Explanation

Explanation documentation is understanding-oriented. It clarifies concepts, provides background, and helps you understand why things work the way they do.

What You'll Find Here

Explanation content in Fawkes is designed to:

• Provide context and background knowledge
• Explain concepts, architecture decisions, and design choices
• Help you understand the "why" behind features
• Connect different parts of the platform together

Core Concepts

The following explanatory content provides deep-dive understanding of Fawkes architectural decisions and design philosophy.

Architecture & GitOps

Topic	Description
GitOps Strategy	Why ArgoCD, the App-of-Apps pattern, and the shift from push to pull deployment
GitOps Principles	Declarative, version-controlled infrastructure - See Module 3: GitOps Principles
Loosely Coupled Architecture	Why independence matters - See Architecture

Containers & Build Strategy

Topic	Description
Buildpacks Philosophy	The trade-offs of Cloud Native Buildpacks vs. Dockerfiles for security and maintenance

Security & Compliance

Topic	Description
Zero Trust Model	How Vault, Kyverno, and Istio/Ingress work together for defense in depth
Policy as Code Tiers	Understanding the Audit vs. Enforce governance model
Shift Left Security	Why early security testing matters - See Module 7: Security Scanning
Zero Trust Architecture	Modern security principles - See Module 19: Security Zero Trust

Observability

Topic	Description
Unified Telemetry	The role of OpenTelemetry as the standard vs. vendor-specific agents

Platform Engineering

Topic	Description
Product Discovery & Delivery Flow (IP3dP)	How to treat your platform as a product with continuous discovery and measurement
What is an Internal Developer Platform?	Understanding IDPs and their value - See Module 1: What is IDP
Platform as a Product	Operating your platform with product thinking - See ADR-020
Golden Paths	Paved roads for developer productivity - See Golden Path Usage

DORA & Performance

Topic	Description
Understanding DORA Metrics	The four key metrics and why they matter - See Module 2: DORA Metrics
Elite Performance	What it means to be an elite performer - See Home page

Business Value

Topic	Description	Status
ROI of Platform Engineering	Quantifying platform value	See Business Case
Developer Experience	Why DX matters for business outcomes	See DX Metrics ADR
Risk Mitigation	How platforms reduce organizational risk	🚧 Coming soon

How This Differs from Other Documentation

Explanation	How-To Guides	Reference
Discusses concepts	Shows steps	Lists specifications
Provides background	Solves problems	Provides data
Explains decisions	Gives instructions	Documents APIs
Connects ideas	Focuses on tasks	Describes options

Architectural Decision Records

For detailed rationale behind specific decisions, see our ADR collection.

View ADRs Explore Patterns