Stages and sources covers the two direct routes — an ExternalArtifact (the default sourceRef.kind) or a Flux GitRepository/OCIRepository/Bucket. This page covers the third: naming the thing that produces an artifact and letting the controller find it. This is useful when an operator publishes an ExternalArtifact from a custom resource (for example JaaS rendering Jsonnet).

Referencing a producer

Set kind (and apiVersion) to a producer resource, and the controller resolves it to the ExternalArtifact that producer publishes — the one whose spec.sourceRef back-references the producer (matched on group, kind, and name). For example, a JaaS JsonnetSnippet renders Jsonnet and publishes an ExternalArtifact; reference the snippet and the controller follows the link:

spec:
  stages:
    - name: dashboards
      sourceRef:
        apiVersion: jaas.metio.wtf/v1
        kind: JsonnetSnippet
        name: grafana-dashboards

The controller also watches the common Flux source kinds (GitRepository, OCIRepository, Bucket) so a stage re-reconciles when an upstream source changes.

Related projects

JOI, JaaS, and StageSet compose end to end:

• JOI publishes Jsonnet libraries as single-layer OCI images (usable both as image-volume mounts and as Flux OCIRepository sources).
• JaaS evaluates Jsonnet — optionally importing those JOI libraries — and publishes the rendered JSON as an ExternalArtifact.
• StageSet references the JsonnetSnippet (or its artifact) and rolls the result out in ordered, gated stages.

Each project is independently useful; a stage reads straight from a GitRepository, OCIRepository, or Bucket, or from any ExternalArtifact regardless of what produced it.