Overview

The sidecar pattern allows you to add functionality to a service—such as logging, monitoring, or network proxying—without modifying the application code itself. The sidecar shares the same lifecycle and resources (like network and storage) as the main application.

Common Uses

  • Service Mesh Proxies: Handling service-to-service communication (e.g., Envoy).
  • Log Aggregators: Collecting and shipping logs to a central server.
  • Config Managers: Periodically updating configuration files.

Benefits

  • Separation of concerns.
  • Language independence (the sidecar can be written in a different language than the app).

Related Terms