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GitOps is an operating model for managing applications and infrastructure through declared desired state and ongoing reconciliation. Its four core practices are to describe state declaratively, keep that state versioned and immutable, have agents pull it automatically, and continuously reconcile live systems against it. These practices can improve traceability and support controlled automation, but they do not by themselves guarantee secure or successful deployments.
What are the GitOps principles?
OpenGitOps names four principles: Declarative, Versioned and Immutable, Pulled Automatically, and Continuously Reconciled. Together, they describe a closed-loop way to manage a system: a source records the intended state, an agent observes the running environment, and reconciliation works to address differences.
1. Declarative: describe the desired outcome
Instead of relying only on a sequence of deployment commands, declare what the system should look like. That may include application versions, configuration, or infrastructure settings. The declaration describes the target state; the controller or tooling determines how to move the environment toward it.
2. Versioned and immutable: preserve changes
Store desired state in a versioned source so that changes have history and can be reviewed and traced. Treat each recorded version as an identifiable declaration rather than silently altering the past. Git is the common source of truth, although the CNCF glossary recognizes that other stores may serve this role where appropriate.
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3. Pulled automatically: let an agent retrieve state
An agent in or near the target environment retrieves the declared state from its source. This differs from a deployment process that must push every change directly into the runtime environment. Pull-based operation can reduce the need for an external system to hold broad access to each environment, but permissions still need deliberate design.
4. Continuously reconciled: keep comparing desired and actual state
The agent repeatedly compares observed state with the declared target and acts according to its configuration and policy. Reconciliation is ongoing, not merely a one-time action after a commit. What happens when drift is detected depends on the system: it may correct the difference, report or alert on it, or require an operator to intervene. See the OpenGitOps glossary for the closed-loop model.
How GitOps fits with CI/CD
GitOps complements continuous integration rather than replacing it. A common division of work is for CI to build, test, scan, and publish application artifacts, while a reconciliation agent applies the declared deployment state to an environment. The distinguishing GitOps features are automatic pull and continuous reconciliation—not simply having a pipeline push a change after a build. CNCF explains this distinction in GitOps 101 and its guidance on adding GitOps without discarding existing CI tools.
A Git history can make desired-state changes reviewable and traceable, but the usefulness of that history depends on repository controls, policy, and who can change or approve state. GitOps alone does not guarantee security.
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What teams need to decide before adopting GitOps
Choose what belongs in the source of truth
Define which application and infrastructure settings are managed declaratively, how that state is organized, and how changes are validated and reviewed. A clear boundary helps teams distinguish the system’s intended configuration from generated artifacts, operational data, and secrets that require separate handling.
Set approval boundaries
Decide which changes may deploy automatically and which require a human approval step. GitOps supports both patterns; automation does not require every production change to be unreviewed. The CNCF implementation checklist calls out approval boundaries as an explicit design decision.
Limit agent permissions
Give reconciliation agents access appropriate to the resources and environments they manage. The principles do not prescribe a universal role-based access-control design, so permissions should reflect the team’s own environment, separation of duties, and risk requirements.
Handle secrets deliberately
Credentials and other sensitive values need dedicated secrets-management controls, controlled access, and audit logging. A versioned repository makes changes visible; it does not make it appropriate to store every secret there in readable form. CNCF’s checklist discusses dedicated secrets management as part of implementation practice.
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Define drift and recovery behavior
Determine how the controller responds when actual state differs from desired state, how failures are surfaced, and when a human should take over. Automatic correction can be useful, but teams should understand which changes will be reverted or overwritten and how to recover from an incorrect declaration.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What GitOps can—and cannot—provide
The CNCF glossary associates GitOps with transparency and traceability, and describes rollback, revert, and self-healing as capabilities. These are outcomes a workflow and its tools may support, not guarantees of the four principles. They depend on trustworthy desired state, appropriate access controls, correct reconciliation behavior, and operational monitoring. A faulty declaration can be faithfully applied; an uncontrolled agent can still create risk.
How to evaluate a GitOps workflow
When selecting or reviewing an implementation, compare the operating model rather than relying on the GitOps label alone. Useful areas to examine include:
- Source of truth: where desired state lives, how repositories or other stores are structured, and how changes are traced.
- Rendering and validation: how declarations are generated, checked, and tested before reaching an environment.
- Pull and reconciliation: how agents retrieve state, how often they reconcile, and how they handle drift or failure.
- Review and approvals: which changes are automatic and which require human authorization.
- Identity and secrets: what permissions agents have and how credentials are protected and audited.
- Monitoring and recovery: how operators learn about failed reconciliation and restore a known-good state.
These are implementation decision areas, not a product ranking. The cited sources do not establish comparable current specifications for named GitOps tools.
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