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Kraken Overview

Kraken is a CDK library for cdkactions that provides high-level construct abstractions built specifically for Penn Labs infrastructure and CI/CD workflows.

What is Kraken?

Kraken is a wrapper around cdkactions that simplifies the creation and management of GitHub Actions workflows using the AWS CDK approach. Instead of writing YAML configuration files, you can define your CI/CD pipelines using TypeScript with familiar construct patterns.

Key Features

  • Pre-built constructs for common Penn Labs project patterns
  • LabsApplicationStack for standard Django + React projects
  • DjangoProject and ReactProject constructs for flexible configurations
  • Automated CI/CD with linting, testing, building, and deployment
  • Docker image publishing with standardized naming conventions
  • Type-safe workflow definitions using TypeScript
  • Reusable components across multiple projects

Use Cases

Kraken is ideal for:
  • Penn Labs projects following the Django backend + React frontend pattern
  • Projects requiring custom CI/CD workflows with multiple services
  • Teams wanting type-safe, programmatic workflow definitions
  • Applications needing automated testing, building, and deployment

Learn More

For detailed API documentation and examples, visit kraken.pennlabs.org.

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