What is GitOps and should I use it?
AnsweredGitOps is widely recommended and loosely defined, which makes it easy to assume it just means keeping configuration in Git.
What it actually requires in practice beyond that, and when the reconciliation loop earns the setup it costs.
1 Answer
GitOps = Git as the single source of truth for your infrastructure and deployments.
In practice:
- You declare your desired state in Git (Kubernetes manifests, Terraform configs)
- A tool (ArgoCD, Flux) watches Git and automatically syncs your cluster to match
- 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
GitOps may not earn its setup when:
- You run only a few services in a single environment
- You're not on Kubernetes (Argo CD and Flux both deploy to Kubernetes)
- A reviewed CI deploy already gives your small team the audit trail it needs
Read more: GitOps: The Modern Way to Manage Kubernetes
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