Is it a good idea to use only Terraform for Kubernetes management?

Why not? It could be an interesting learning experience. Sometimes, the best way to grasp a concept is to try rebuilding it yourself, especially if it's just for a proof of concept.

From my experience, having multiple state managers can lead to a lot of headaches down the road. It's better to let Terraform handle resource provisioning and stick to tools like Argo or Flux for managing cluster state. Otherwise, you're setting yourself up for frustration.

How does this approach stack up against Crossplane in terms of functionality? I’m curious about the differences, but I find the documentation a bit overwhelming.

Go for it! It’s your free time, and there's plenty to learn—even if it's understanding why this might not be the best route. Just make sure to take away something from the process, whether it confirms your strategy or highlights flaws.

I tried managing Kubernetes with Terraform several years ago, and it became a bottleneck as our team expanded. We're now transitioning to Helm with ArgoCD, and it's been a game changer! Deployments that once took a full day are now under an hour. The team finds it easier to handle as part of our shift left strategy.

I tried doing something similar and I really wouldn't recommend it. Dealing with state issues and managing credentials with the Kubernetes provider can get messy—especially if you need to recreate a cluster. ArgoCD just tends to handle these things better.