Curriculum: GitOps

This document is part of the GitOps workshop and describes curriculum as training material, reference documentation and review basis.

Target State

You should not treat GitOps as a tool choice. GitOps is an operating model: desired state is expressed declaratively, stored as versioned and immutable history, pulled automatically by software agents and continuously reconciled with actual state. Argo CD and Flux are important implementations, but the principles remain tool-independent.

Focus

Lernpfad
Kompetenzstufen
Agenda-Varianten
Rollenmapping
CGOA-Mapping

Core Terms

Term	Meaning
`GitOps`	Operating model where declarative desired state is versioned and reconciled automatically.
`Desired State`	Declared target description of a system, often stored in Git, Helm, Kustomize or OCI artifacts.
`Actual State`	Live state in the cluster or target system observed by controllers.
`Reconciliation`	Continuous comparison and alignment of desired and actual state.
`Drift`	Difference between desired and actual state.
`Source of Truth`	Authoritative source for desired configuration; in GitOps usually a versioned repository.
`Pull Model`	Controllers in the target system fetch desired state from a source instead of being pushed from outside.
`Argo CD Application`	Argo CD resource describing source, target cluster, target namespace and sync behavior of an application.
`Argo CD AppProject`	Argo CD boundary for sources, destinations, resources and roles of a group of Applications.
`Flux Source`	Flux source such as GitRepository, OCIRepository, HelmRepository or Bucket that produces artifacts.
`Flux Kustomization`	Flux resource that reconciles a source artifact into a cluster.
`HelmRelease`	Flux resource for declarative Helm release management.
`Kustomize Overlay`	Environment or variant-specific adaptation through patches and resource composition.
`Promotion`	Controlled movement of a change from dev through staging to prod.
`Progressive Delivery`	Stepwise delivery with observation, gates and controlled rollback.
`Secret Management`	Handling sensitive values through encryption, external secret stores or controllers.

Working Model

Describe desired state in Git, Helm, Kustomize, OCI or another clearly versioned state store.
Check which source, commit, path and rendering stage matter.
Identify which controller observes the state and which permissions it has in the target cluster.
Prove status with Git history, rendered output, controller status, events, conditions and diff.
Assess drift, promotion, rollback, secret protection and team approval before syncing.
Document whether a change should be reconciled automatically, manually or during a change window.

Reference Commands

# Check Git state
git status --short --branch
git log --oneline --graph --decorate --all

# Render or dry-check manifests locally
kubectl kustomize overlays/dev
kubectl apply --dry-run=client -f manifests/app.yaml
helm template demo charts/demo -f values/dev.yaml

# Use Argo CD and Flux only when controllers are installed
argocd app get demo
argocd app diff demo
argocd app sync demo
flux get sources git
flux get kustomizations
flux reconcile kustomization demo --with-source

Typical Decisions

Decision	Useful Question	Risk of the Wrong Choice
Repository structure	Does it reflect ownership, promotion and tenant boundaries?	unclear ownership, broad access, difficult rollback
Branch, tag or commit pinning	Does the target environment need reproducibility?	accidental drift or uncontrolled promotion
Argo CD or Flux	Which controller, multi-tenancy and operations needs apply?	tool selection replaces problem solving
Auto-sync or manual	Is the environment ready for automatic correction?	unplanned changes in critical environments
Secret strategy	Where are plaintext, keys and decryption rights located?	secret leak or non-reproducible deployments
Policy gate	Is enforcement before merge, before sync or in the cluster?	rules apply too late or only appear to exist

Operations Notes

GitOps does not replace CI. CI builds, tests and signs artifacts; GitOps reconciles desired state.
A controller needs minimal permissions, clear target namespaces and observable conditions.
Drift is a signal. Not all drift should be overwritten automatically; some drift is incident evidence.
Secrets do not belong in Git as plaintext. Even encrypted secrets require key management and rotation processes.
Multi-cluster and multi-tenant GitOps needs boundaries in repository, controller configuration, RBAC and policy.

Scope Boundary

This document covers GitOps principles and Kubernetes-adjacent GitOps implementations. It does not replace production platform documentation, provider guidance or security policy.

Practice Appendix: Curriculum

This appendix provides a backlog for longer trainings, reviews and repetition. Each task is small enough to verify with local YAML artifacts and a Git repository.

