A maple-grade API in Azure Container Instances needs GRADE_REGION=north without rebuilding the image for every region. How should that value be supplied?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Do not mint a new image just to flip GRADE_REGION. Pass it as an ACI environment variable—like clipping a different destination tag on the same suitcase for each trip north.
Full Explanation
Runtime configuration for the maple-grade API belongs in ACI environment variables. Set GRADE_REGION=north on the container instance (and use secure environment variables when values are secret-like) so the same image serves every region without a rebuild. That keeps region as deploy-time data instead of baked image content.
Baking a unique image tag per region that hard-codes the string in the Dockerfile multiplies artifacts for a single setting and slows promotion. Changing the ACR login server name to encode region is not an application configuration channel—the container does not read its grade region from registry DNS. Scraping a public README at startup is brittle, unverified, and inappropriate for operational configuration.
Exam caveat: environment variables are visible to anyone who can read the container definition unless marked secure; for true secrets prefer secure env vars or Key Vault-backed patterns supported by your host.
Operational check: deploy one group with GRADE_REGION=north and another with a different value using the same image tag, print or hit a diagnostic endpoint that echoes the variable, and confirm no new Dockerfile build was required between regions.