Aisalkyn Aidarova

Posted on Jan 23

Origin of GitOps — What Was Formalized and Why It Matters

#automation #devops #git #kubernetes

1. Introduction

In modern cloud-native systems, especially Kubernetes-based platforms, teams struggled with manual deployments, configuration drift, and unreliable rollbacks.
From this operational pain, a new approach emerged — GitOps.

GitOps is not a tool.
It is an operational model that defines how systems should be deployed and managed.

2. Who Introduced GitOps?

The term GitOps was introduced and formalized by Weaveworks around 2017.

Weaveworks engineers were operating Kubernetes clusters in production and noticed that the most reliable deployments shared common characteristics:

Git was already being used as the source of configuration
Pull requests were used for review
Rollbacks were done via Git revert
Manual kubectl changes caused incidents

Instead of treating these as isolated practices, they formalized them.

3. What Does “Formalized” Mean?

Formalization means:

Turning an informal, ad-hoc practice into a named, documented, repeatable operating model.

Before formalization

Teams used Git differently
Rules were implicit
Knowledge was tribal
Hard to teach or scale

After formalization

Clear principles
Shared vocabulary
Repeatable process
Tooling aligned to the model

This is similar to how Agile or DevOps became recognized practices.

4. The GitOps Principles (What Was Formalized)

Weaveworks defined four core principles:

1️⃣ Git as the Single Source of Truth

Desired state lives in Git
Nothing is changed outside Git

2️⃣ Declarative Configuration

Systems are described, not scripted
“What” instead of “how”

3️⃣ Pull-Based Reconciliation

The system pulls changes from Git
Humans and CI do not push directly to production

4️⃣ Continuous Enforcement

Drift is detected
Drift is corrected automatically or flagged

These principles together form GitOps.

5. Why GitOps Is an Idea (Not a Product)

GitOps:

Has no binaries
Has no vendor lock-in
Can be implemented by many tools

It defines behavior, not software.

That is why GitOps is described as an operational model, not an application.

6. Why Kubernetes Made GitOps Practical

GitOps became powerful because Kubernetes is:

Declarative
API-driven
Controller-based
Continuously reconciling state

GitOps simply extends Kubernetes reconciliation to Git.

7. How Argo CD Fits In

Argo CD is a tool that implements GitOps for Kubernetes.

Runs inside Kubernetes
Watches Git repositories
Compares desired vs actual state
Synchronizes automatically

Important:

Argo CD did not invent GitOps — it implements it.

8. Timeline Summary

2005  → Git (version control)
2014  → Kubernetes (declarative platform)
2017  → GitOps term formalized (Weaveworks)
2018+ → Tools like Argo CD and Flux

9. One-Sentence Lecture Summary

GitOps is an operational model formalized by Weaveworks that uses Git as the single source of truth and continuously reconciles live systems to match that state using automated controllers.

📚 References (Authoritative Sources)

These are primary, industry-accepted references:

Weaveworks – What is GitOps
Weaveworks original explanation and definition of GitOps
→ https://www.weave.works/technologies/gitops/
Weaveworks Blog – GitOps Explained
Origin, principles, and motivation
→ https://www.weave.works/blog/gitops-operations-by-pull-request
CNCF GitOps Principles
Vendor-neutral explanation of GitOps model
→ https://opengitops.dev/
Argo CD Documentation
Practical GitOps implementation for Kubernetes
→ https://argo-cd.readthedocs.io/
Kubernetes Declarative Model
Explains why GitOps fits Kubernetes
→ https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/overview/working-with-objects/

10. Interview-Ready Closing Line

GitOps was formalized by Weaveworks as a set of principles that turned Git-based Kubernetes operations into a standardized, auditable, and automated operating model.

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