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What is Kargo Render?

Kargo Render is a sub-project of Kargo that helps Kubernetes users incorporate the environment branches pattern into their GitOps practice. There are numerous benefits to this pattern, which you can read about in detail here. If you're already familiar with this pattern and convinced of its benefits, dive right into the next section to get started!

caution

Kargo Render is highly experimental at this time and breaking changes should be anticipated between pre-GA minor releases.

What you need to know​

Kargo Render does one thing: It uses your preferred configuration management tool and some simple rules you define to render configuration from the default branch (e.g. main) of a remote GitOps repository into plain manifests that it stores in environment-specific branches of the same repository.

When invoking Kargo Render, you only need to specify the URL of the GitOps repository, appropriate credentials, and the name of the environment branch for which you wish to render and store manifests. Kargo Render does the rest and you can point applicable configuration of your preferred GitOps-enabled CD platform at the environment branch.

Kargo Render & Argo CD​

Kargo Render is compatible with Argo CD manifest rendering. Behind the scenes, Kargo Render uses Argo CD repo server to generate final manifests. That includes the same config management settings as well as features like automatic tool detection and git parameter overrides. This ensures painless back-and-forth switching between native Argo CD manifest generation and Kargo Render.

Getting started​

Kargo, the application lifecycle platform for Kubernetes, leverages Kargo Render to orchestrate manifests changes promotion. You can also use Kargo Render as a standalone tool:

  1. Kargo Render can be integrated into your GitOps practice in a variety of ways. Regardless of your entrypoint into its functionality, it relies on a common bit of configuration -- kargo-render.yaml. Read more about that here.

  2. Once you've configured Kargo Render, you have several options for how to utilize it. Skip right to the how-to section that best addresses your use case.

    • GitHub Actions: Start here if you want to incorporate Kargo Render into workflows powered by GitHub Actions.

    • Docker image: Start here if you want to incorporate Kargo Render into workflows in any other container-enabled automation platform. This is also the easiest option for experimenting with Kargo Render locally!

    • Go module: Start here if you want to integrate with Kargo Render programmatically using Go code. This is especially relevant for developers looking to build more sophisticated GitOps tools on top of a foundation provided by Kargo Render.