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Argo CD CLI Basics – From Zero to Managing Apps

• Argo CD is already installed in the cluster
• You have kubectl access
• You are using the Argo CD CLI (argocd)

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1. Install Argo CD CLI

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macOS

brew install argocd

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Linux

curl -sSL -o argocd https://github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/releases/latest/download/argocd-linux-amd64
chmod +x argocd
sudo mv argocd /usr/local/bin/

argocd version

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2. Access Argo CD Server

kubectl -n argocd port-forward svc/argocd-server 8080:443

https://localhost:8080

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3. Get Initial Admin Password

kubectl -n argocd get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret \
  -o jsonpath="{.data.password}" | base64 -d

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4. Login Using Argo CD CLI

argocd login localhost:8080 \
  --username admin \
  --password <PASSWORD> \
  --insecure

• Argo uses a self-signed cert by default.
• Without it, CLI login fails.

argocd account get-user-info

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5. Repository Management (Git)

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List repositories

argocd repo list

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Add a Git repository (HTTPS)

argocd repo add https://bitbucket.org/org/repo.git \
  --username <user> \
  --password <app-password>

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Add a Git repository (SSH – recommended)

argocd repo add git@bitbucket.org:org/repo.git \
  --ssh-private-key-path ~/.ssh/argocd_id_rsa

• Private key has no passphrase (or provide one)
• Public key added to repo access keys in Git provider
• Repo URL must be SSH (git@...)

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Remove a repository

argocd repo rm git@bitbucket.org:org/repo.git

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Get repository details

argocd repo get git@bitbucket.org:org/repo.git

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6. Application Basics

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List applications

argocd app list

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Create an application (imperative)

argocd app create my-app \
  --repo git@bitbucket.org:org/repo.git \
  --path manifests \
  --dest-server https://kubernetes.default.svc \
  --dest-namespace default \
  --sync-policy automated

• --repo → Git repository
• --path → Folder inside repo
• --dest-server → Target cluster
• --dest-namespace → Target namespace
• --sync-policy automated → Auto-sync (optional)

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Create app without auto-sync (manual control)

argocd app create my-app \
  --repo git@bitbucket.org:org/repo.git \
  --path manifests \
  --dest-server https://kubernetes.default.svc \
  --dest-namespace default

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7. Syncing Applications

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Manual sync

argocd app sync my-app

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Refresh app state (re-fetch Git)

argocd app refresh my-app

• Repo credential changes
• Branch/tag changes
• Repo-server restarts

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Force sync (dangerous but sometimes needed)

argocd app sync my-app --force

• Recreate resources
• Overwrite drift
• Potentially cause downtime

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8. Application Inspection & Debugging

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Get app details

argocd app get my-app

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View app history

argocd app history my-app

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Rollback to a previous revision

argocd app rollback my-app <REVISION_ID>

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Delete an application

argocd app delete my-app

argocd app delete my-app --cascade

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9. Cluster Management

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List clusters known to Argo CD

argocd cluster list

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Add current cluster

argocd cluster add <kubectl-context>

argocd cluster add arn:aws:eks:ap-south-1:123456789:cluster/prod

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10. Common Operational Commands

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Restart repo-server (Git issues)

kubectl rollout restart deployment argocd-repo-server -n argocd

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Restart application controller

kubectl rollout restart statefulset argocd-application-controller -n argocd

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Check Argo CD components

kubectl get pods -n argocd

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11. Mental Model (Important)

• Argo CD does not continuously validate repo auth
• “Connected” ≠ “Can fetch”
• git fetch failure = broken auth
• SSH issues are almost always key placement or repo URL mistakes
• CLI errors > UI indicators

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Strong Opinion (earned from pain)

• ✅ Use SSH deploy keys
• ✅ Use service accounts
• ❌ Avoid personal credentials
• ❌ Avoid trusting UI status

• ApplicationSet CLI usage
• Multi-env repo structure (dev/stage/prod)
• How Argo CD actually stores repo credentials (secrets)
• Hardening Argo CD for production