# Tilt Documentation
# Source: https://docs.tilt.dev/product_faq.html
# Path: product_faq.html

  * [ Getting Started ](/index.html) [ Getting Started ](/docs_nav_gettingstarted.html)
  * [ Guides ](/tiltfile_authoring.html) [ Guides ](/docs_nav_guides.html)
  * [ Tiltfile & CLI ](/api.html) [ Tiltfile & CLI ](/docs_nav_reference.html)
  * [ Tilt API ](https://api.tilt.dev) [ Tilt API ](https://api.tilt.dev)

Learn About Tilt

    

  * [ Getting Started ](/)
  * [ Is Tilt right for me? ](/product_faq.html)

First Look at Tilt

    

  * [ Overview ](/tutorial/index.html)
  * [ 1\. Preparation (optional) ](/tutorial/1-prerequisites.html)
  * [ 2\. Launching & Managing Resources ](/tutorial/2-tilt-up.html)
  * [ 3\. Tilt UI ](/tutorial/3-tilt-ui.html)
  * [ 4\. Code. Update. Repeat. ](/tutorial/4-code-update-repeat.html)
  * [ 5\. Smart Rebuilds with Live Update ](/tutorial/5-live-update.html)

Quick Links

    

  * [ Install ](/install.html)
  * [ Upgrade ](/upgrade.html)
  * [ Tiltfile Snippets ](/snippets.html)
  * [ Editor Support new ](/editor.html)

How Does Tilt Work?

    

  * [ The Control Loop ](/controlloop.html)
  * [ Choosing a Local Dev Cluster ](/choosing_clusters.html)
  * [ Local vs Remote Services ](/local_vs_remote.html)

FAQs

    

  * [ Frequently Asked Questions ](/faq.html)
  * [ Why is Tilt broken? ](/debug_faq.html)
  * [ What does Tilt send? ](/telemetry_faq.html)

#  Who is Tilt for?

Tilt is a microservice development environment for teams that deploy to
Kubernetes.

Itâs free and open-source.

Thatâs a lot to unpack! Letâs break it down.

* * *

### What is a microservice development environment?

For decades, developer environments focused on files. You change a source
file. You compile a binary. Your binary reads input files and writes output
files.

Your app isnât one binary anymore. Itâs a managed database, and a frontend
server, and a web app â all talking to each other over HTTP.

Development today needs new tools.

[A microservice development environment](https://blog.tilt.dev/2019/09/05/put-
down-particle-accelerator.html) is a new kind of tool that understands how
your files and your servers fit together, and can help you better understand
your system.

* * *

### What kinds of teams should use Tilt?

Currently, weâre focused on helping teams that develop microservice apps,
because thatâs where the pain is most acute.

  * Do you always have 5 terminal windows open to stream the logs of all your servers, because [youâre not sure where to look](https://blog.tilt.dev/2019/04/09/designing-a-better-interface-for-microservices-development.html)?
  * Are devs [always asking questions in team chat](https://blog.tilt.dev/2019/10/01/solving-the-laggy-human-shell-problem.html) about how to distinguish meaningful error logs from noise?
  * Do you have [a complicated Bash script that sets up all your dev servers](https://blog.tilt.dev/2018/12/05/tilt-is-the-start-sh-script-of-my-dreams.html), but is always breaking?

Once youâve set up Tilt, any contributor should be able to run `tilt up` to
get a complete dev environment.

* * *

### Why does Tilt focus on Kubernetes?

Kubernetes defines well-thought-out building blocks for running servers
together â such as containers, pods, and services. Theyâre quickly
becoming standards for our industry.

We should be using these building blocks for all our development environments,
not just when weâre running on big managed clouds like AWS, AKS, or GKE.

Tilt does support other systems for building and running servers. For example,
you can run your containers with [docker-compose](docker_compose.html), or
building with [local shell commands](api.html#api.local_resource). But we
expect that the industry will converge on Kubernetes. Tiltâs support for
other systems is mostly about [making it easier for teams to
migrate](https://blog.tilt.dev/2019/09/16/tips-on-moving-your-dev-env-from-
docker-compose-to-kubernetes.html).

* * *

## Governance

### Who Develops Tilt?

We were originally a start-up! âThe Tilt Teamâ or âTilt.devâ is fine.
Nice to e-meet you.

As of May 2022, [weâve been acquired by
Docker](https://www.docker.com/blog/welcome-tilt-fixing-the-pains-of-
microservice-development-for-kubernetes/).

Our mission is to build great cloud-native development tools for every
developer.

* * *

### Does that mean Tilt will become part of Docker Desktop?

Our current plan is to continue to maintain Tilt as an open-source project.

The Tilt team now works across multiple Docker projects, including Docker
Compose and Docker Desktop. We make sure these projects work great together.
Weâre taking many of the ideas from Tilt and bringing them to everyone who
works with containers.

Weâre also working on new projects to complement Tilt. Stay tuned!

* * *

### Where can I chat with the team?

For real-time support, find us on the Kubernetes slack. Get an invite at
[slack.k8s.io](http://slack.k8s.io) and find us in [the **#tilt**
channel](https://kubernetes.slack.com/messages/CESBL84MV/).

We have a weekly rotation so that thereâs always a Tilt developer active in
the channel during NYC business hours (10am-5pm Monday through Friday).

* * *

### How do I file an issue?

You can file an issue in [our GitHub repo](https://github.com/tilt-
dev/tilt/issues/new).

On normal work days (Monday through Friday), a developer should acknowledge
your issue to confirm we saw it. If you donât hear anything after a day or
two, itâs OK to ping the thread or ask in Slack. We probably just missed it.

For help with private issues (like security vulnerabilities or just concerning
non-public code), please email [help@tilt.dev](mailto:help@tilt.dev).

* * *

### How do new features get added to the roadmap?

Filing a GitHub issue helps a lot, even if itâs not always obvious from the
outside.

* * *

### Why did you call it Tilt?

Itâs a [Don Quixote
reference](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quixote#Tilting_at_windmills).

Our demo app is called
[Servantes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Cervantes).

We have plenty more puns if you ask.

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