1. Proposed title of this feature request

Tool to easily generate and deploy catalog sources from operator bundles without automatic subscription creation

2. What is the nature and description of the request?

Operator authors need a streamlined tool that can easily generate a catalog from a bundle and make it available on a cluster as an OLMv0 CatalogSource and/or an OLMv1 ClusterCatalog without automatically creating subscriptions or other OLM installation resources.

Currently, creating just a catalog source from a bundle requires complex manual steps or using lower-level tooling that lacks convenience features. This RFE requests tooling that:

• Generates catalog content from operator bundles
• Creates OLMv0 CatalogSource resources on clusters
• Supports future OLMv1 ClusterCatalog resources
• Provides catalog-only deployment without subscription creation
• Maintains ease-of-use similar to existing developer tools
• Handles bundle processing, image management, and cluster deployment seamlessly

The tool should bridge the gap between low-level catalog management tools and full operator installation workflows, giving developers granular control over catalog deployment.

Reference for similar functionality: https://github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/pull/6952

3. Why does the customer need this? (List the business requirements here)

Business Requirements:

BR1: Frontend Integration Testing

• Operator authors need to test OpenShift Console's operator installation frontend with tokenized authentication
• Testing requires catalog sources to exist without pre-created subscriptions
• Frontend must handle subscription creation flow independently to properly manage authentication tokens
• Current tools either create full installations or require complex manual catalog building

BR2: Flexible Development Workflows

• Developers require granular control over OLM resource lifecycle for testing and development
• Need to test catalog availability independently from operator installation
• Want to create catalogs first, then manually configure subscriptions with specific parameters
• Current tooling forces all-or-nothing approach that doesn't match development needs

BR3: CI/CD Pipeline Integration

• Automated systems need programmatic control over when subscriptions are created
• Pipelines need to create catalogs, then create subscriptions with environment-specific configurations
• Different pipeline stages may handle catalog deployment vs. operator installation
• Existing tools don't provide the granular control needed for sophisticated automation

BR4: Multi-tenant Environment Support

• Platform teams need to manage catalog availability separately from operator installations
• Development teams need catalogs available for self-service operator installation
• Separation of concerns requires catalog deployment without automatic subscription creation
• Current coupled approach prevents proper multi-tenant operator management

BR5: Simplified Catalog Management

• Operator authors face fragmented tooling landscape for catalog operations
• Low-level tools require extensive manual steps and domain expertise
• Need streamlined developer experience for common catalog deployment scenarios
• Gap exists between complex catalog building tools and simple developer workflows

Pain Points Addressed:

• Eliminates complex manual catalog building processes
• Provides developer-friendly catalog deployment workflow
• Enables proper testing of operator installation frontends
• Supports flexible CI/CD automation patterns
• Enables multi-tenant operator platform architectures

4. List any affected packages or components.

Primary Components:

• Operator catalog generation tooling - Core functionality for bundle-to-catalog conversion
• Kubernetes client libraries - For CatalogSource/ClusterCatalog resource management
• Bundle processing utilities - For operator bundle parsing and validation
• Container image management - For catalog image handling and registry operations

OLM Components:

• OLMv0 CatalogSource - Target resource for catalog deployment
• OLMv1 ClusterCatalog - Future target resource for next-generation OLM
• Bundle format specifications - Input format for catalog generation

Integration Points:

• OpenShift Console - Benefits from improved operator installation testing capabilities
• CI/CD platforms - Improved automation capabilities for operator deployment pipelines
• Container registries - For catalog image storage and distribution
• Kubernetes clusters - Target deployment environment for catalog resources

Documentation Components:

• User guides for catalog-only deployment workflows
• Developer documentation for bundle-to-catalog tooling
• Integration examples for CI/CD and multi-tenant scenarios
• Migration guides from existing tooling approaches