KEP-907: Renaming "Model Registry" to reflect Registry and Catalog use-cases

[tarilabs]

👉👉👉 We want to hear from you! Anyone is free to add their proposal here in the PR (use the github PR review suggestion button) 👈👈👈

The voting on the actual chosen name can happen after PR merge or as part of this PR directly, depending on how many contributions/feedback we receive.

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spin-off the community discussion from this #892 (comment) as a proper KEP form.

Executive Summary

This KEP proposes renaming the current "Model Registry" Kubeflow project to better reflect its evolution that encompasses both model registry capabilities (for tracking model evolution during development) and model catalog capabilities (for showcasing organization-approved models). The current naming might under-evaluate the project's capabilities and goals, as the "Kubeflow Model Registry" project has well grown beyond its original scope to include GenAI/LLM showcasing, enterprise-wide model sharing, and more than a singular use-case pattern (i.e.: multi-tenant Registries and a cluster-wide Catalog).

KEP Workflow

Status: provisional.

Raised as Draft PR in GitHub to collect community input, since the discussion happened in this github thread, but as separate KEP, and given the intended scope is already quite framed (i.e. renaming). Will move to "Ready for Review" to be merged once we have enough discussion, while keeping records of the received feedback here in github.

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[tarilabs]

@kubeflow/kubeflow-steering-committee fyi. Separated the thread into an appropriate KEP.

[franciscojavierarceo]

this lgtm

[rareddy]

Would coming with new name part of KEP or should we have separate effort for this?

[terrytangyuan]

This seems like a clearer winner to me personally. How do we want to vote though? Do we want to limit vote per org?

[tarilabs]

I would not limit to one-per-Org simply because a lot of contributors to Model Registry are from a single org, and that would not give them the option to hear their voices.

If there are enough feedback we can vote on the PR, otherwise we can put forward the KEP and call for a vote during a KF community meeting.

[andreyvelich]

So Model Catalog is kind of internal version of HuggingFace Hub, right ? I am curious why catalog can't be used for tenant-scoped model tracking ?
cc @akshaychitneni @bigsur0

[rareddy]

Yes. Catalog is more for discovery of the models that may not been organically developed inside an enterprise, like representing a subset of models from Hugging Face's namespace. This is mostly read only with no access restrictions. Yes, we are thinking a catalog model can be added to Registry to further fine tune, RAG etc. which will be tenant scoped and with access permissions.

[andreyvelich]

I would imagine a use-case when Model Catalogs are useful in multi-cluster environment, similar to Data Lakehouses.
It is current limitation on how we deploy our AI reference platform.

[rareddy]

I’d like to gauge the community’s interest in expanding the scope of the Registry to include additional AI assets such as MCP Servers and Agents. I realize this broadens the scope for which name change is outlined in the current PR, but as we go through the name change, this could be an opportune time to extend our reach into the GenAI space.

To clarify, I’m not suggesting that this project take on full ownership of those areas. Rather, the Registry could serve as an integration platform that connects with other open-source solutions. For example, we’ve previously discussed integrating with MLflow for experiment tracking. Similarly, we could explore integrations in the MCP and Agents domains.

If there’s community interest, I’d be happy to draft an amended proposal reflecting this broader vision. We can later follow up additional KEP into each space

[tarilabs]

I’d like to gauge the community’s interest in expanding the scope of the Registry to include additional AI assets such as MCP Servers and Agents

would you concur that is consistent with the following entries from the current list of suggested name change (ie dropping "Model" or variations):

• "Kubeflow AI Asset Registry"
• "Kubeflow AI Assets"
• "Kubeflow Registry" (simplified by dropping "Model")
• "Kubeflow AI Hub"
• "Kubeflow AI Registry"
• "Kubeflow AI Atlas"
• "Kubeflow Atlas"

[tarilabs]

Following the 2025-11-04 meeting, I'm asking people to express their preferred name as a simple comment here on this Pull Request. This would allow us to rank and pick the preferred name. (for a single individual I will keep the last comment in case of multiple ones)

[Al-Pragliola]

I vote for "Kubeflow Registry"

[rareddy]

"Kubeflow Registry" seems most fitting as with Atlas and AI Hub there is further explanation one need to do what it means.

[ederign]

I vote for "Kubeflow Registry"

[tarilabs]

I don't like "sticking" with Registry as that seems it generated a lot of assumptions in the reader, and opt for a "generic umbrella" so my vote is for "Kubeflow AI Hub", also considering the current/imminent status of the project itself:

---
config:
  theme: 'forest'
---
mindmap
  root((this project))
    Registry "pattern"
      Model Registry
      Catalog "pattern"
        Model Catalog
        MCP Catalog
        ... Catalog
    Integrations
      KServe
        Isvc reconciler
        Storage Initializer
      Python client
        orchestration of Store+Register
          S3
          OCI / KServe ModelCar in Python
      async-upload "vanilla" K8s Job

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[rareddy]

Based on more research

1. "Hub" implies ecosystem and community - aligns with how AI models are discovered, shared, and deployed
2. "Registry" suggests technical infrastructure - more backend/administrative
3. "Catalog" is retail/shopping focused - doesn't capture the collaborative/development aspect
4. "Atlas" lacks market recognition in AI contexts

In Market we see

• Hugging Face Hub - The de facto standard for AI model sharing
• Azure AI Hub - Microsoft's enterprise AI platform
• Vertex AI Model Garden - Google's approach (garden = hub concept)

I change my vote to "Kubeflow AI Hub"

[adysenrothman]

Considering that we see "Hub" used in other spaces, my vote is also "Kubeflow AI Hub". I think it encapsulates the idea of a central project well for the registry and the catalog.

[ederign]

After the valid points raised by Matteo, I also change my vote to "Kubeflow AI Hub".