Tutorial Beginner By Samson Tanimawo, PhD Published Oct 5, 2026 10 min read

Argo CD: From Zero to GitOps

Argo CD turns ‘commit’ into ‘deploy.’ The setup is mechanical; the discipline of GitOps is the value.

Step 1: Install Argo CD

kubectl create namespace argocd

kubectl apply -n argocd -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-cd/stable/manifests/install.yaml

Wait for pods; port-forward to UI.

Step 2: Point at repo

Create an Application resource pointing at a Git repo with K8s manifests.
Argo monitors that repo for changes.

Step 3: First sync

Click sync (or use CLI). Argo applies the manifests.

Verify: kubectl get pods shows the deployed app.

Step 4: Auto-sync

Set syncPolicy: automated in the Application.

Now: every Git commit auto-applies.

Drift between cluster and Git auto-heals.

Antipatterns

Argo without RBAC. Anyone with UI access deploys to prod.
Manual sync forever. Defeats GitOps value.
Targeting prod from default repo. Wrong scope.

What to do this week

Three moves. (1) Run the tutorial end-to-end on your own laptop / sandbox. (2) Apply the pattern to one production workload. (3) Document the variations you needed; share with the team.