Deployment
M3 Forge now has a deployment story built around hosting models, not just container entrypoints.
The target platform family is:
- Cloud: Marie AI operates both control plane and runtime
- Hybrid: Marie AI operates the control plane, you operate the runtime
- Self-hosted: you operate both
- Legacy local packaging: Docker-based demo and migration paths
The production-oriented path is Kubernetes + Helm. The Docker pages remain useful for demos, local environments, and migration, but they are no longer the architecture target for serious self-hosting.
Hosting Models
Cloud
Managed M3 Forge and Marie AI operated by Marie AI
Hybrid
Hosted control plane with customer-run Marie AI data plane
Self-hosted
Run the control plane and runtime in your own Kubernetes environment
Cloud Provider Guides
AWS
EKS + RDS + S3 + managed secrets and ingress
GCP
GKE + Cloud SQL + an S3-compatible object storage layer
Azure
AKS + Azure Database + an S3-compatible object storage layer
Current State
| Capability | Status |
|---|---|
Standalone m3forge Helm chart | Available |
| API + frontend split workloads | Available |
| PVC-backed control-plane filesystem paths | Available |
| Ingress and Gateway API chart support | Available |
Full umbrella chart with marie-ai | In progress |
| Hybrid listener/operator package | In progress |
| Kubernetes-native webapp runner | In progress |
Platform Prerequisites
All serious deployment models eventually rely on the same base services:
- PostgreSQL for transactional data
- S3-compatible object storage for documents and artifacts
- ClickHouse for production observability and analytics
- Kubernetes for the target production deployment model
- Argo CD (sandbox/snapshot feature only) — GitOps control plane that reconciles each sandbox into a complete, isolated Marie system in its own namespace
Today, M3 Forge expects an S3-compatible object storage API. AWS S3 works directly. On GCP and Azure, use MinIO or another S3-compatible layer until native provider adapters are introduced.
Legacy Local Packaging
The Docker pages are still useful when you need:
- a quick demo environment
- a local migration path from Docker to Kubernetes
- a developer workstation setup
All-in-One
Single-container demo package
Docker Compose
Multi-container local and transitional deployment
Gitea Integration
Self-hosted Git repository management for workflows and configurations