Gitops Workflow

GitOps Workflow

Complete guide to implementing declarative, Git-based continuous delivery for Kubernetes using ArgoCD or Flux CD, following OpenGitOps principles.

When to Use

• Setting up GitOps for Kubernetes clusters
• Automating application deployments from Git
• Implementing progressive delivery strategies (canary, blue-green)
• Managing multi-cluster deployments
• Configuring automated sync policies
• Setting up secret management in GitOps

Do not use this skill when:

• You need a one-off manual deployment
• You cannot manage cluster access or repo permissions
• You are not deploying to Kubernetes

Prerequisites

• A running Kubernetes cluster with kubectl configured and cluster-admin access
• A Git repository (GitHub, GitLab, or other) with push permissions
• kubectl installed and authenticated (kubectl get nodes must succeed)
• For ArgoCD: network access to apply manifests from raw.githubusercontent.com
• For Flux: flux CLI installed (see Procedure step for installation)
• For Windows/PowerShell hosts: kubectl works identically in PowerShell; use Select-String instead of grep and $env:VAR instead of $VAR for environment variables

Procedure

1. Define Repository Layout and Desired-State Conventions

Establish a clear repo structure separating applications, infrastructure, and GitOps controller configs:

gitops-repo/
├── apps/
│   ├── production/
│   │   ├── app1/
│   │   │   ├── kustomization.yaml
│   │   │   └── deployment.yaml
│   │   └── app2/
│   └── staging/
├── infrastructure/
│   ├── ingress-nginx/
│   ├── cert-manager/
│   └── monitoring/
└── argocd/
    ├── applications/
    └── projects/

For Flux, use a clusters/ directory layout:

gitops-repo/
├── clusters/
│   ├── production/
│   │   ├── flux-system/
│   │   ├── apps/
│   │   └── infrastructure/
│   └── staging/
└── apps/
    └── base/

2. Install ArgoCD

# Create namespace
kubectl create namespace argocd

# Install ArgoCD
kubectl apply -n argocd -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-cd/stable/manifests/install.yaml

# Get admin password
kubectl -n argocd get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret -o jsonpath="{.data.password}" | base64 -d

Load references/argocd-setup.md when the user needs detailed ArgoCD installation, ingress configuration, SSO setup, or RBAC customization beyond the basic install above.

3. Create an ArgoCD Application

# argocd/applications/my-app.yaml
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: my-app
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  project: default
  source:
    repoURL: https://github.com/org/gitops-repo
    targetRevision: main
    path: apps/production/my-app
  destination:
    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
    namespace: production
  syncPolicy:
    automated:
      prune: true
      selfHeal: true
    syncOptions:
    - CreateNamespace=true

Apply it:

kubectl apply -f argocd/applications/my-app.yaml

4. App of Apps Pattern (ArgoCD)

For managing many applications from a single root Application:

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: applications
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  project: default
  source:
    repoURL: https://github.com/org/gitops-repo
    targetRevision: main
    path: argocd/applications
  destination:
    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
    namespace: argocd
  syncPolicy:
    automated: {}

5. Install Flux CD

# Install Flux CLI (macOS)
brew install fluxcd/tap/flux

# Alternative: download the official installer, inspect it, then execute it
tmpdir="$(mktemp -d)"
trap 'rm -rf "$tmpdir"' EXIT
curl -fsSLo "$tmpdir/flux-install.sh" https://fluxcd.io/install.sh
cat "$tmpdir/flux-install.sh"  # review the full installer before sudo
sudo bash "$tmpdir/flux-install.sh"

# Bootstrap Flux
flux bootstrap github \
  --owner=org \
  --repository=gitops-repo \
  --branch=main \
  --path=clusters/production \
  --personal

6. Create Flux GitRepository Source

apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: GitRepository
metadata:
  name: my-app
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 1m
  url: https://github.com/org/my-app
  ref:
    branch: main

7. Create Flux Kustomization

apiVersion: kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: Kustomization
metadata:
  name: my-app
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 5m
  path: ./deploy
  prune: true
  sourceRef:
    kind: GitRepository
    name: my-app

8. Configure Sync Policies

ArgoCD auto-sync:

syncPolicy:
  automated:
    prune: true      # Delete resources not in Git
    selfHeal: true   # Reconcile manual changes
    allowEmpty: false
  retry:
    limit: 5
    backoff:
      duration: 5s
      factor: 2
      maxDuration: 3m

Flux sync:

spec:
  interval: 1m
  prune: true
  wait: true
  timeout: 5m

Load references/sync-policies.md when the user needs advanced sync configuration: retry/backoff tuning, health assessments, wave sync, or multi-environment promotion flows.

