What is GitOps
GitOps — paradigm where the entire system state (application manifests, infra) lives in Git, and agents in the cluster continuously sync actual to desired state. Term coined by Weaveworks in 2017. 4 principles: **Declarative**, **Versioned in Git**, **Automatically applied**, **Continuously reconciled**. Tools: ArgoCD (most popular), Flux CD, Jenkins X. Replaces: kubectl apply in CI/CD scripts.
Below: details, example, related terms, FAQ.
Details
- Repo structure: dev manifests + prod manifests + environment overlays
- Pull-based: agent in cluster pulls changes (vs CI push)
- Drift detection: alerts if cluster state ≠ Git
- Rollback = git revert + auto-sync
- Auth: agents use read-only Git + K8s RBAC
Example
# ArgoCD Application
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
name: my-app
spec:
source:
repoURL: https://github.com/me/manifests
targetRevision: main
path: apps/my-app
destination:
server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
namespace: my-app
syncPolicy:
automated: { prune: true, selfHeal: true }Related Terms
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Frequently Asked Questions
GitOps vs CI/CD?
Overlap. CI/CD — pipeline that deploys. GitOps — pattern of operating systems through Git as truth. GitOps often uses CI to build images + PR to manifest repo.
Secrets in Git — how?
NOT plain. Tools: SealedSecrets (encrypted YAML), External Secrets Operator (sync from Vault), SOPS (Mozilla).
Monorepo or split?
Split: app-code repo + manifests repo. Avoids CI reinvocation on manifest-only changes. More popular in 2026.