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GitOps manages applications and infrastructure by describing their intended state declaratively, storing that state in a versioned source, and using software agents to pull it and continually reconcile the live system. Git is the familiar choice, but the defining idea is the reviewable, versioned desired state and the ongoing reconciliation loop—not a one-time deployment command.
What GitOps means
In GitOps, desired state is a declarative description of how a managed system should be configured. It might specify application versions, services, or infrastructure settings. A software agent compares that declaration with the actual state it observes in the running environment. When they differ, the agent attempts to bring the environment back toward the declared state; that process is called reconciliation.
Drift is the difference between desired and actual state. It can arise because the declaration changes or because someone or something changes the live system outside the normal workflow. Reconciliation is continuous in the sense that it keeps happening, not that every change is corrected instantly. The CNCF glossary and OpenGitOps glossary describe these concepts.
Git is a common source for desired state, but Git itself is not mandatory. OpenGitOps principles focus on the properties of the state store and process; the CNCF glossary also recognizes alternatives such as an artifact store or a Kubernetes Operator. The key is that the source provides version history and control over changes, and agents can retrieve the declarations.
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The four OpenGitOps principles
OpenGitOps sets out four principles for a system managed through GitOps:
- Declarative: describe the intended operating state, rather than only listing commands to reach it.
- Versioned and immutable: retain a complete history and prevent desired-state revisions from being silently rewritten.
- Pulled automatically: software agents retrieve desired-state declarations from their source.
- Continuously reconciled: agents observe actual state and keep attempting to apply the declared state.
Together, these principles make a change traceable and give the system a continuing mechanism for detecting divergence. They are standards-style statements in the OpenGitOps principles, not a requirement to use one particular Git hosting service or controller.
How GitOps fits with CI/CD
GitOps overlaps with CI/CD but describes a different part of delivery. CI commonly builds and tests application artifacts after source-code changes. A GitOps agent then pulls the approved desired state and applies it, continuing to observe the live system after deployment. A push-based pipeline may finish once it deploys; by contrast, the GitOps reconciliation loop can detect a later out-of-band change and attempt to correct it.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesA typical workflow can look like this:
- An engineer changes declarative application or infrastructure configuration.
- The change is reviewed in a pull request, with policy checks added where appropriate.
- CI builds and tests application artifacts when application source code has changed.
- The approved desired state is merged into the authoritative store.
- A GitOps agent pulls the state and applies it to the managed environment.
- The agent continues observing actual state and attempts to reconcile any divergence.
This is an example, not a mandated branching or promotion model. A CNCF-hosted article, originally published by Weaveworks on August 10, 2022, explains how GitOps can complement existing CI tooling rather than replace it: Add GitOps without throwing out your CI tools.
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What GitOps does—and does not—put under version control
GitOps is useful for managing declarative configuration, but it does not mean every part of an application is stored in Git. Persistent application data, such as database contents, is generally outside the desired-state configuration. Backups and recovery procedures therefore remain separate operational responsibilities. Configuration may include credentials or recovery-tool settings, but that does not replace protecting the data itself; see the OpenGitOps glossary.
Nor does adopting GitOps automatically resolve access control, secret handling, artifact provenance, or recovery. These controls must be designed into the workflow and the tools. For example, a principal that can change authoritative configuration or the artifacts a controller trusts can affect what the controller deploys.
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Argo CD and Flux as Kubernetes-oriented examples
Argo CD and Flux are examples of tools used to implement GitOps workflows for Kubernetes. Their names alone do not determine which one is a better fit: selection depends on the team’s configuration and artifact workflow, reconciliation and deployment model, tenancy and access-control needs, security requirements, and operational practices.
CNCF reported that both projects had graduated from incubation in an article dated December 27, 2022. That article also gave historical adoption and growth figures for the projects; those are 2022 reports, not current usage measurements, so they should not be used as a present-day popularity comparison. The CNCF account is available in Argo and Flux: Grown-up GitOps for the cloud native generation. For a current feature-level decision, check each project’s official documentation against your requirements.
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Some security measures are implementation-specific rather than properties of GitOps itself. In a May 19, 2025 CNCF article, the Flux team discussed measures and work including signed builds, scoped controller permissions, OCI artifact support and verification, and workload identity. These are Flux-related details, not guarantees provided by every GitOps controller or by the methodology: Moving secure GitOps forward with Flux.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.When GitOps is a good fit
GitOps is a strong fit when a team wants declarative configuration changes to pass through review and version history, and wants deployed systems to be continually compared with that approved state. It can improve traceability and consistency by making changes visible and giving agents a reconciliation target.
It is not a substitute for sound operational design. Decide which source is authoritative, who can change it, how credentials and artifacts are secured, what the controller is permitted to modify, and how persistent data will be backed up and restored. These choices determine whether the workflow is dependable in practice.
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