Containers architecture

How the containers works together and how they are built

There are 3 main containers deployed in a standard OSRD setup:

Gateway (includes the frontend): Serves the front end, handles authentication and proxies requests to the backend.
Editoast: Acts as the backend that interacts with the front end.
Core: Handles computation and business logic, called by Editoast.

Standard deployment

The standard deployment can be represented with the following diagram.

flowchart TD
    gw["gateway"]
    front["front-end static files"]
    gw -- local file --> front
    
    browser --> gw
    gw -- HTTP --> editoast
    editoast -- HTTP --> core

External requests are received by the gateway. If the path asked starts with /api it will be forwarded using HTTP to editoast, otherwise it will serve a file with the asked path. Editoast reach the core using HTTP if required.

The gateway is not only a reverse proxy with the front-end bundle included, it also provides all the authentication mechanisms: using OIDC or tokens.