hostprovided

Hostprovided is a term used in computing to describe resources, services, or dependencies that are supplied by the host system rather than by the guest environment, container, or packaged artifact. The exact semantics of hostprovided vary by project, but the core idea is that the host environment is responsible for providing the indicated item at runtime, during build, or at execution time.

In container and virtualization contexts, marking something as hostprovided means the container or virtual machine does not ship or install that component; instead, the component is expected to be available on the host. This can reduce image size and improve consistency when the host and guest share a common runtime, but it can also affect portability and isolation.

In packaging and build systems, hostprovided may appear as a flag or metadata indicating that a dependency should not be installed or bundled, because the host provides it. This approach helps avoid duplication and conflicts, but it requires careful coordination of host capabilities across environments.

Benefits of using hostprovided include reduced duplication, smaller artifacts, and clearer delineation of what is supplied by the host versus the artifact. Drawbacks include potential portability constraints, increased coupling to the host environment, and the need for explicit documentation to ensure consistent behavior across systems.

Notes and related concepts: host-provided libraries, host dependencies, and runtime provisioning. The term is not universally standardized, so developers should consult the specific project's documentation for exact behavior and constraints.