Is App of Apps overkill for one mixed YAML and Helm repo?

App of Apps is a pattern, not a requirement. If you have a small setup, start with one Argo CD Application pointed at the folder. You can organize resources with Kustomize, or use separate Applications for the workloads that need different sync settings. Add an app-of-apps layer only if managing those Applications becomes useful.

Also, image updates and manifest syncing are separate jobs. If Argo CD is meant to keep the cluster aligned with Git, changing images outside Git can lead to drift or have your changes reverted. A Git-based image updater keeps the desired version recorded alongside the deployment config.

I’d be cautious about choosing Keel just because it looks smaller. Reports about its maintenance and image-version detection raise a real reliability question, and an automatic update that gets reverted or never happens defeats the point.

Whatever tool you use, I’d avoid blindly tracking the newest image for everything. Pin a version or digest, and update deliberately, especially for apps where a surprise change could break things.

If you want GitOps but prefer a lighter setup, Flux is another option. A basic Kustomization can apply a folder of plain manifests, and Helm releases can be managed separately. That may feel simpler than building an Argo CD application hierarchy, though it still means learning and operating a controller.

Argo CD has a useful interface and can handle this setup too. The choice is less about the folder being too small and more about which workflow you want to maintain.

There’s no need to add a controller if the only thing you want is occasional image bumps. You can update the version in Git when you choose, then let Argo CD sync the change. That keeps the deployment record clear and avoids a separate tool changing workloads on its own.