent resources are not in the latest file (ADR-0401).
SoR (system of record)	Relational state store — typically Postgres — answering what is deployed now? with queryable rows. Requires delete reconciliation when resources disappear.
Event emitter	Sink role that publishes change streams (NATS JetStream, Kafka) for downstream consumers; tombstones and materialized views are consumer-owned.
Delete reconciliation	Postgres-specific logic to remove rows when UIDs leave the snapshot; snapshot stores get correct deletes for free.

Multi-cluster fleet

Term	Definition
Fleet	Many clusters each running mode: single, exporting to a shared sink with distinct spec.cluster (ADR-0501).
Cluster label	spec.cluster on database/event/snapshot sinks — merge dimension for Postgres PK, Git pathTemplate, or event subject.
Cluster target / inventory	Cluster-scoped reconciled kinds (KollectClusterTarget, KollectClusterInventory) for cross-namespace rollup and platform-wide export. They reference namespaced KollectProfile / family sinks by name + namespace (ADR-0208).

Runtime and ops

Term	Definition
Reconciled CRD	Kind with an active controller loop updating status (targets, inventories, connection tests). Contrast static profiles/scopes (ADR-0202).
Watch mode	KollectTarget.spec.watchMode: All (default, respect opt-out) or OptIn (only kollect.dev/watch=enabled). See ADR-0205.
Tenant mode	Helm values restricting the operator informer cache and RBAC to listed namespaces (ADR-0203).
Leader election	Optional HA mode where only one manager pod reconciles; enable for production multi-replica Deployments (ADR-0706).

Custom resources (from CRD schema)

Auto-generated from config/crd/bases/ OpenAPI descriptions. Regenerate with python3 hack/gen-glossary.py. Field-level detail: CR reference.

KollectClusterInventory (cluster)

KollectClusterInventory rolls up cluster targets for platform operators.

Spec field	Description
databaseSinkRefs	databaseSinkRefs lists namespaced KollectDatabaseSink refs (ADR-0414, ADR-0208).
dedupe	dedupe selects how overlapping target rows collapse on export (ADR-0305).
eventSinkRefs	eventSinkRefs lists namespaced KollectEventSink refs (ADR-0414, ADR-0208).
exportMinInterval	exportMinInterval is the minimum time between identical exports for this inventory.
namespaceSelector	namespaceSelector restricts rollup to namespaces matching the selector.
namespaces	namespaces explicitly lists namespace names that may contribute to the rollup.
profileRef	profileRef optionally overrides the rollup extraction schema with a namespaced
sinkNamespace	sinkNamespace is the default namespace for family sink refs that omit a namespace.

Full reference: KollectClusterInventory.

KollectClusterScope (cluster)

KollectClusterScope is a cluster governance boundary for cluster targets and inventories.

Spec field	Description
allowedGVKs	allowedGVKs restricts which target resource kinds may be collected in this scope.
allowedNamespaces	allowedNamespaces restricts which workload namespaces may be collected.
databaseSinkRefs	databaseSinkRefs lists permitted KollectDatabaseSink names for this scope.
deniedNamespaces	deniedNamespaces is a platform blacklist; Target intent cannot override (D8).
eventSinkRefs	eventSinkRefs lists permitted KollectEventSink names for this scope.
minExportInterval	minExportInterval is a tenancy floor — inventory and sink intervals below this value are rejected.
snapshotSinkRefs	snapshotSinkRefs lists permitted KollectSnapshotSink names for this scope.

Full reference: KollectClusterScope.

KollectClusterTarget (cluster)

KollectClusterTarget selects resources cluster-wide for platform operators.

Spec field	Description
excludedNamespaces	excludedNamespaces is a static namespace denylist applied after include logic.
includedNamespaces	includedNamespaces is a static namespace allowlist. Empty means no extra restriction
namespaceExcludeSelector	namespaceExcludeSelector excludes namespaces whose labels match the selector.
namespaceSelector	namespaceSelector restricts collection to namespaces matching the selector.
profileRef	profileRef points at a namespaced KollectProfile by name and namespace (ADR-0208).
resourceRules	resourceRules declares GVK-scoped collection rules. When empty, collection falls back to
suspend	suspend pauses reconciliation when set to true (reserved for future controller).

Full reference: KollectClusterTarget.

KollectConnectionTest (namespaced)

KollectConnectionTest triggers an audited one-shot sink connectivity probe.

Spec field	Description
ownerSink	ownerSink sets an ownerReference to the sink when true (default).
profileRef	profileRef optionally names a KollectProfile for future composite probes.
sinkRef	sinkRef identifies exactly one family sink to probe (ADR-0414).
ttlSecondsAfterFinished	ttlSecondsAfterFinished deletes the CR after status.completed plus this TTL.

Full reference: KollectConnectionTest.

KollectDatabaseSink (namespaced)

KollectDatabaseSink is the Schema for relational export sinks.

