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Sunkworks Episode 80: hephy-builder Vision Interview Questions

Format: Transcription-friendly Q&A for 15-minute workshop sessions
Goal: Define complete hephy-builder architecture and implementation roadmap
Episode Structure: Workshop → Deep dive → Public plan

🎬 Pre-Interview Workshop Questions (15 minutes)

Round 1: Heritage & Core Vision

Q1: Walk me through the original git push deis main experience from a developer's perspective. What did you see on your terminal from hitting enter to your app being live?

Q2: What was the "magic moment" in that workflow? The thing that made developers love it compared to traditional deployment?

Q3: In 2025, what would be the equivalent user experience? What stays the same, what needs to change?

Round 2: Technical Architecture Deep Dive

Q4: How did the original Deis git server work? Was it a custom implementation or stock git with hooks?

Q5: For multi-arch builds, how should the developer experience work? Do they see two parallel log streams, one unified stream, or something else?

Q6: What's the modern equivalent of the Deis Controller? Do we rebuild it, use FluxCD, or something hybrid?

Round 3: Scope & Implementation Strategy

Q7: Where do we draw the line? Are we building just the git-push-to-build experience, or the full PaaS (databases, routing, etc.)?

Q8: How does hephy-builder relate to existing solutions like Heroku, Railway, Fly.io? Are we competing or complementing?

Q9: What's the minimal viable "git push hephy main" that would make developers excited?

🔧 Interview Questions Bank (30-minute deep dive)

Heritage & Evolution

  • What were the key components of Deis Workflow? (Controller, Builder, Router, etc.)
  • How did the transition from Deis v1 (Fleet) to Deis Workflow (Kubernetes) inform our approach?
  • What lessons from the Deis acquisition and CNCF donation should we apply?
  • How did buildpacks evolve into containers, and what's the next evolution?

Git Server Implementation

  • How did Deis handle SSH key management and authentication?
  • What was the post-receive hook implementation pattern?
  • How did build logs stream back through the SSH connection in real-time?
  • How should we handle timeout scenarios for long builds?
  • What's the modern equivalent using GitLab CI or GitHub Actions?

Multi-Architecture Challenges

  • How do we present parallel AMD64/ARM64 builds to the user?
  • Should architecture differences be highlighted or hidden?
  • How do we handle cases where one architecture fails but the other succeeds?
  • What's the user experience for architecture-specific debugging?

Backend Selection Strategy

  • Should backend selection be automatic (Go → Ko) or explicit configuration?
  • How do we handle migration between backends (Kaniko → Ko)?
  • What's the configuration format for backend-specific options?
  • How do we validate backend compatibility with the project?

Deployment Integration

  • How does the build complete → deployment flow work?
  • What's our relationship with FluxCD vs rebuilding Deis Controller?
  • How do we handle rollbacks and deployment history?
  • What about blue-green deployments and traffic splitting?

Platform Portability

  • Should the same config work identically on GitLab CI and GitHub Actions?
  • How do we handle platform-specific features and limitations?
  • What's the story for self-hosted Git/CI environments?
  • How do we make the git server work with both platforms?

CLI Design

  • What commands should hephy support? (logs, config, deploy, etc.)
  • How does the CLI integrate with the git workflow?
  • What's the relationship between git push hephy main and hephy deploy?
  • How do we handle authentication and configuration?

Scope & Positioning

  • Are we building a complete PaaS or just the build/deploy layer?
  • How do we handle databases, secrets, environment management?
  • What's our story for production vs development environments?
  • How do we scale from hobby projects to enterprise use?

Implementation Priorities

  • What's the MVP that would make this useful immediately?
  • Which backend should we implement first (Ko, Spin, BuildKit)?
  • What's the order of platform support (GitLab first, then GitHub)?
  • How do we maintain backward compatibility with kaniko-builder?

Community & Adoption

  • How do we onboard contributors to this vision?
  • What's the migration path for existing Deis/Hephy users?
  • How do we build momentum without overwhelming the project?
  • What examples and tutorials make the vision concrete?

🎯 Workshop Session Structure

15-Minute Iteration Format

  1. Present 3 questions from current round
  2. Transcribe responses with your tool
  3. Quick clarification on key points
  4. Note follow-up questions for deep dive
  5. Move to next round or iterate on unclear areas

Between-Session Processing

  • AI enhancement of transcription for clarity
  • Architectural decision extraction
  • Question refinement for next round
  • Visual aid preparation (diagrams, examples)

30-Minute Deep Dive Prep

  • Focus areas identified from workshop
  • Visual materials prepared (architecture diagrams)
  • Example scenarios ready for discussion
  • Technical details prioritized by importance

📝 Output Targets for Public Plan

Immediate Deliverables

  • ARCHITECTURE_VISION.md: Complete technical architecture
  • DEVELOPER_EXPERIENCE_SPEC.md: Detailed "git push hephy main" workflow
  • IMPLEMENTATION_ROADMAP.md: Phased development plan
  • MVP_DEFINITION.md: Minimal viable product scope

GitHub Issues Generation

  • Epic issues for major components (git server, CLI, backends)
  • Research tasks for unclear technical areas
  • Implementation tickets with clear acceptance criteria
  • Community tasks for documentation and examples

Community Artifacts

  • Architecture diagrams showing component relationships
  • Comparison charts (backends, platforms, existing solutions)
  • Example workflows demonstrating the vision
  • Contributor onboarding guides and quick-start tutorials

Ready for the workshop sessions! 🚀