Platform Mesh documentation is organized around three personas: platform owners, service providers, and service consumers.
Use this section to identify which role matches your work, what that role owns, and which documentation path to follow next. The persona pages are role guides, not installation guides or component references.
| Persona | Primary goal | Owns | Start with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform owner | Run the mesh as a shared service platform | Platform Mesh runtime, account hierarchy, identity, authorization, policy, provider onboarding, component lifecycle | Why Platform Mesh?, Architecture, Account model, Control planes |
| Service provider | Publish a service capability as a declarative API | API contract, provider automation, service runtime integration, lifecycle status, integration path | Integration paths, api-syncagent, multicluster-runtime, Interaction patterns |
| Service consumer | Discover and consume provider services through a consistent API | Account resources, bound provider APIs, desired-state resources, application service dependencies | Explore the example MSP, Interaction patterns, Account model, API sharing |
The role relationship is simple: the platform owner operates the mesh, providers publish service APIs through it, and consumers discover and consume those APIs through their account workspaces.
flowchart LR
PO["Platform owner"]
PM["Platform Mesh"]
SP["Service provider"]
SC["Service consumer"]
PO -- "operates" --> PM
PO -- "onboards" --> SP
SP -- "publishes service APIs through" --> PM
SC -- "discovers and consumes services through" --> PM
classDef owner fill:#eef2ff,stroke:#4f46e5,stroke-width:2px,color:#1e1b4b
classDef provider fill:#ecfdf5,stroke:#059669,stroke-width:2px,color:#064e3b
classDef consumer fill:#fff7ed,stroke:#ea580c,stroke-width:2px,color:#7c2d12
classDef mesh fill:#f5f3ff,stroke:#7c3aed,stroke-width:2px,color:#3b0764
class PO owner
class SP provider
class SC consumer
class PM mesh
The service flow is separated from the role model. Consumers express desired state in Platform Mesh. Providers reconcile that intent and report status back.
sequenceDiagram
box rgba(234, 88, 12, 0.12) Consumer
participant Consumer as Service consumer
end
box rgba(124, 58, 237, 0.12) Mesh
participant Mesh as Platform Mesh
end
box rgba(5, 150, 105, 0.12) Provider
participant Provider as Service provider
end
Provider->>Mesh: Publish service API
Consumer->>Mesh: Discover and bind API
Consumer->>Mesh: Create desired state
Mesh->>Provider: Deliver consumer intent
Provider->>Mesh: Report status
Mesh->>Consumer: Expose lifecycle status
Platform Mesh mediates the relationship through accounts, workspaces, identity, authorization, and declarative APIs. The consumer does not need direct access to the provider runtime, and the provider keeps ownership of its implementation.
Personas explain audience and ownership. Task steps, component facts, and upstream kcp mechanics belong in other documentation sections: