kubeflow / kubeflow/kale

feat: Searchable runtime image dropdown with defaults for per-step image selection

Open
#574 17 comments 2 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
2.x candidate area/backend area/frontend
Dominant language
Python
Stars
703
Forks
161
Avg merge
6d 3h
Merged PRs (30d)
10

Description

### Feature Area

/area frontend
/area backend

### What feature would you like to see?

Add a searchable runtime image selector for per-step container images, while keeping support for free-text input.

Kale should provide:

- A searchable dropdown with prefilled runtime images
- Ability to still manually type an image when needed
- Support for a default runtime image by notebook, automatically selected
- Ability to define the default image inside the container (so environments can ship sensible defaults)

This builds on the existing per-step runtime image support and improves usability and standardization.

### What is the use case or pain point?

Manually typing Docker image names per step is error-prone and slow, especially when teams already have a known set of supported images. A searchable dropdown improves speed, correctness, and discoverability, while still allowing advanced users full flexibility.

### Is there a workaround currently?

Yes. Users manually type image names in step metadata or copy/paste them from examples. There is no catalog, search, validation, or default mechanism.

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Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by tracing the existing per-step runtime image support and the step metadata path described in the issue. Check how notebook-level defaults and container-provided defaults could fit alongside the searchable selector and free-text input. Done means users can search prefilled images, enter custom images, and receive the appropriate notebook or container default.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
docker, jupyter-notebook, python
Domain
backend, frontend
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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