---
title: "GitOps"
description: "GitOps manages infrastructure with a Git repository as the single source of truth. Learn the declarative principle and how automatic reconciliation works."
url: "https://nodea.io/en/glossary/gitops"
lang: "en"
updated: "2026-07-13"
---

# GitOps

> GitOps is an approach to managing infrastructure and deployments in which a Git repository is the single source of truth for the desired system state, automatically reconciled with the running environment.

**GitOps** is a methodology for managing infrastructure and application deployments in which a [Git](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/git) repository serves as the single source of truth for the desired state of the whole system. Every piece of configuration — servers, networks, services, application manifests — is declared in version-controlled files, and dedicated tooling automatically brings the real environment in line with what the repository describes.

## What GitOps is built on

The approach rests on a few core principles:

- **Declarative model** — the entire system is described as a desired end state rather than a sequence of steps to execute, in line with [Infrastructure as Code](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/iac);
- **Versioning** — change history, code review and instant rollback follow naturally from Git's nature;
- **Automatic reconciliation** — an operator, such as Argo CD or Flux, continuously compares the cluster's state with the repository and closes any gap;
- **Self-healing** — if someone modifies the environment by hand, the mechanism restores the configuration declared in Git.

In practice, a change is introduced through a pull request. Once it is approved and merged, the operator detects the new target state and rolls it out with no manual intervention from an administrator.

## Practical application

GitOps is most often used with [Kubernetes](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/kubernetes), where YAML manifests fit the declarative model perfectly. [DevOps](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/devops) teams gain full auditability — every production change has its own commit, author and rationale, which simplifies compliance and security requirements.

The methodology also shines when managing multiple environments (dev, staging, production) from a single repository and when rebuilding an entire infrastructure after a disaster — you simply point the operator at the repository and the environment is recreated in a consistent, reproducible state. That makes GitOps attractive for managed server and cluster operations as well.

### How does GitOps differ from classic CI/CD?

Classic CI/CD usually pushes changes to a server, running deployment scripts (a push model). GitOps works on a pull model: a dedicated operator inside the cluster watches the repository and reconciles the environment to match what is described in Git. The repository stays the single source of truth.

## Related

- [Git](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/git)
- [CI/CD](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/ci-cd)
- [IaC (Infrastructure as Code)](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/iac)
- [Kubernetes](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/kubernetes)
- [DevOps](https://nodea.io/en/glossary/devops)

---

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