What is GitOps and should I use it?

Question

I keep hearing about GitOps but I'm not sure what it actually means in practice. Is it just storing configs in Git? When does it make sense to adopt GitOps?

Neeraj Jha · Accepted Answer

**GitOps = Git as the single source of truth for your infrastructure and deployments.**

In practice:
1. You declare your desired state in Git (Kubernetes manifests, Terraform configs)
2. A tool (ArgoCD, Flux) watches Git and automatically syncs your cluster to match
3. Every change goes through a PR → review → merge → auto-deploy

**Use GitOps when:**
- You have multiple environments (dev/staging/prod)
- You want audit trails for every infrastructure change
- You're running Kubernetes

**Skip GitOps when:**
- You have < 3 services
- You're not on Kubernetes
- Your team is very small (1-2 people)

Read more: [GitOps: The Modern Way to Manage Kubernetes](/blog/gitops-manage-kubernetes-deployments)

What is GitOps and should I use it?

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