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Operator Manual

This section is for the people who install and run the controller and wire it into Argo CD.

  • Architecture — components, what happens on each reconciliation, the status model and the isolation boundaries.
  • Installation and upgrades — install with a manifest, Helm or Kustomize, create the runner identity per namespace, upgrade release by release knowing which piece changed, uninstall safely.
  • Controller configuration — every flag and environment variable, Helm value mapping, sizing and availability.
  • Argo CD integration — health assessment, resource actions, the UI extension, reusing Argo CD repository credentials and RBAC for users.
  • State backends, backup and restore — the default Kubernetes backend, other backends and Terraform Cloud, locks, backup and restore, working with the state from the CLI.
  • Terraform vs OpenTofu — choosing the binary, mixing them, custom runner images.
  • Security — trust boundaries, hardening, tenancy, RBAC for people, secrets, supply chain.
  • Metrics — scraping the controller, useful metrics and alerts.
  • Troubleshooting — by Ready reason and by symptom.

For a first end-to-end run on a test cluster, use Getting started instead; it is the copy-and-paste version of this manual.