WG - Dev Services Lifecycle

[cescoffier]

This working group proposal is an outcome of the WG - Unified Dev Service - Brainstorming · quarkusio quarkus · Discussion #47307. This is closely related to the [Test Classloading working group] (WG - Test classloading).

Objective:

This working group's main objective is to define and implement a consistent lifecycle model for Dev Services.

The Problem

The current Dev Services lifecycle has inconsistencies:

• Dev Services are started during the augmentation phase, despite being pre-runtime constructs. This is causing an issue with the new Test ClassLoading effort.
• Dev Services are not reused between modes (dev, test) or even between test runs, causing unnecessary startup times and friction in iterative workflows. It should be a choice.
• Dev Services may be shared between profiles, but the control over that is not great
• There’s no clear boundary between what is kept alive, restarted, or disposed of across development sessions.
• The lifecycle logic is embedded in various places.

These issues degrade the developer experience.

The proposed Solution

This working group will define and implement a proper lifecycle for Dev Services with the following strategic goals:

• Move Dev Services startup to a pre-runtime phase (after the augmentation phase, but before the actual start of the application), ensuring alignment with their intended usage. This work has already been started.
• Support reusing Dev Services globally across dev and test modes — including reuse between test runs when enabled.
• Clearly document and implement container/service teardown behavior to avoid runtime leaks and unintended resource retention.
• Define discoverability and sharing rules (e.g., shared vs isolated services) with minimal configuration burden. Currently, the “shared” default depends on the dev service.
• Maintain boundaries by avoiding orchestration features, but allow complementary approaches like our Docker Compose integration.

Definition of Done

The working group will be considered complete when the following are delivered:

• ADR defining the Dev Services lifecycle model, including reuse and startup rules.
• Implementation of runtime-only startup for Dev Services and deprecation of augmentation-based initialization.
• Support for reusing Dev Services across modes and test executions (configurable)
• Clear sharing rules
• Updated documentation covering lifecycle behavior and new reuse capabilities.
• Improve the development model to easily create dev service following this new lifecycle

Out of Scope:

• Dev Service orchestration (e.g., dependency graphs, lifecycle sequencing of multiple services).
• Non-lifecycle-related feature additions or individual Dev Service improvements. Some tasks have already been scheduled but won’t be part of this working group.

Organizing the Work

1. Communication and Transparency:

• GitHub issues and discussions in the main Quarkus repository.
• Work will primarily occur in the Quarkus core repo, with possible touchpoints in Quarkiverse extensions if needed (for Quarkiverse extension defining dev services).

2. Points of Contact:

• @ozangunalp, @holly-cummins

Note

A large part of this working group is covered by:
#45785

[cescoffier]

Board created: WG - Dev Services Lifecycle