GitOps API Rules

aid: gitops:rules
name: GitOps Rules
description: Core principles and operational rules for adopting GitOps.
rules:
  - name: Declarative Configuration
    description: The entire system desired state is described declaratively (e.g., YAML manifests, Helm charts, Kustomize overlays).
  - name: Version Controlled Source of Truth
    description: The canonical desired state is stored in Git; every change is committed and reviewable.
  - name: Approved Changes Through Pull Requests
    description: Modifications to the system flow through pull/merge requests with peer review and CI checks.
  - name: Automated Reconciliation
    description: A software agent continuously reconciles the live state with the desired state stored in Git.
  - name: Continuous Drift Detection
    description: The reconciler reports drift when the live state diverges from the declared state.
  - name: Pull Over Push Deployments
    description: Deployments use a pull model; agents inside the cluster fetch desired state instead of CI pushing into clusters.
  - name: Observable Operations
    description: All actions taken by the agent and all state transitions are logged and observable.
  - name: Rollback Through Git Revert
    description: Recovery is performed by reverting commits in Git, and the reconciler converges the system back.
  - name: Environment Parity
    description: Each environment is described as code in Git, enabling reproducible promotion across environments.
  - name: Secret Management
    description: Secrets are encrypted in Git (e.g., SOPS, Sealed Secrets) or referenced from external secret stores.