# Pattern: GitOps with Guardrails

Status: seed
Readiness target: RL3 production
Primary owners: Railiance platform, product repos
Genesis family: Kubernetes and platform

## Problem

GitOps can make operations reproducible while still deploying unsafe
state if review, policy, secrets, and provenance controls are weak.

## Context

Use this pattern for platform and product deployment repositories,
environment promotion, configuration changes, and operational rollbacks.

## Forces

- Desired state should be reviewable and auditable.
- Secrets must not be exposed in Git.
- Policy checks need to run before reconciliation.
- Emergency changes need traceability.

## Solution

Use Git as the reviewed desired-state source while enforcing branch
protection, policy-as-code checks, encrypted secret references, signed
artifact admission, and clear rollback procedures.

## Verification

- Production changes enter through reviewed commits or documented
  emergency paths.
- Reconciliation rejects policy failures.
- Secret plaintext is absent from Git.
- Rollbacks preserve audit and policy evidence.

## Related Patterns

- Protected Main Branch.
- Policy-as-Code Admission Control.
- Sealed Secret / Encrypted Git Secret.
- Signed Image Admission.