Flux CD

Run kdef under Flux: point a KdefRelease at a GitRepository and deploy on every commit.

kdef ships a Kubernetes controller that integrates natively with Flux CD. You define a KdefRelease CR pointing at a Flux GitRepository, and the controller handles rendering and applying on every new revision.

Install the controller

git clone https://github.com/gsid-nl/kdef.git
cd kdef

helm install kdef-controller ./flux-controller/chart \
  --namespace flux-system

The controller registers the kdef.dev/v1alpha1 API group and runs in the flux-system namespace alongside Flux's own controllers.

Point it at a repo

1. The GitRepository

apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: GitRepository
metadata:
  name: my-app
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 1m
  url: https://github.com/example/my-app.git
  ref:
    branch: main

2. The KdefRelease

apiVersion: kdef.dev/v1alpha1
kind: KdefRelease
metadata:
  name: my-app
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  sourceRef:
    kind: GitRepository
    name: my-app
  path: ./k8s/
  interval: 5m
  prune: true

That's it. The controller will:

Watch the GitRepository for new revisions
Download and extract the artifact
Run kdef render on the .kdef files in path
Apply the rendered manifests via server-side apply
Prune resources that dropped out of the output (when prune: true)

Environment overrides

Pass --env through to the render:

spec:
  env: production       # loads environments/production.kdef

Variable overrides

spec:
  set:
    image_tag: "v2.0.0"
    replicas: "3"

For complex values (lists, maps), mount them from a ConfigMap or Secret:

spec:
  valuesFrom:
    kind: Secret       # or ConfigMap
    name: my-app-values
    key: values.json   # default

Suspend and resume

spec:
  suspend: true

Useful during incidents or deliberate drift investigations.

Check status

kubectl get kdefreleases -n flux-system

# NAME     READY   STATUS                                    REVISION       AGE
# my-app   True    Applied revision: main@sha256:abc123...   main@sha...    5m

CRD reference

Field	Type	Required	Description
`sourceRef.kind`	string	yes	`GitRepository`, `OCIRepository`, or `Bucket`
`sourceRef.name`	string	yes	Name of the Flux source
`sourceRef.namespace`	string	no	Namespace of the source (defaults to KdefRelease namespace)
`path`	string	no	Path within the artifact to the kdef project directory
`env`	string	no	Environment name: loads `environments/<env>.kdef`
`set`	map	no	Variable overrides (`--set` equivalent)
`valuesFrom.kind`	string	no	`ConfigMap` or `Secret`
`valuesFrom.name`	string	no	Name of the ConfigMap/Secret
`valuesFrom.key`	string	no	Key in `data` (defaults to `values.json`)
`interval`	duration	yes	Reconciliation interval (e.g. `5m`, `1h`)
`prune`	bool	no	Delete resources that dropped out of output
`targetNamespace`	string	no	Override namespace for all resources
`serviceAccountName`	string	no	ServiceAccount for impersonation
`suspend`	bool	no	Pause reconciliation

A complete real-world example

A multi-app repo (see Multi-app layout) deployed with one KdefRelease per environment:

---
apiVersion: kdef.dev/v1alpha1
kind: KdefRelease
metadata:
  name: platform-staging
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  sourceRef:
    kind: GitRepository
    name: platform
  path: ./
  env: staging
  interval: 2m
  prune: true
---
apiVersion: kdef.dev/v1alpha1
kind: KdefRelease
metadata:
  name: platform-production
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  sourceRef:
    kind: GitRepository
    name: platform
  path: ./
  env: production
  interval: 5m
  prune: true

Staging reconciles every 2 minutes for fast feedback. Production every 5 minutes.

Note: Before v0.6.10 the API group was kdef.gsid.nl. If you still run an older controller, uninstall its chart, install the current one and re-apply your KdefRelease manifests with apiVersion: kdef.dev/v1alpha1 (see the v0.6.10 release notes).