Service scaffolding CLI
A single command creates the repository, folder layout, pipeline, Dockerfile and starter tests from a template, with the service name and owner filled in.
Delivery Automation
Developer Self-Service & Golden Paths
New services start from a template that already has the boring parts done.
The work
What this actually does
The first week of a new service should not be spent copying a repository, wiring a pipeline and guessing at the monitoring conventions. We build a small number of golden paths — a template plus the automation around it — so a team can scaffold a production-ready service in an afternoon and spend the rest of the week on the actual problem.
Golden paths are opinions, not mandates. A team that needs to deviate can, and the template records why the exception was made so the next person understands it. The catalogue shows what exists, who owns it and how healthy it is, which quietly removes the biggest source of duplicated work in most organisations.
If any of these sound familiar
- Every new service starts with a week of copy-paste
- Repositories diverge until no two services deploy the same way
- New joiners spend their first sprint asking where things live
- Provisioning a database means a ticket and a two-day wait
Scope
What's included
Every engagement on this page covers the following, sized to your setup rather than delivered as a fixed package. If something here is not relevant to you, it comes off the scope and off the price.
Golden path templates
Two or three reference architectures covering the common shapes, an HTTP service, a batch job, a queue consumer, each with logging and metrics wired in.
Infrastructure defaults
Terraform modules for database, bucket and queue provisioning already parameterised in the template, so infrastructure follows the same conventions as the service.
Guardrails and quotas
Self-service provisioning is bounded by budget, region and naming policies, so a developer gets a resource in minutes without creating something finance discovers later.
Service catalogue entry
Every scaffolded service registers itself with an owner, a tier and a runbook link, giving you a current inventory without chasing teams by email.
Onboarding documentation
Templates ship with a README that explains the layout, the local setup and the deploy steps, so a newcomer can ship on their first day instead of their third week.
What changes
What teams typically see
15 minNew service scaffolded
1 dayNew joiner to first deploy
3Golden paths maintained
Handover
What you keep
Everything produced during the engagement is yours: the repositories, the accounts, the documentation. There is no proprietary layer and nothing to unlicense if you take the work in-house.
- Scaffolding CLI and template repository you own
- Two to three standardised golden path templates
- Provisioning guardrails with budget and region limits
- Populated service catalogue with owners and tiers
- Contribution guide for adding new templates
Tooling
Tools we use here
A starting point, not a requirement. We work in whatever you already run wherever it does the job.
GitHub
GitLab
Terraform
Kubernetes
Helm
Docker
Ansible
How it runs
From first call to handover
The same four steps on every engagement. You see each one before it starts and can stop at any of them.
- 01
Survey what teams build
We ask your engineers what they create most often and where the repeated setup hurts, then pick the two or three templates worth maintaining.
- 02
Write the first template
One complete service built end to end, from repository creation to a running deployment, so the template is proven before it is published.
- 03
Add guardrails and catalogue
Provisioning policies, budget limits and the catalogue entry go in next, so the path is safe to open up rather than limited to one pilot team.
- 04
Hand over the maintenance
Your platform team learns how to add and version templates, and we agree a review cadence so the paths do not rot as your stack changes.
Questions
Asked before we start
Does a golden path force everyone onto one stack?
No, but it does make the default obvious, which is the point. Teams with a genuine reason to differ keep their own setup and we help them document it. A path nobody is required to follow only survives if using it is simply easier.
How many templates should we maintain?
Fewer than you think. Two or three well-kept templates cover most service shapes; every extra template is another thing to upgrade when a base image or library changes. We would rather have three that are current than nine that are stale.
Do we need a developer portal to do this?
Not to start. A CLI and a well-structured repository get most of the benefit, and we have seen teams run that way for a year. A portal such as Backstage adds search and discovery once the catalogue is large enough that people cannot remember it.
Who owns the templates after you leave?
Your platform or enablement team, and we hand over the maintenance with a written contribution guide plus a paired walkthrough of a template upgrade. We stay reachable for questions, but the aim is that you never need us to add a service.
Delivery Automation
Often needed alongside this
Platform & Containers
Internal Developer Platform
A paved road for your developers: self-service environments and golden-path templates in one portal.
- Backstage portals and service catalogues
- Golden-path scaffolding for new services
- On-demand and ephemeral preview environments
Delivery Automation
CI/CD Pipeline Engineering
Automated build, test and deploy pipelines that turn every commit into a repeatable, auditable release.
- GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins & Azure Pipelines
- Parallel builds, caching and artifact promotion
- Quality gates, approvals and rollback on failure
Infrastructure & Cloud
Infrastructure as Code
Your entire cloud estate described in version control — reviewable, reproducible and rebuildable from scratch.
- Terraform, OpenTofu, Pulumi & CloudFormation
- Remote state, workspaces and modular reusability
- Drift detection and policy-checked pull requests
Worth a conversation about Developer Self-Service & Golden Paths?
Bring the specific problem. We will tell you honestly whether this is the service that fixes it, and what it would take.