How to use Claude to build an artifact registry
A DevOps engineer reports building Artifact Keeper in about three weeks with Claude Code, keeping architectural control and running the resulting open-source registry at home.
news.ycombinator.com
Prompt to try
Editorial adaptation, not the source author’s exact prompt. Replace bracketed inputs and review tool permissions first.
Build [self-hosted artifact registry] using [Rust framework] and [database]. Follow my designs for [WASM plugins], [complementary scanning engines] and [peer mesh replication]. Integrate [search engine] and native [package protocols], and validate with unit, end-to-end, stress and failure-injection tests.
Reach people exploring AI agents
See placements →What happened
The author reports a registry built in about three weeks with 45+ package formats, scanning, plugins and mesh replication, running at home but not deployed at work or demonstrated at scale.
Reported by bsgeraci on Hacker NewsHow the agent did it
- Design the registry’s WASM plugin system.
- Determine how Trivy, Grype and OpenSCAP scanning complement each other.
- Architect and build peer mesh replication without a central coordinator.
Where a person stepped in
The author retained design control and reports unit, end-to-end, stress and failure-injection testing.
A person approved each step before the agent continued.
The author built Artifact Keeper outside work as a self-hosted artifact registry, using Claude Code over about three weeks. The motivation was to provide an open-source registry without enterprise feature gates, informed by the author's DevOps experience and frustrations with existing tools.
The author retained design responsibility. They describe designing the WASM plugin system, figuring out how security scanning engines complement each other, and architecting mesh replication. They also integrated Meilisearch in response to slow search in Artifactory and built a peer mesh where any node can replicate to another without a central coordinator.
The reported release supports more than 45 package formats and native package-manager protocols. It includes Trivy, Grype and OpenSCAP scanning, a policy engine able to quarantine artifacts, SSO, replication, and WASM plugins. The author reports a mostly Rust backend with 429 unit tests, 33 PostgreSQL migrations, and a CI/CD pipeline containing end-to-end tests, stress testing and failure injection.
At the time of the post, the author was running the registry at home for personal projects and had not deployed it at work. Testing at scale remained something they wanted others to attempt.
Who it's for: Experienced developers who can own registry architecture while using a coding agent to accelerate implementation.
Prompt
Suggested prompt (written by Agents In Use, not the author's)
Source: Hacker News · bsgeraci
Frequently asked questions
Who made the architectural decisions?
The author says AI did not make the design decisions. They retained responsibility for the WASM plugin system, scanning-engine relationships and mesh replication architecture.
Was it already deployed at work or tested at scale?
The author says it was running at home for personal projects and had not been deployed at work. They invited others to test it at scale.
More details
Remaining steps
- Run the resulting registry at home for personal projects.
About this account
Claude Code helped build the registry; the author attributes the architecture to their own domain knowledge.
Platform: Hacker News. Attribution: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46909037. Prompt: Suggested (written by Agents In Use, not the author's). Sourced by the Agents In Use pipeline.
Credit: bsgeraci on Hacker News
Source published 6 Feb 2026
Source checked 14 Oct 2026
Tools and topics
Claude Code · Rust · Axum · PostgreSQL 16 · Meilisearch · Wasmtime
Artifact registry · Rust · DevOps
Editorial completeness: 100/100. Measures documented fields, not agent performance or verified outcomes.