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Argo CD sync failed or OutOfSync

GitOps app stuck — compare diff, fix RBAC, hooks, or resource conflicts.

Reviewed: ·Tested on: Kubernetes 1.29, Terraform 1.8, Ubuntu 22.04

Symptoms

  • Application sync failed in Argo CD UI
  • OutOfSync with sync error in status
  • Resource already exists or forbidden

1Inspect app status and diff

argocd app get <app> --refresh
argocd app diff <app>
kubectl get application <app> -n argocd -o yaml
Argo CD guide →

2Check sync logs and events

argocd app logs <app> --tail=50
kubectl describe application <app> -n argocd
kubectl get events -n <target-ns> --sort-by=.lastTimestamp | tail -20
Argo CD sync snippet →

3Common fixes

Replace vs merge conflict — use Replace=false. Hook failure — check PreSync job logs. RBAC — argocd-application-controller needs permissions.

# hard refresh + retry
argocd app sync <app> --force --prune
# if stuck finalizer:
kubectl patch application <app> -n argocd -p '{"metadata":{"finalizers":null}}' --type=merge

Related

argocdkuberneteskubectlhelmk8s-argocd-app