GitOps is an operational framework that applies version control, collaboration, and continuous delivery principles to infrastructure and deployment automation by using Git repositories as the single source of truth for declarative system configuration. It establishes automated reconciliation processes that continuously align actual system states with desired states defined in version-controlled configuration, enabling infrastructure and application deployment to follow software engineering best practices.
For architecture professionals, GitOps represents a paradigm shift in how environments and deployments are managed—moving from imperative, procedure-based approaches toward declarative, state-based models where desired configurations are explicitly defined and automatically applied. This shift requires establishing clear separation between the declaration of desired state (stored in Git) and the reconciliation mechanisms that enforce that state in target environments. The fundamental pattern follows a simple but powerful principle: the Git repository defines what should exist, and automated operators ensure reality matches that definition.
Effective GitOps implementations typically leverage several key components. Declarative configurations express desired infrastructure and application states using technologies like Kubernetes manifests, Terraform definitions, or Helm charts. Git workflows manage changes through pull requests, code reviews, and branch protection rather than direct system modifications. Reconciliation controllers continuously monitor repositories and automatically update environments to match committed configurations, typically following a pull-based model where agents within environments detect and apply changes. Drift detection identifies unauthorized modifications that deviate from declared configurations, enabling automatic remediation or alerting.
While initially associated with Kubernetes, enterprise GitOps adoption has expanded across various infrastructure and application domains, requiring sophisticated architectural approaches. Multi-environment management implements promotion models where changes flow between environment-specific repositories (development, staging, production) with appropriate approval gates. Secrets management integrates encrypted sensitive information without exposing credentials in repositories. Compliance verification automatically validates proposed changes against regulatory and security requirements before deployment. Many organizations establish GitOps platforms that provide consistent tooling, workflows, and governance across teams, transforming infrastructure and deployment management from manual, error-prone activities into systematic, auditable processes that apply software engineering rigor to operational concerns.
« Back to Glossary Index