9. Progressive Delivery

Canary deployment with ArgoCD Rollouts:

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Rollout
metadata:
  name: my-app
spec:
  replicas: 5
  strategy:
    canary:
      steps:
      - setWeight: 20
      - pause: {duration: 1m}
      - setWeight: 50
      - pause: {duration: 2m}
      - setWeight: 100

Blue-green deployment:

strategy:
  blueGreen:
    activeService: my-app
    previewService: my-app-preview
    autoPromotionEnabled: false

10. Secret Management

Option A — External Secrets Operator (recommended):

apiVersion: external-secrets.io/v1beta1
kind: ExternalSecret
metadata:
  name: db-credentials
spec:
  refreshInterval: 1h
  secretStoreRef:
    name: aws-secrets-manager
    kind: SecretStore
  target:
    name: db-credentials
  data:
  - secretKey: password
    remoteRef:
      key: prod/db/password

Option B — Sealed Secrets:

# Encrypt secret
kubeseal --format yaml < secret.yaml > sealed-secret.yaml

# Commit sealed-secret.yaml to Git

HARD RULE: Never commit plaintext Kubernetes Secrets to Git. Always use sealed secrets or an external secret manager (External Secrets Operator, Vault, cloud KMS).

Pitfalls

1. Auto-sync to production without approvals — Avoid enabling automated.sync on production Applications without a prior approval gate. Use autoPromotionEnabled: false for blue-green or manual sync for production.
2. Secrets in Git — Never store raw Kubernetes Secret manifests in Git. Use Sealed Secrets or External Secrets Operator.
3. Missing prune: true — Without prune, deleted Git resources remain in the cluster, causing drift between Git and cluster state.
4. selfHeal: true on namespaces with manual operators — Self-heal will revert manual changes made by operators (e.g., HPA scaling), causing conflicts.
5. Flux bootstrap with wrong --path — The --path flag determines where Flux stores its manifests in the repo. Changing it later requires manual cleanup.
6. ArgoCD argocd-initial-admin-secret not deleted — After changing the admin password, delete the initial secret: kubectl -n argocd delete secret argocd-initial-admin-secret. Leaving it is a security risk.
7. No RBAC on Git repo — Anyone with push access can deploy anything. Implement branch protection and required reviews.
8. No notifications on sync failure — Without alerts, drift or sync failures go unnoticed. Enable ArgoCD notifications or Flux alert providers.
9. Windows PowerShell line-continuation — In PowerShell, use backtick ` instead of \ for line continuation in multi-line commands. YAML files are unaffected.
10. Flux installer not inspected before execution — Always review the downloaded flux-install.sh before running with sudo, as shown in the procedure.

Verification

ArgoCD

# Check ArgoCD server is running
kubectl get pods -n argocd -l app.kubernetes.io/name=argocd-server

# Verify application sync status
argocd app get my-app

# Check for out-of-sync resources
argocd app diff my-app

# Force sync if needed
argocd app sync my-app --prune
argocd app sync my-app --force

Expected output: Health: Healthy and Sync Status: Synced.

Flux

# Check Flux controllers are running
kubectl get pods -n flux-system

# Verify GitRepository is ready
flux get sources git

# Verify Kustomization is reconciling
flux get kustomizations

# Check reconciliation logs
flux logs --all-namespaces

Expected output: Ready: True for all sources and kustomizations.

General Cluster Verification

# Confirm deployed resources match Git state
kubectl get all -n production

# Verify no orphaned resources (prune working)
kubectl get deployments -n production

Related Skills

• k8s-manifest-generator — For creating Kubernetes manifests
• helm-chart-scaffolding — For packaging applications as Helm charts

Limitations

• Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above.
• Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
• Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.