A001. Lernpfad

Task: document desired state and explicitly relate the observation to Lernpfad.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A002. Kompetenzstufen

Task: identify source and commit and explicitly relate the observation to Kompetenzstufen.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A003. Agenda-Varianten

Task: explain reconciliation path and explicitly relate the observation to Agenda-Varianten.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A004. Rollenmapping

Task: prove drift and explicitly relate the observation to Rollenmapping.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A005. CGOA-Mapping

Task: check Kustomize or Helm rendering and explicitly relate the observation to CGOA-Mapping.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A006. GitOps

Task: read Argo CD or Flux resource and explicitly relate the observation to GitOps.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A007. Desired State

Task: assess promotion risk and explicitly relate the observation to Desired State.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A008. Actual State

Task: write down rollback path and explicitly relate the observation to Actual State.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A009. Reconciliation

Task: mark secret boundary and explicitly relate the observation to Reconciliation.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A010. Drift

Task: check RBAC and tenant boundary and explicitly relate the observation to Drift.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A011. Source of Truth

Task: name policy impact and explicitly relate the observation to Source of Truth.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A012. Pull Model

Task: describe feedback loop and explicitly relate the observation to Pull Model.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A013. Argo CD Application

Task: document desired state and explicitly relate the observation to Argo CD Application.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A014. Argo CD AppProject

Task: identify source and commit and explicitly relate the observation to Argo CD AppProject.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A015. Flux Source

Task: explain reconciliation path and explicitly relate the observation to Flux Source.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A016. Flux Kustomization

Task: prove drift and explicitly relate the observation to Flux Kustomization.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A017. HelmRelease

Task: check Kustomize or Helm rendering and explicitly relate the observation to HelmRelease.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A018. Kustomize Overlay

Task: read Argo CD or Flux resource and explicitly relate the observation to Kustomize Overlay.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A019. Promotion

Task: assess promotion risk and explicitly relate the observation to Promotion.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A020. Progressive Delivery

Task: write down rollback path and explicitly relate the observation to Progressive Delivery.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A021. Secret Management

Task: mark secret boundary and explicitly relate the observation to Secret Management.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A022. Lernpfad

Task: check RBAC and tenant boundary and explicitly relate the observation to Lernpfad.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A023. Kompetenzstufen

Task: name policy impact and explicitly relate the observation to Kompetenzstufen.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A024. Agenda-Varianten

Task: describe feedback loop and explicitly relate the observation to Agenda-Varianten.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A025. Rollenmapping

Task: document desired state and explicitly relate the observation to Rollenmapping.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A026. CGOA-Mapping

Task: identify source and commit and explicitly relate the observation to CGOA-Mapping.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A027. GitOps

Task: explain reconciliation path and explicitly relate the observation to GitOps.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A028. Desired State

Task: prove drift and explicitly relate the observation to Desired State.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A029. Actual State

Task: check Kustomize or Helm rendering and explicitly relate the observation to Actual State.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A030. Reconciliation

Task: read Argo CD or Flux resource and explicitly relate the observation to Reconciliation.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A031. Drift

Task: assess promotion risk and explicitly relate the observation to Drift.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A032. Source of Truth

Task: write down rollback path and explicitly relate the observation to Source of Truth.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A033. Pull Model

Task: mark secret boundary and explicitly relate the observation to Pull Model.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A034. Argo CD Application

Task: check RBAC and tenant boundary and explicitly relate the observation to Argo CD Application.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A035. Argo CD AppProject

Task: name policy impact and explicitly relate the observation to Argo CD AppProject.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A036. Flux Source

Task: describe feedback loop and explicitly relate the observation to Flux Source.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A037. Flux Kustomization

Task: document desired state and explicitly relate the observation to Flux Kustomization.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A038. HelmRelease

Task: identify source and commit and explicitly relate the observation to HelmRelease.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A039. Kustomize Overlay

Task: explain reconciliation path and explicitly relate the observation to Kustomize Overlay.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A040. Promotion

Task: prove drift and explicitly relate the observation to Promotion.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A041. Progressive Delivery

Task: check Kustomize or Helm rendering and explicitly relate the observation to Progressive Delivery.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A042. Secret Management

Task: read Argo CD or Flux resource and explicitly relate the observation to Secret Management.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A043. Lernpfad

Task: assess promotion risk and explicitly relate the observation to Lernpfad.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A044. Kompetenzstufen

Task: write down rollback path and explicitly relate the observation to Kompetenzstufen.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A045. Agenda-Varianten

Task: mark secret boundary and explicitly relate the observation to Agenda-Varianten.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A046. Rollenmapping

Task: check RBAC and tenant boundary and explicitly relate the observation to Rollenmapping.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A047. CGOA-Mapping

Task: name policy impact and explicitly relate the observation to CGOA-Mapping.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A048. GitOps

Task: describe feedback loop and explicitly relate the observation to GitOps.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A049. Desired State

Task: document desired state and explicitly relate the observation to Desired State.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A050. Actual State

Task: identify source and commit and explicitly relate the observation to Actual State.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A051. Reconciliation

