Choose a Deployment Path

Choose the smallest environment that will answer your current question. All paths preserve the same core boundaries: services own their data, traffic crosses the gateway, and configuration stays outside application code.

Path	Choose it when	Time to first result	Best next step
One module locally	You need to validate a focused capability or API	Minutes	Run one module locally
Full ecosystem locally	You need to inspect cross-service behavior	A local setup session	Run the full ecosystem locally
Kubernetes cluster	You are creating a shared, durable environment	A planned deployment	Deploy to your Kubernetes cluster

flowchart TD
  Q{"What are you testing?"}
  Q -->|"One API or capability"| A["One module locally"]
  Q -->|"A user or payment flow across services"| B["Full ecosystem locally"]
  Q -->|"Operations, scale, or team integration"| C["Kubernetes cluster"]

Prerequisites by path

Requirement	One module	Full ecosystem	Kubernetes cluster
Docker	Required	Required	Required for image workflows
just	Usually	Required	Recommended
k3d	—	Required	Optional
Helm	—	Required	Required
kubectl	—	Recommended	Required

Do not use local defaults as production configuration. The Kubernetes guide includes the security, persistence, and observability decisions required before go-live.