feast-dev · ntkathole · Aug 17, 2026
@@ -217,6 +217,14 @@ For external DB-backed offline stores (BigQuery, Snowflake, Spark, Trino, etc.),
 `persistence.store.type` and a Secret with the matching key. See
 [Offline Stores](../reference/offline-stores/) in the SDK docs.
 
+> **Important — contrib store drivers require a custom image.**
+> The published `quay.io/feastdev/feature-server` image ships with `feast[minimal]`
+> (aws, gcp, snowflake, redis, go, mysql, postgres-c, opentelemetry,
+> grpcio, k8s, duckdb, mcp, milvus). Contrib offline stores such as **Trino, Iceberg,
+> Spark, Athena, ClickHouse**, and others are **not** included in the base image. To use
+> them, build a custom feature-server image that adds the required extras. See
+> [Building a custom feature-server image](#building-a-custom-feature-server-image) below.
+
 ### Registry
 
 | `type` | Secret key | Notes |
@@ -985,6 +993,200 @@ See [Guide 6 — Batch & Jobs](06-batch-and-jobs.md) for full details.
 
 ---
 
+## Building a custom feature-server image
+
+The published `quay.io/feastdev/feature-server` image includes a curated subset of Feast
+extras. Contrib store drivers (Trino, Iceberg, Spark, Athena, ClickHouse, etc.) and any
+additional Python packages your feature transformations depend on are **not** included. To
+use them, build a custom image that extends the base image with the packages you need.
+
+> **You do not need to clone the Feast repository.** Extend the published base image and
+> install extra packages on top.
+
+### Writing the Dockerfile
+
+Create a `Dockerfile` in your own infrastructure repository (or the repository that holds
+your Feast feature definitions):
+
+```dockerfile
+FROM quay.io/feastdev/feature-server:0.65.0
+
+RUN uv pip install --no-cache-dir \
+    "feast[trino,redis,iceberg]==0.65.0"
+```
+
+Pin the Feast version in both the base image tag and the `pip install` command so the
+server and client libraries stay in sync. Add any other Python packages your feature
+transformations need (ML libraries, internal SDKs, etc.):
+
+```dockerfile
+FROM quay.io/feastdev/feature-server:0.65.0
+
+RUN uv pip install --no-cache-dir \
+    "feast[trino,redis,iceberg,mlflow]==0.65.0" \
+    "scikit-learn>=1.3,<2" \
+    "my-internal-sdk==1.2.3"
+```
+
+### Building and pushing via CI/CD
+
+The image build and push should run entirely in CI/CD — never from a developer laptop in
+a production workflow.
+
+```yaml
+# Example: GitHub Actions
+name: Build Feast Feature Server
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [main]
+    paths:
+      - 'feast/Dockerfile'
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: docker/login-action@v3
+        with:
+          registry: registry.example.com
+          username: ${{ secrets.REGISTRY_USER }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.REGISTRY_PASSWORD }}
+      - uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
+        with:
+          context: feast/
+          push: true
+          tags: registry.example.com/feast/feature-server:0.65.0-custom
+```
+
+### Referencing the custom image in the FeatureStore CR
+
+Point the operator at the custom image using `server.image` on each service that needs it.
+Also set `services.initImage` so the init containers (`feast-init` for git clone/staging
+and `feast-apply` for registry updates) use the same custom image — otherwise they run
+with the default image which lacks the contrib drivers:
+
+```yaml
+apiVersion: feast.dev/v1
+kind: FeatureStore
+metadata:
+  name: my-feature-store
+spec:
+  feastProject: my_project
+  feastProjectDir:
+    git:
+      url: https://github.com/my-org/feast-feature-repo
+      ref: <pinned-commit-sha>
+  services:
+    initImage: registry.example.com/feast/feature-server:0.65.0-custom
+    offlineStore:
+      server:
+        image: registry.example.com/feast/feature-server:0.65.0-custom
+      persistence:
+        store:
+          type: trino
+          secretRef:
+            name: feast-offline-store
+    onlineStore:
+      server:
+        image: registry.example.com/feast/feature-server:0.65.0-custom
+      persistence:
+        store:
+          type: redis
+          secretRef:
+            name: feast-online-store
+    registry:
+      local:
+        server:
+          image: registry.example.com/feast/feature-server:0.65.0-custom
+        persistence:
+          store:
+            type: sql
+            secretRef:
+              name: feast-data-stores
+```
+
+The `git` section above points to your **feature-definition repository** (not Feast's
+GitHub repository). The operator clones that repository at deployment time to load
+`feature_store.yaml` and feature definitions.
+
+Alternatively, set the image once for all services cluster-wide via the operator
+environment variable:
+
+```sh
+kubectl set env deployment/feast-operator-controller-manager \
+  RELATED_IMAGE_FEATURE_SERVER=registry.example.com/feast/feature-server:0.65.0-custom \
+  -n feast-operator-system
+```
+
+See [Guide 3 — Serving & Observability](03-serving-and-observability.md#container-image-and-resources)
+for the full image resolution priority chain.
+
+### Baking the feature repo into the custom image
+
+If the cluster cannot clone a Git repository at runtime (air-gapped environments), combine
+the custom dependencies with the feature repository in one image:
+
+```dockerfile
+FROM quay.io/feastdev/feature-server:0.65.0
+
+RUN uv pip install --no-cache-dir \
+    "feast[trino,redis,iceberg]==0.65.0"
+
+COPY feature_repo/ /opt/feast/feature_repo/
+```
+
+Then use the `packaged` provisioning mode so the operator reads the baked-in repo:
+
+```yaml
+spec:
+  feastProject: my_project
+  feastProjectDir:
+    packaged:
+      image: registry.example.com/feast/feature-server:0.65.0-custom
+      featureRepoPath: /opt/feast/feature_repo
+  services:
+    runFeastApplyOnInit: false      # apply is handled separately
+    offlineStore:
+      server: {}
+      persistence:
+        store:
+          type: trino
+          secretRef:
+            name: feast-offline-store
+```
+
+See [Guide 1 — Project Provisioning](01-project-provisioning.md#option-c--use-a-repository-packaged-in-an-image-feastprojectdirpackaged)
+for full `packaged` details.
+
+### Included extras in the base image
+
+For reference, the base `quay.io/feastdev/feature-server` image installs `feast[minimal]`,
+which expands to:
+
+```
+feast[aws, gcp, snowflake, redis, go, mysql, postgres-c, opentelemetry, grpcio, k8s, duckdb, mcp, milvus]
+```
+
+The `minimal` extra is defined in the Feast
+[`pyproject.toml`](https://github.com/feast-dev/feast/blob/stable/pyproject.toml).
+
+Extras **not** included in `minimal` (require a custom image):
+
+| Extra | Offline store |
+|-------|---------------|
+| `trino` | [Trino](../reference/offline-stores/trino.md) |
+| `spark` | [Spark](../reference/offline-stores/spark.md) |
+| `athena` | [Athena](../reference/offline-stores/athena.md) |
+| `mssql` | [MSSQL](../reference/offline-stores/mssql.md) |
+| `clickhouse` | [ClickHouse](../reference/offline-stores/clickhouse.md) |
+| `oracle` | [Oracle](../reference/offline-stores/oracle.md) |
+| `couchbase` | [Couchbase](../reference/offline-stores/couchbase.md) |
+| `iceberg` | Apache Iceberg |
+| `mlflow` | MLflow model registry |
+
+---
+
 ## Troubleshooting
 
 | Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |

@@ -207,6 +207,83 @@ spec:
 
 ---
 
+## Client-side configuration (auto-generated ConfigMap)
+
+When the operator deploys a `FeatureStore` CR, it automatically creates a ConfigMap named
+`feast-<name>-client` in the same namespace. This ConfigMap contains a ready-to-use
+`feature_store.yaml` that points at the deployed remote services (online store, offline
+store, and registry).
+
+For example, a CR named `testing` produces a ConfigMap `feast-testing-client`:
+
+```yaml
+# ConfigMap: feast-testing-client (auto-generated by the operator)
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: feast-testing-client
+data:
+  feature_store.yaml: |
+    project: testing
+    provider: local
+    online_store:
+        path: https://feast-testing-online.feast.svc.cluster.local:443
+        type: remote
+        cert: /etc/pki/tls/custom-certs/ca-bundle.crt
+    registry:
+        path: feast-testing-registry.feast.svc.cluster.local:443
+        registry_type: remote
+        cert: /etc/pki/tls/custom-certs/ca-bundle.crt
+    auth:
+        type: no_auth
+    entity_key_serialization_version: 3
+```
+
+### Using the client ConfigMap in-cluster
+
+Mount the ConfigMap into your application pod so the Feast SDK discovers the configuration
+automatically:
+
+```yaml
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: ml-serving-app
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      containers:
+        - name: app
+          volumeMounts:
+            - name: feast-client-config
+              mountPath: /opt/feast
+              readOnly: true
+      volumes:
+        - name: feast-client-config
+          configMap:
+            name: feast-testing-client
+```
+
+Then initialize the Feast store from the mounted path:
+
+```python
+from feast import FeatureStore
+
+store = FeatureStore(repo_path="/opt/feast")
+```
+
+### Using the client ConfigMap outside the cluster
+
+Copy the ConfigMap content to your local `feature_store.yaml` for development or
+testing outside the cluster. Adjust hostnames and TLS paths as needed (e.g. use
+`kubectl port-forward` or an Ingress endpoint):
+
+```sh
+kubectl get configmap feast-testing-client -o jsonpath='{.data.feature_store\.yaml}' > feature_store.yaml
+```
+
+---
+
 ## See also
 
 - [API reference — `RegistryConfig`](https://github.com/feast-dev/feast/blob/stable/infra/feast-operator/docs/api/markdown/ref.md#registryconfig)

@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ look for store-specific YAML options in the Feast SDK docs.
 - **"How do I wire Postgres/Redis/DuckDB as my store?"** → [Guide 2](02-persistence.md)
 - **"How do I enable Prometheus scraping for the feature server?"** → [Guide 3](03-serving-and-observability.md)
 - **"How do I make all services share a remote registry?"** → [Guide 4](04-registry-topology.md)
+- **"How do I get the client `feature_store.yaml` for connecting to my Feast services?"** → [Guide 4 — Client ConfigMap](04-registry-topology.md#client-side-configuration-auto-generated-configmap)
+- **"How do I use a contrib offline store like Trino or Iceberg?"** → [Guide 2 — Custom Image](02-persistence.md#building-a-custom-feature-server-image)
 - **"How do I enable Kubernetes RBAC or OIDC auth?"** → [Guide 5](05-security.md)
 - **"How do I schedule nightly materialization?"** → [Guide 6](06-batch-and-jobs.md)
 - **"How do I send lineage events to Marquez?"** → [Guide 7](07-openlineage-and-materialization.md)