Task: explain reconciliation path and explicitly relate the observation to Reconciliation.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A052. Drift

Task: prove drift and explicitly relate the observation to Drift.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A053. Source of Truth

Task: check Kustomize or Helm rendering and explicitly relate the observation to Source of Truth.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A054. Pull Model

Task: read Argo CD or Flux resource and explicitly relate the observation to Pull Model.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A055. Argo CD Application

Task: assess promotion risk and explicitly relate the observation to Argo CD Application.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A056. Argo CD AppProject

Task: write down rollback path and explicitly relate the observation to Argo CD AppProject.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A057. Flux Source

Task: mark secret boundary and explicitly relate the observation to Flux Source.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A058. Flux Kustomization

Task: check RBAC and tenant boundary and explicitly relate the observation to Flux Kustomization.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A059. HelmRelease

Task: name policy impact and explicitly relate the observation to HelmRelease.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A060. Kustomize Overlay

Task: describe feedback loop and explicitly relate the observation to Kustomize Overlay.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A061. Promotion

Task: document desired state and explicitly relate the observation to Promotion.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A062. Progressive Delivery

Task: identify source and commit and explicitly relate the observation to Progressive Delivery.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A063. Secret Management

Task: explain reconciliation path and explicitly relate the observation to Secret Management.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A064. Lernpfad

Task: prove drift and explicitly relate the observation to Lernpfad.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A065. Kompetenzstufen

Task: check Kustomize or Helm rendering and explicitly relate the observation to Kompetenzstufen.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A066. Agenda-Varianten

Task: read Argo CD or Flux resource and explicitly relate the observation to Agenda-Varianten.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A067. Rollenmapping

Task: assess promotion risk and explicitly relate the observation to Rollenmapping.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A068. CGOA-Mapping

Task: write down rollback path and explicitly relate the observation to CGOA-Mapping.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A069. GitOps

Task: mark secret boundary and explicitly relate the observation to GitOps.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A070. Desired State

Task: check RBAC and tenant boundary and explicitly relate the observation to Desired State.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A071. Actual State

Task: name policy impact and explicitly relate the observation to Actual State.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A072. Reconciliation

Task: describe feedback loop and explicitly relate the observation to Reconciliation.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A073. Drift

Task: document desired state and explicitly relate the observation to Drift.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A074. Source of Truth

Task: identify source and commit and explicitly relate the observation to Source of Truth.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A075. Pull Model

Task: explain reconciliation path and explicitly relate the observation to Pull Model.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A076. Argo CD Application

Task: prove drift and explicitly relate the observation to Argo CD Application.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A077. Argo CD AppProject

Task: check Kustomize or Helm rendering and explicitly relate the observation to Argo CD AppProject.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A078. Flux Source

Task: read Argo CD or Flux resource and explicitly relate the observation to Flux Source.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A079. Flux Kustomization

Task: assess promotion risk and explicitly relate the observation to Flux Kustomization.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A080. HelmRelease

Task: write down rollback path and explicitly relate the observation to HelmRelease.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A081. Kustomize Overlay

Task: mark secret boundary and explicitly relate the observation to Kustomize Overlay.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A082. Promotion

Task: check RBAC and tenant boundary and explicitly relate the observation to Promotion.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A083. Progressive Delivery

Task: name policy impact and explicitly relate the observation to Progressive Delivery.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A084. Secret Management

Task: describe feedback loop and explicitly relate the observation to Secret Management.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A085. Lernpfad

Task: document desired state and explicitly relate the observation to Lernpfad.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A086. Kompetenzstufen

Task: identify source and commit and explicitly relate the observation to Kompetenzstufen.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A087. Agenda-Varianten

Task: explain reconciliation path and explicitly relate the observation to Agenda-Varianten.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

A088. Rollenmapping

Task: prove drift and explicitly relate the observation to Rollenmapping.
Evidence: Write down at least one GitOps-adjacent command, one expected result and one limit of that evidence.
Operations question: What would a wrong assumption change in dev, staging and prod clusters?
Security question: Which credentials, secrets, roles, signatures or policy rules would be critical?
Recovery: Explain whether Git revert, sync rollback, suspend, manual drift correction or secret rotation is required.

Official Sources and Scope

The material is aligned with public GitOps and Kubernetes documentation. Argo CD, Flux, Kustomize, Helm, policy controllers and secret tools are positioned where they represent common GitOps workflows. An example artifact is not an installation promise for a specific cluster.

