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# 2 · WHYWhyStellaOps Exists
> Explaining the concrete pain we solve, why the world needs **one more** DevSecOps
> platform, and the success signals that prove we are on the right track.
Softwaresupplychain attacks, licencerisk, and incomplete SBOM coverage slow
teams and compliance audits to a crawl. Most existing scanners:
* **Assume Internet** access for CVE feeds or SaaS backends.
* **Parse an entire image** every build (no layerdelta optimisation).
* **Accept a single SBOM format** (usually Trivy JSON) and choke on anything else.
* Offer **no builtin policy history / audit trail**.
* Require 3060s walltime per scan, an order of magnitude slower than modern CI
expectations.
* **Hide quota limits** or throttle without warning once you move past free trials.
---
# 1 FreeTier Quota  Why **333**?
The limit of **333 SBOM scans per UTC day** was not chosen at random.
| Constraint | Analysis | Outcome |
|------------|----------|---------|
| **SMB workload** | Internal survey across 37 SMBs shows median **210** container builds/day (p95 ≈290). | 333 gives 1.6× headroom without forcing a paid tier. |
| **Cost of feeds** | Hosting, Trivy DB mirrors & CVE merge traffic average **≈ $14/1000 scans**. | 333/day yields <$5 infra cost per user — sustainable for an OSS project. |
| **Incentive to upgrade** | Larger orgs (> 300 builds/day) gain ROI from Plus/Pro tiers anyway. | Clear upsell path without hurting hobbyists. |
> **In one sentence:**  *333 scans cover the daily needs of a typical small /
> medium business, keep free usage genuinely useful and still leave a financial
> runway for future development*.
## 1.1 How the Quota Is Enforced (1minute view)
* Backend loads the **Quota plugin** at startup.
* Every `/scan` call passes the callers **ClientJWT** to the plugin.
* The plugin **increments a counter in Redis** under
`quota:<token>:<yyyymmdd>` (expires at UTC midnight).
* Soft waitwall (5s) after limit; hard waitwall (60s) after 30 blocked calls.
* For **offline installs**, a *1month validity ClientJWT* ships inside every
**Offline Update Kit (OUK)** tarball. Uploading the OUK refreshes the token
automatically.
Detailed sequence living in **30_QUOTA_ENFORCEMENT_FLOW.md**.
---
## 2 · Why *Another* DevSecOps Product?  Macro Drivers
| Driver | Evidence | Implication for Tooling |
|--------|----------|-------------------------|
| **Exploding supplychain attacks** | Sonatype2024 report shows **742%** growth since2020. | SBOMs & provenance checks must be default, not “bestpractice”. |
| **Regulation tsunami** | • USEO14028 & NISTSP800218<br>• EUCyberResilienceAct (CRA) in force 2026<br>• Russian ФЗ187 for КИИ | Vendors must *attest* build provenance (SLSA) and store tamperproof SBOMs. |
| **Runtimecost intolerance** | Pipelines build hundreds of images/day; waiting >10s per scan breaks SLA. | Need **deltaaware** engines that reuse layer analyses (<1s warm scans). |
| **Airgap & sovereignty demands** | Finance/defence prohibit outbound traffic; data must stay onprem. | Ship **selfcontained registry + CVE DB** and run offline. |
| **Predictable freetier limits** | Teams want clarity, not surprise throttling. | Provide **transparent 333 scans/day quota**, early banner & graceful waitwall. |
> **Therefore:** The market demands a **modular, SBOMfirst, sub5s, 100% selfhosted**
> platform **with a transparent freetier quota**—precisely the niche StellaOps targets.
---
## 3 · Gap in Current Tooling
* Trivy / Syft create SBOMs but reanalyse **every** layer wasted minutes/day.
* Policy engines (OPA/Rego) are separate binaries, with no UI or change history.
* No mainstream OSS bundle ships an **anonymous internal registry** for airgapped pulls.
* Provenance attestation (SLSA) and Rekor transparency logs remain bringyourown”.
* Free tiers either stop at 100 scans **or** silently throttle; none announce a **clear 333/day allowance**.
---
## 4 · WhyStellaOps Can Win
1. **Speed First**  DeltaSBOM flow uses cached layers to hit `<1s` warm scans.
2. **MultiFormat Ready**  Autodetects TrivyJSON, SPDXJSON, CycloneDXJSON; UI
lets teams choose perproject defaults.
3. **Offline by Default**  Ships an **anonymous internal Docker registry**
(`StellaOps.Registry`) plus Redis, Mongo, CVE DB, and UI in a single compose up.
4. **Open & Modular**  .NET hotload plugins (`StellaOpsAttestor`, future scanners)
under AGPL; anyone can extend.
5. **Policy as Code**  YAML rules today, upgrade path to OPA/Rego with history stored
in Mongo via `StellaOps.MutePolicies`.
6. **SovereignReady**  Russianlanguage UI, local vulnerability mirrors, zero
telemetry by default.
7. **Honest Freetier Boundaries**  Clear **333 scans/day** limit, early banner at 200 and predictable waitwallno hidden throttling.
---
## 5 · Success Criteria Signals We Solve the Problem
* **Performance:** P95 scan <5s on first pass; `<1s` for warm delta scans.
* **Compatibility:** SBOMs in at least three formats consumed by 3 downstream tools.
* **Adoption:** 1000 reported installs & 2000 binary downloads by Q22026.
* **Compliance:** Positive audits referencing CRA / NIST / SLSA readiness.
* **Community:** 15 firsttime contributors merged per quarter by 2026.
* **Transparency:** 0 support tickets complaining about mystery throttling”.
---
## 6 · NonGoals (20252027)
* Multitenant SaaS offering.
* Automatic fixPR generation (left to ecosystem).
* Windows container **scanning** (Windows *agents* are on the 12month roadmap).
---
## 7 · Stakeholder PainPoint Recap
| Persona | Pain Today | StellaOps Solution |
|---------|------------|---------------------|
| **Dev** | My CI fails for 45s on every push.” | <5s initial, <1s warm scans. |
| **SecOps** | Separate tools for SBOM, policy, and audit. | Unified UI + YAML / Rego policies with history. |
| **Infra** | Internetblocked site; no public pulls allowed. | Offline compose bundle + internal registry. |
| **Compliance** | Need CRAready provenance by 2026. | Future `StellaOpsAttestor` SLSA + Rekor integration. |
| **Budget owner** | Fears hidden overage charges in free tiers. | Transparent 333 scans/day limit, visible in UI/API. |
---
*Last updated: 14Jul2025 (sync with freetier quota rev2.0).*