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Configure repository access

Before deploying applications, configure Argo CD to access your Git repositories and Helm chart registries. Argo CD supports multiple authentication methods for GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, AWS CodeCommit, and AWS ECR.

Prerequisites

Authentication methods

Direct access to AWS services

For AWS services, you can reference them directly in Application resources without creating Repository configurations. The Capability Role must have the required IAM permissions.

CodeCommit repositories

Reference CodeCommit repositories directly in Applications:

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: my-app
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  source:
    repoURL: https://git-codecommit.region.amazonaws.com/v1/repos/repository-name
    targetRevision: main
    path: kubernetes/manifests

Required Capability Role permissions:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",		 	 	 
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": "codecommit:GitPull",
      "Resource": "arn:aws:codecommit:region:account-id:repository-name"
    }
  ]
}

CodeConnections

Reference GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket repositories through CodeConnections. The repository URL format is derived from the CodeConnections connection ARN.

The repository URL format is:

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: my-app
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  source:
    repoURL: https://codeconnections.region.amazonaws.com/git-http/account-id/region/connection-id/owner/repository.git
    targetRevision: main
    path: kubernetes/manifests

Required Capability Role permissions:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",		 	 	 
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": "codeconnections:UseConnection",
      "Resource": "arn:aws:codeconnections:region:account-id:connection/connection-id"
    }
  ]
}

ECR Helm charts

ECR stores Helm charts as OCI artifacts. Argo CD supports two ways to reference them:

Helm format (recommended for Helm charts):

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: my-app-helm
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  source:
    repoURL: account-id.dkr.ecr.region.amazonaws.com/repository-name
    targetRevision: chart-version
    chart: chart-name
    helm:
      valueFiles:
        - values.yaml

Note: Do not include the oci:// prefix when using Helm format. Use the chart field to specify the chart name.

OCI format (for OCI artifacts with Kubernetes manifests):

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: my-app-oci
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  source:
    repoURL: oci://account-id.dkr.ecr.region.amazonaws.com/repository-name
    targetRevision: artifact-version
    path: path-to-manifests
         

Note: Include the oci:// prefix when using OCI format. Use the path field instead of chart.

Required Capability Role permissions:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",		 	 	 
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ecr:GetAuthorizationToken",
        "ecr:BatchGetImage",
        "ecr:GetDownloadUrlForLayer"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    }
  ]
}

Using AWS Secrets Manager

Store repository credentials in Secrets Manager and reference them in Argo CD Repository configurations.

Username and token authentication

For HTTPS repositories with personal access tokens or passwords:

Create the secret in Secrets Manager:

aws secretsmanager create-secret \
  --name argocd/my-repo \
  --description "GitHub credentials for Argo CD" \
  --secret-string '{"username":"your-username","token":"your-personal-access-token"}'

Optional TLS client certificate fields (for private Git servers):

aws secretsmanager create-secret \
  --name argocd/my-private-repo \
  --secret-string '{
    "username":"your-username",
    "token":"your-token",
    "tlsClientCertData":"LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBDRVJUSUZJQ0FURS0tLS0tCi4uLgotLS0tLUVORCBDRVJUSUZJQ0FURS0tLS0t",
    "tlsClientCertKey":"LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBQUklWQVRFIEtFWS0tLS0tCi4uLgotLS0tLUVORCBQUklWQVRFIEtFWS0tLS0t"
  }'

Create a Repository Secret referencing Secrets Manager:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: my-repo
  namespace: argocd
  labels:
    argocd.argoproj.io/secret-type: repository
stringData:
  type: git
  url: https://github.com/your-org/your-repo
  secretArn: arn:aws:secretsmanager:us-west-2:111122223333:secret:argocd/my-repo-AbCdEf
  project: default

SSH key authentication

For SSH-based Git access, store the private key as plaintext (not JSON):

Create the secret with SSH private key:

aws secretsmanager create-secret \
  --name argocd/my-repo-ssh \
  --description "SSH key for Argo CD" \
  --secret-string "-----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----
b3BlbnNzaC1rZXktdjEAAAAABG5vbmUAAAAEbm9uZQAAAAAAAAABAAABlwAAAAdzc2gtcn
...
-----END OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----"

Create a Repository Secret for SSH:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: my-repo-ssh
  namespace: argocd
  labels:
    argocd.argoproj.io/secret-type: repository
stringData:
  type: git
  url: git@github.com:your-org/your-repo.git
  secretArn: arn:aws:secretsmanager:us-west-2:111122223333:secret:argocd/my-repo-ssh-AbCdEf
  project: default

GitHub App authentication

For GitHub App authentication with a private key:

Create the secret with GitHub App credentials:

aws secretsmanager create-secret \
  --name argocd/github-app \
  --description "GitHub App credentials for Argo CD" \
  --secret-string '{
    "githubAppPrivateKeySecret":"LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBSU0EgUFJJVkFURSBLRVktLS0tLQouLi4KLS0tLS1FTkQgUlNBIFBSSVZBVEUgS0VZLS0tLS0=",
    "githubAppID":"123456",
    "githubAppInstallationID":"12345678"
  }'

Optional field for GitHub Enterprise:

aws secretsmanager create-secret \
  --name argocd/github-enterprise-app \
  --secret-string '{
    "githubAppPrivateKeySecret":"LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBSU0EgUFJJVkFURSBLRVktLS0tLQouLi4KLS0tLS1FTkQgUlNBIFBSSVZBVEUgS0VZLS0tLS0=",
    "githubAppID":"123456",
    "githubAppInstallationID":"12345678",
    "githubAppEnterpriseBaseUrl":"https://github.example.com/api/v3"
  }'

Create a Repository Secret for GitHub App:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: my-repo-github-app
  namespace: argocd
  labels:
    argocd.argoproj.io/secret-type: repository
stringData:
  type: git
  url: https://github.com/your-org/your-repo
  secretArn: arn:aws:secretsmanager:us-west-2:111122223333:secret:argocd/github-app-AbCdEf
  project: default

Using AWS CodeConnections

For CodeConnections integration, see Connect to Git repositories with AWS CodeConnections.

CodeConnections provides managed authentication for GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket without storing credentials.

Using Kubernetes Secrets

Store credentials directly in Kubernetes using the standard Argo CD method.

For HTTPS with personal access token:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: my-repo
  namespace: argocd
  labels:
    argocd.argoproj.io/secret-type: repository
stringData:
  type: git
  url: https://github.com/your-org/your-repo
  username: your-username
  password: your-personal-access-token

For SSH:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: my-repo-ssh
  namespace: argocd
  labels:
    argocd.argoproj.io/secret-type: repository
stringData:
  type: git
  url: git@github.com:your-org/your-repo.git
  sshPrivateKey: |
    -----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----
    ... your private key ...
    -----END OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----

Public repositories

No additional configuration needed for public repositories:

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: public-app
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  source:
    repoURL: https://github.com/argoproj/argocd-example-apps
    targetRevision: HEAD
    path: guestbook
  # ... rest of configuration

CodeCommit repositories

For AWS CodeCommit, grant your IAM Capability Role CodeCommit permissions (codecommit:GitPull).

Configure the repository:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: codecommit-repo
  namespace: argocd
  labels:
    argocd.argoproj.io/secret-type: repository
stringData:
  type: git
  url: https://git-codecommit.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/v1/repos/my-repo
  project: default

For detailed IAM policy configuration, see Argo CD considerations.

Verify repository connection

Check connection status through the Argo CD UI under Settings → Repositories. The UI shows connection status and any authentication errors.

Repository Secrets do not include status information.

Additional resources