OpenGitOps: https://opengitops.dev/
OpenGitOps Principles: https://github.com/open-gitops/documents/blob/main/PRINCIPLES.md
Argo CD Documentation: https://argo-cd.readthedocs.io/en/stable/
Argo CD Declarative Setup: https://argo-cd.readthedocs.io/en/stable/operator-manual/declarative-setup/
Argo CD Project Page: https://argoproj.github.io/cd/
Flux Documentation: https://fluxcd.io/flux/
Flux Core Concepts: https://fluxcd.io/flux/concepts/
CNCF GitOps Certified Associate (CGOA): https://www.cncf.io/training/certification/cgoa/
Linux Foundation Certified GitOps Associate (CGOA): https://training.linuxfoundation.org/certification/certified-gitops-associate-cgoa/

Additional Review Drills

Use these drills when the primary task is complete and the learner needs another pass over operational reasoning. They are intentionally evidence-oriented and can be answered with local GitOps artifacts.

Drill 01: desired state

State which source, controller or environment is affected by desired state.
Name one command or manifest field that produces evidence.
Explain what can be concluded from that evidence and what cannot be concluded from it.
Describe the safest recovery path for a shared GitOps platform.

Drill 02: source commit

State which source, controller or environment is affected by source commit.
Name one command or manifest field that produces evidence.
Explain what can be concluded from that evidence and what cannot be concluded from it.
Describe the safest recovery path for a shared GitOps platform.

Drill 03: reconciliation

State which source, controller or environment is affected by reconciliation.
Name one command or manifest field that produces evidence.
Explain what can be concluded from that evidence and what cannot be concluded from it.
Describe the safest recovery path for a shared GitOps platform.

Drill 04: drift

State which source, controller or environment is affected by drift.
Name one command or manifest field that produces evidence.
Explain what can be concluded from that evidence and what cannot be concluded from it.
Describe the safest recovery path for a shared GitOps platform.

Drill 05: Argo CD Application

State which source, controller or environment is affected by Argo CD Application.
Name one command or manifest field that produces evidence.
Explain what can be concluded from that evidence and what cannot be concluded from it.
Describe the safest recovery path for a shared GitOps platform.

Drill 06: Flux Kustomization

State which source, controller or environment is affected by Flux Kustomization.
Name one command or manifest field that produces evidence.
Explain what can be concluded from that evidence and what cannot be concluded from it.
Describe the safest recovery path for a shared GitOps platform.

Drill 07: Kustomize overlay

State which source, controller or environment is affected by Kustomize overlay.
Name one command or manifest field that produces evidence.
Explain what can be concluded from that evidence and what cannot be concluded from it.
Describe the safest recovery path for a shared GitOps platform.

Drill 08: HelmRelease

State which source, controller or environment is affected by HelmRelease.
Name one command or manifest field that produces evidence.
Explain what can be concluded from that evidence and what cannot be concluded from it.
Describe the safest recovery path for a shared GitOps platform.

Drill 09: secret management

State which source, controller or environment is affected by secret management.
Name one command or manifest field that produces evidence.
Explain what can be concluded from that evidence and what cannot be concluded from it.
Describe the safest recovery path for a shared GitOps platform.

Drill 10: RBAC boundary

State which source, controller or environment is affected by RBAC boundary.
Name one command or manifest field that produces evidence.
Explain what can be concluded from that evidence and what cannot be concluded from it.
Describe the safest recovery path for a shared GitOps platform.

Drill 11: policy gate

State which source, controller or environment is affected by policy gate.
Name one command or manifest field that produces evidence.
Explain what can be concluded from that evidence and what cannot be concluded from it.
Describe the safest recovery path for a shared GitOps platform.

Drill 12: rollback

State which source, controller or environment is affected by rollback.
Name one command or manifest field that produces evidence.
Explain what can be concluded from that evidence and what cannot be concluded from it.
Describe the safest recovery path for a shared GitOps platform.

Drill 13: desired state

State which source, controller or environment is affected by desired state.
Name one command or manifest field that produces evidence.
Explain what can be concluded from that evidence and what cannot be concluded from it.
Describe the safest recovery path for a shared GitOps platform.

Drill 14: source commit

State which source, controller or environment is affected by source commit.
Name one command or manifest field that produces evidence.
Explain what can be concluded from that evidence and what cannot be concluded from it.
Describe the safest recovery path for a shared GitOps platform.

Drill 15: reconciliation

State which source, controller or environment is affected by reconciliation.
Name one command or manifest field that produces evidence.
Explain what can be concluded from that evidence and what cannot be concluded from it.
Describe the safest recovery path for a shared GitOps platform.

Drill 16: drift

State which source, controller or environment is affected by drift.
Name one command or manifest field that produces evidence.
Explain what can be concluded from that evidence and what cannot be concluded from it.
Describe the safest recovery path for a shared GitOps platform.