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+# Client Options
+
+The containerd client was built to be easily extended by consumers.
+The goal is that the execution flow of the calls remain the same across implementations while `Opts` are written to extend functionality.
+To accomplish this we depend on the `Opts` pattern in Go.
+
+## Method Calls
+
+For many functions and methods within the client package you will generally see variadic args as the last parameter.
+
+If we look at the `NewContainer` method on the client we can see that it has a required argument of `id` and then additional `NewContainerOpts`.
+
+There are a few built in options that allow the container to be created with an existing spec, `WithSpec`, and snapshot opts for creating or using an existing snapshot.
+
+```go
+func (c *Client) NewContainer(ctx context.Context, id string, opts ...NewContainerOpts) (Container, error) {
+}
+```
+
+## Extending the Client
+
+As a consumer of the containerd client you need to be able add your domain specific functionality.
+There are a few ways of doing this, changing the client code, submitting a PR to the containerd client, or forking the client.
+These ways of extending the client should only be considered after every other method has been tried.
+
+The proper and supported way of extending the client is to build a package of `Opts` that define your application specific logic.
+
+As an example, if Docker is integrating containerd support and needs to add concepts such as Volumes, they would create a `docker` package with options.
+
+#### Bad Extension Example
+
+```go
+// example code
+container, err := client.NewContainer(ctx, id)
+
+// add volumes with their config and bind mounts
+container.Labels["volumes"] = VolumeConfig{}
+container.Spec.Binds  = append({"/var/lib/docker/volumes..."})
+```
+
+#### Good Extension Example
+
+```go
+// example code
+import "github.com/docker/docker"
+import "github.com/docker/libnetwork"
+
+container, err := client.NewContainer(ctx, id,
+	docker.WithVolume("volume-name"),
+	libnetwork.WithOverlayNetwork("cluster-network"),
+)
+```
+
+There are a few advantages using this model.
+
+1. Your application code is not scattered in the execution flow of the containerd client.
+2. Your code can be unit tested without mocking the containerd client.
+3. Contributors can better follow your containerd implementation and understand when and where your application logic is added to standard containerd client calls.
+
+## Example SpecOpt
+
+If we want to make a `SpecOpt` to setup a container to monitor the host system with `htop` it can be easily done without ever touching a line of code in the containerd repository.
+
+```go
+package monitor
+
+import (
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd"
+	specs "github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/specs-go"
+)
+
+// WithHtop configures a container to monitor the host system via `htop`
+func WithHtop(s *specs.Spec) error {
+	// make sure we are in the host pid namespace
+	if err := containerd.WithHostNamespace(specs.PIDNamespace)(s); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	// make sure we set htop as our arg
+	s.Process.Args = []string{"htop"}
+	// make sure we have a tty set for htop
+	if err := containerd.WithTTY(s); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+```
+
+Adding your new option to spec generation is as easy as importing your new package and adding the option when creating a spec.
+
+```go
+import "github.com/crosbymichael/monitor"
+
+spec, err := containerd.GenerateSpec(
+	containerd.WithImageConfig(ctx, image),
+	monitor.WithHtop,
+)
+```
+
+You can see the full code and run the monitor container [here](https://github.com/crosbymichael/monitor).