What this prompt does
This prompt casts the AI as a senior platform engineer that sets up GitOps with ArgoCD on a fresh cluster using the app-of-apps pattern, returning real manifests and a repo layout rather than concepts. You provide the [cluster] and provider, the [environments], the [repo_url], and the [secrets_tool]. It returns a repo directory tree structured for app-of-apps across your environments, a root Application manifest that syncs the per-environment app sets, a sample child Application with sync policy and prune and self-heal, encrypted secrets via SOPS plus age with key handling and a sample encrypted secret, a CI check that validates manifests on PR, and ordered bootstrap commands to install ArgoCD and apply the root app.
The structure works because app-of-apps keeps every environment defined in Git and reviewable, so changes flow through pull requests instead of ad-hoc kubectl apply from someone's laptop that nobody can audit later. [environments] shapes the directory tree and the per-environment app sets the root manifest syncs. [repo_url] is wired into the Application manifests so they point at your actual repository rather than a placeholder. [secrets_tool], typically SOPS plus age, sets up encrypted secrets from day one, which is far easier than retrofitting secret encryption onto an existing repo later, after plaintext has already leaked into history.
When to use it
- You want every cluster change to flow through Git, not manual kubectl apply.
- You are bootstrapping ArgoCD on a fresh cluster.
- You want the app-of-apps pattern across multiple environments.
- You need encrypted secrets in Git from day one.
- You want a CI check that validates manifests on every PR.
- You want ordered bootstrap commands instead of guessing the install steps.
Example output
You get a repo directory tree laid out for app-of-apps across your environments, a root Application manifest that syncs the per-environment app sets, a sample child Application with a prune and self-heal sync policy, a SOPS plus age setup with key handling and a sample encrypted secret, a CI workflow that runs kustomize build and kubeconform on pull requests, and ordered bootstrap commands to install ArgoCD and apply the root app. It is delivered as real manifests and files you can commit, not a conceptual overview you still have to translate into YAML.
Pro tips
- List your real
[environments]so the directory tree and root app sets match your setup. - Set
[repo_url]to your actual repository so the Application manifests point at the right source. - Get
[secrets_tool](SOPS plus age) right on day one; retrofitting secret encryption later is painful. - Match
[cluster]to your provider and version so the bootstrap commands fit. - Keep the CI manifest-validation check; it catches broken YAML before ArgoCD ever syncs it.
- Review the child Application's prune and self-heal policy before enabling it on production.
