Theory

Updated

October 30, 2026

Theory: Engines Differ in UX and Ecosystem, Not in Pull-vs-Push Physics

Flux, Argo CD, Jenkins X, Spinnaker, Tekton occupy different UI and CD-vs-CI mixes. The GitOps physics (reconcile desired from Git) is shared with Flux.

Invariants

  1. Argo CD is application-centric UI + multi-cluster.
  2. Flux is Kubernetes-API-centric, GitOps Toolkit CRDs.
  3. Spinnaker is pipeline-centric, heavier.
CI (build)     CD (converge cluster)
Tekton/Jenkins    Argo CD / Flux / Spinnaker

What can break

  • Running two reconcilers on the same objects.

How to read this chapter

Comparisons, choosing an engine.