How Should I Organize GitOps Repositories for Multiple Projects?

I personally prefer to keep all my GitOps stuff in one repo. It makes coordinating global changes a breeze. Plus, you can use CODEOWNERS to ensure that each team is only managing their own files, which mitigates some of the chaos.

When determining your repo structure, think about ownership and blast radius rather than just counting apps. If all 17 services are owned by the same team and shipped together, a monorepo might make sense. However, if different teams need to evolve independently, split the repos accordingly. ArgoCD is flexible with repo counts, but for human management, it's crucial to keep reviews organized and avoid conflicts during cross-cutting changes.

In my experience, it's usually better to keep a GitOps repo for each system or project rather than trying to squeeze everything into a monorepo. This keeps it cleaner and prevents too many people from interfering in one place, which can lead to issues down the road. Argo CD works well with multiple repos, so I recommend this approach.

Most teams I’ve observed tend to land somewhere in between. It's common to have one repo per project, which scales better for ownership and limits the impact of changes (blast radius). That said, having a small 'platform' repo for shared configurations or policies can also be beneficial. Monorepos might look tidy initially, but they can turn into a coordination nightmare when multiple teams are pushing changes.

One effective approach I've seen is to have separate repositories for each project but with a structured shared configuration. There are nice templates out there that can help you set this up quickly. Each buildable unit gets its own repository, so you maintain clarity in change history and management. This also allows for easier troubleshooting and deployments since everything is clearly delineated. Plus, ArgoCD can handle multiple repos easily, so you can scale without it getting messy.