Argo CD for Mere Mortals
Argo CD is a GitOps delivery tool for Kubernetes: you describe what should be running in a git repo, and Argo CD keeps your cluster matching it. This guide covers what it is, installing it, deploying your first app, how sync and drift work, the app-of-apps bootstrap pattern, projects and RBAC basics, and fixing the things that break.
No Kubernetes wizardry assumed beyond the basics — if
you've run kubectl apply and survived, you're ready.
What this guide covers
- What Argo CD is — the GitOps loop, the architecture, and why git as source of truth
- Installing — Argo CD on a local cluster, the CLI, and your first login
- Your first app — the Application resource, field by field, deploying the guestbook
- Sync and drift — manual vs automated sync, prune, self-heal, and sync waves
- App of apps — bootstrapping a whole cluster from one Application
- Projects and RBAC — AppProjects and who may touch what
- Troubleshooting — symptom → fix, seven ways
What it doesn't cover
Argo Rollouts (progressive delivery — a separate project), deep Helm/Kustomize authoring, and multi-cluster fleet management at enterprise scale. This guide gets you running Argo CD and understanding it — the advanced topography comes later.
How to use this guide
Commands were checked against current Argo CD documentation before shipping (v3.x line, October 2026). Check: blocks show verified commands and real output shapes. Version numbers move; the concepts don't. Anything that needs a cluster is marked — minikube is plenty.