> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://grandcentral.backbase.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Overview

> Build a Grand Central Camel-K connector from project setup to cluster testing

Grand Central connectors are vendor-agnostic Camel-K integrations packaged as Quarkus apps and Helm charts. Building one means setting up the project, laying out the route anatomy, calling REST endpoints through the standard kamelet, applying Enterprise Integration Patterns (EIPs), mapping requests and responses, configuring runtime properties, and testing locally and on a cluster.

If you don't have GitHub access to the source repositories, every compiled artifact is available from the JFrog repository at [Grand Central artifacts on JFrog](https://repo.backbase.com/ui/native/repo/com/backbase/gc). This includes the BOM, SDK, kamelets, API specs, and Maven plugins.

## Build path

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Code standards" icon="code" href="/platform/developer-guides/build/code-standards">
    Coding standards and best practices to apply across all connectors
  </Card>

  <Card title="Set up the project" icon="folder-tree" href="/platform/developer-guides/build/set-up-the-project">
    Naming conventions, project layout, prerequisites, connector styles, and first-time configuration
  </Card>

  <Card title="Anatomy of a connector" icon="diagram-project" href="/platform/developer-guides/build/anatomy-of-a-connector">
    The route skeleton and operation patterns for REST/JSON, SOAP/XML, and event connectors
  </Card>

  <Card title="Call REST endpoints" icon="globe" href="/platform/developer-guides/build/call-rest-endpoints">
    Use the gc-http-caller kamelet for every outbound REST call
  </Card>

  <Card title="Use Camel EIPs" icon="route" href="/platform/developer-guides/build/use-camel-eips">
    Common Enterprise Integration Patterns: choice, multicast, splitter, doTry, and more
  </Card>

  <Card title="Transform and validate data" icon="arrows-turn-to-dots" href="/platform/developer-guides/build/transform-and-validate-data">
    JSON Schema validation, JOLT and XSLT transformations, and helper bean calls
  </Card>

  <Card title="Configure properties" icon="sliders" href="/platform/developer-guides/build/configure-properties">
    Common application.properties values for Camel, HTTP, CXF, retries, and headers
  </Card>

  <Card title="Configure a custom connector" icon="gear" href="/platform/developer-guides/build/configure-connector">
    Helm and SOPS configuration that takes effect at deploy time
  </Card>

  <Card title="Test and validate" icon="flask-vial" href="/platform/developer-guides/build/test-and-validate">
    Run the connector locally, deploy with kamel:dev, and write SDK-based unit tests
  </Card>

  <Card title="Reference artifacts and rules" icon="book" href="/platform/developer-guides/build/reference-artifacts-and-rules">
    Maven artifacts published to JFrog and the rules and anti-patterns to follow
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Connector styles

Three connector styles exist — REST/JSON, SOAP/XML, and Event/Generic — and the vendor's integration type determines which to use. Each style pairs a transformation format (JOLT or XSLT) with the appropriate HTTP kamelet. For the full comparison and the exact kamelet to use for each style, see [Connector styles in Set up the project](/platform/developer-guides/build/set-up-the-project#connector-styles).

## Technology stack

Build custom connectors with the following stack:

* [Apache Camel-K](https://camel.apache.org/camel-k/): integration framework for Kubernetes
* [Quarkus](https://quarkus.io/): runtime
* [Maven](https://maven.apache.org/): build and dependency management
* Java: primary development language
* GitHub Actions: continuous integration and deployment