Create Argo CD Applications

This page shows the two supported ways to create Argo CD Application resources on Kupe Cloud:

• use the Argo CD UI
• apply Argo CD resources inside your managed cluster for a fully Git-driven workflow

Use project: <tenant> and the registered destination name <tenant>-<cluster-slug> in your Application spec. Do not use the raw Kubernetes API server URL here.

Option 1: Use the Argo CD UI

This is the simplest way to create a first application.

Add a repository

If your repo is private:

1. Open Settings and then Repositories.
2. Select Connect Repo.
3. Enter the repository URL and credentials.
4. Set the project to your tenant project.

Tip

Public repositories usually do not need a stored repository credential. You can go straight to creating the application.

Create the application

1. Open Applications and select New App.
2. Set Project to <tenant>.
3. Set the source repository, revision, and path.
4. Set Destination to the registered cluster name <tenant>-<cluster-slug>.
5. Set the target namespace for the workload.
6. Choose the sync policy that fits the environment.
7. Create the application.

For a quick first deployment, the in-cluster example below works well with kupecloud/hello-kupe.

Option 2: Apply resources in your managed cluster

This path keeps the Argo CD resources in Git and lets you apply them to the managed cluster like any other Kubernetes object.

The sync layer exports supported Argo CD resources from the managed cluster argocd namespace into the central Argo CD namespace.

Caution

Create the Application and any repository Secret in the argocd namespace of your managed cluster. That is the namespace the sync path watches for tenant Argo CD resources.

Optional: add a repository Secret

If the repo is private, create a repository Secret like this:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: app-repo
  namespace: argocd
  labels:
    argocd.argoproj.io/secret-type: repository
    kupe.cloud/component: argocd
type: Opaque
stringData:
  name: app-repo
  type: git
  url: https://github.com/<org>/<repo>.git
  project: <tenant>
  username: git
  password: <token>

Create the Application

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: my-app
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  project: <tenant>
  source:
    repoURL: https://github.com/<org>/<repo>.git
    path: deploy/
    targetRevision: main
  destination:
    name: <tenant>-<cluster-slug>
    namespace: workload
  syncPolicy:
    automated:
      prune: true
      selfHeal: true

Apply the manifests with your cluster kubeconfig:

kubectl --kubeconfig ./<cluster>-oidc.kubeconfig apply -f application.yaml

If you also created a repository Secret:

kubectl --kubeconfig ./<cluster>-oidc.kubeconfig apply -f repo-secret.yaml

Validation

After creating the resources, confirm:

• the application appears in Argo CD under your tenant project
• the destination resolves to the expected managed cluster
• sync status becomes Synced
• health becomes Healthy
• workloads start in the target namespace

If you created a repository Secret, also confirm the repo connection succeeds in Argo CD.

Important limits

• project name must match your tenant name
• destination name must match the registered cluster name format <tenant>-<cluster-slug>
• tenant-scoped in-cluster sync supports Application resources and repository Secrets
• repository Secrets must include both argocd.argoproj.io/secret-type: repository and kupe.cloud/component: argocd

Good next steps

• Deploy Applications
• GitOps Workflows
• Quickstart