Spec field	Description
bigquery	bigquery configures BigQuery relational export (ADR-0420).
cluster	cluster labels exported inventory in multi-cluster installs.
connectionTest	connectionTest enables connectivity checks on create/update (default true).
endpoint	endpoint is the backend-specific destination (URL, bucket, and so on).
exportMinInterval	exportMinInterval is the default minimum time between identical exports when an inventory
layout	layout configures document shape and folder layout for snapshot Git/GitLab sinks (ADR-0419).
mongodb	mongodb configures MongoDB document upsert export (ADR-0417).
options	options carries non-secret, backend-specific pass-through settings (ADR-0416 §4, Option 2).

Full reference: KollectDatabaseSink.

KollectEventSink (namespaced)

KollectEventSink is the Schema for event export sinks.

Spec field	Description
cluster	cluster labels exported inventory in multi-cluster installs.
connectionTest	connectionTest enables connectivity checks on create/update (default true).
endpoint	endpoint is the backend-specific destination (URL, bucket, and so on).
exportMinInterval	exportMinInterval is the default minimum time between identical exports when an inventory
kafka	kafka configures Kafka inventory change events.
layout	layout configures document shape and folder layout for snapshot Git/GitLab sinks (ADR-0419).
nats	nats configures NATS JetStream inventory change events.
options	options carries non-secret, backend-specific pass-through settings (ADR-0416 §4, Option 2).

Full reference: KollectEventSink.

KollectInventory (namespaced)

KollectInventory is the Schema for the kollectinventories API

Spec field	Description
databaseSinkRefs	databaseSinkRefs lists KollectDatabaseSink names in this namespace (ADR-0414).
eventSinkRefs	eventSinkRefs lists KollectEventSink names in this namespace (ADR-0414).
exportMinInterval	exportMinInterval is the minimum time between identical exports for this inventory.
httpEndpoint	httpEndpoint exposes a read-only inventory summary over HTTP when enabled.
maxExportBytes	maxExportBytes caps the marshalled namespace payload for export and HTTP (optional).
snapshotSinkRefs	snapshotSinkRefs lists KollectSnapshotSink names in this namespace (ADR-0414).
suspend	suspend pauses reconciliation of this inventory when set to true.

Full reference: KollectInventory.

KollectProfile (namespaced)

KollectProfile is the Schema for the kollectprofiles API

Spec field	Description
attributes	attributes lists the values to extract from each matching resource.
export	export optionally enables full-resource export with path pruning (ADR-0306).
metrics	metrics lists kube-state-metrics-style Prometheus series emitted on operator /metrics.
targetGVK	targetGVK selects the Kubernetes resource kind this profile applies to.

Full reference: KollectProfile.

KollectScope (namespaced)

KollectScope is a namespaced governance boundary for targets, inventories, and sinks.

Spec field	Description
allowedGVKs	allowedGVKs restricts which target resource kinds may be collected in this scope.
allowedNamespaces	allowedNamespaces restricts which workload namespaces may be collected.
databaseSinkRefs	databaseSinkRefs lists permitted KollectDatabaseSink names for this scope.
deniedNamespaces	deniedNamespaces is a platform blacklist; Target intent cannot override (D8).
eventSinkRefs	eventSinkRefs lists permitted KollectEventSink names for this scope.
minExportInterval	minExportInterval is a tenancy floor — inventory and sink intervals below this value are rejected.
snapshotSinkRefs	snapshotSinkRefs lists permitted KollectSnapshotSink names for this scope.

Full reference: KollectScope.

KollectSnapshotSink (namespaced)

KollectSnapshotSink is the Schema for snapshot export sinks.

Spec field	Description
cluster	cluster labels exported inventory in multi-cluster installs.
connectionTest	connectionTest enables connectivity checks on create/update (default true).
endpoint	endpoint is the backend-specific destination (URL, bucket, and so on).
exportMinInterval	exportMinInterval is the default minimum time between identical exports when an inventory
git	git configures git sink settings when type is git.
gitlab	gitlab configures GitLab-specific settings when type is gitlab.
http	http configures webhook snapshot export when type is http.
layout	layout configures document shape and folder layout for snapshot Git/GitLab sinks (ADR-0419).

Full reference: KollectSnapshotSink.

KollectTarget (namespaced)

KollectTarget is the Schema for the kollecttargets API

Spec field	Description
excludedNamespaces	excludedNamespaces is a static namespace denylist applied after include logic.
includedNamespaces	includedNamespaces is a static namespace allowlist. Empty means no extra restriction
labelSelector	labelSelector restricts collection to resources matching the selector.
names	names optionally restricts collection to resources with these names.
namespaceExcludeSelector	namespaceExcludeSelector excludes namespaces whose labels match the selector.
namespaceSelector	namespaceSelector restricts collection to namespaces matching the selector.
profileRef	profileRef is the name of a KollectProfile in the same namespace as this Target.
resourceRules	resourceRules declares GVK-scoped collection rules. When empty, collection falls back to

Full reference: KollectTarget.

See also

• CR reference — per-kind fields, conditions, failure modes
• FAQ — symptom-oriented answers
• Data flows — collection and export diagrams