railiance-platform/workplans/RPF-WP-0044-argocd-phase-b-adopt-existing-applications.md

---
id: RPF-WP-0044
type: workplan
title: "ArgoCD phase B: adopt the four existing Applications on railiance01"
domain: financials
repo: railiance-platform
status: active
flavor: planning
owner: railiance-platform
topic_slug: railiance
created: "2026-09-21"
updated: "2026-09-21"
related: [RPF-WP-0043, RPF-WP-0022]
state_hub_workstream_id: "98140775-3b9a-5cf9-9af6-722502d487dc"
---

The founder, Bernd Worsch, decided ArchitectureBlueprint §5.6 on 2026-09-21,
exercising `GOVERN @ estate`: option 1, **adopt properly**. Phase A installed
Argo CD Core v3.5.3 on railiance01 (record:
`the-custodian/docs/kubernetes-change-gate-decision.md`). This plan is phase B:
bring the four Applications in `argocd/applications/` under that ArgoCD, **one
at a time, each with its own founder go-ahead**. Terms follow SecurityCanon
Mode of Authority v0.2.0 (draft).

**This plan changes nothing live.** Every task that would change railiance01
is `wait` on the founder. Each live step is `ADMINISTER @ realm:kubernetes/railiance01`
(bootstrap) or `CONSTRUCT @ railiance-platform` with the merge as the gate,
both `activation=APPROVED`.

Related, kept separate: `RPF-WP-0043` onboards `rapp-policy-nexus`, which is
not one of these four. It needs T02 of this plan (a working root app on
railiance01) before its own T04. Phase C, retiring coulombcore's ArgoCD, is
not planned here (T08).

## Read-only evidence, 2026-09-21

Full record: `docs/evidence/argocd-phase-b-adoption-diff-2026-09-21.json`.
Rendered locally (`helm template`, `kubectl kustomize`), then `kubectl diff`
client-side and `--server-side` dry run over `ssh railiance01`. Nothing was
applied.

| App | Live spec diff | Would prune | Repo credential | Blocker |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| openbao-secretstore | none (1 ClusterSecretStore) | nothing | none, public | none |
| issue-core | none **after repointing** | nothing | **new**: `rapp-issue-core` is private | declared path `issue-core.git k8s/railiance` no longer exists |
| target-revenue | none on Deployment/Service/Ingress/ExternalSecret/Cluster | nothing | none, public | CNPG `Cluster` not in `railiance-tenants` whitelist; two Sync-hook Jobs |
| external-secrets | none (39 objects, 20 CRDs) | nothing now | none, public Helm repo | cluster-wide blast radius; CRDs must never be pruned |

Nothing is pruned at adoption because no live object carries an ArgoCD
tracking annotation; ArgoCD only prunes what it tracks. The one change every
adoption makes is that tracking annotation, on metadata only, so no rollout.

Sync settings found: `railiance-apps-root` and all four children declare
`automated: {prune: true, selfHeal: true}`; none has a finalizer. Applying
`argocd/bootstrap/` as committed would therefore adopt all four at once. T01
removes that before anything is applied.

Also found: the `external-secrets` Helm release is stuck at revision 7,
`pending-upgrade`, since 2026-07-07 (values identical to the Application);
`issue-core` is now server-side applied by `rapp-issue-core`;
`target-revenue` runs a mutable image tag (`0.1.4`). ArgoCD on railiance01
has 0 AppProjects, 0 Applications, 0 repository Secrets, and there is no
`argocd` CLI on the node, so the commands below use `kubectl` against the
Application resource. Not verified: repo-server egress to Forgejo and
`charts.external-secrets.io`; T02 proves it.

## Neutralise automated sync and fix the declared state

```task
id: RPF-WP-0044-T01
status: done
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "2d7230f5-50c8-5eee-a050-1501ce5af62a"
```

**Done 2026-09-21, commit `c3ebd6d`.** The founder chose **Option A**
(`GOVERN @ estate`): a railiance01-only source path. Repository-only; nothing
applied. `argocd/applications/` and `argocd/bootstrap/` are untouched, because
coulombcore's ArgoCD still reads `argocd/applications/` on `main` and its
bootstrap may be re-applied from `argocd/bootstrap/`. coulombcore could not be
read in this session, so the railiance01 bootstrap has its own path.

Declared (all under `argocd/railiance01/`):

1. `bootstrap/`: the three AppProjects and `railiance-apps-root` with **no
   `automated` block**, path `argocd/railiance01/applications`,
   `targetRevision: main` (each sync pins its revision in the operation).
2. `bootstrap/01-railiance-tenants-project.yaml`: `postgresql.cnpg.io/Cluster`
   added to `namespaceResourceWhitelist`. The other two AppProjects are copies
   of `argocd/bootstrap/`.
3. `applications/` holds only `README.md`. A placeholder **is** needed: git does
   not keep an empty directory and a missing path is a `ComparisonError`.
   ArgoCD's directory source reads only `*.yaml`/`*.yml`/`*.json`, so it renders
   zero children (confirmed live by T02).
4. `drafts/`: the four children, no `automated`, no finalizer, pinned:
   openbao-secretstore `d2dbc19` (railiance-platform), issue-core `a78f38c`
   (`rapp-issue-core.git`, path `manifests`), target-revenue `f1109d5`,
   external-secrets chart `0.16.1`. No root syncs `drafts/`.
5. `argocd/repositories/rapp-issue-core.repository.sops.yaml.template` (no
   value); `issue-core.repository.sops.yaml.template` marked obsolete.

Offline proof: `kubectl kustomize argocd/railiance01/bootstrap` renders exactly
3 AppProjects and 1 Application with no `automated` field;
`ssh railiance01 'kubectl apply --dry-run=server -f -'` of that render
returned rc=0 (all four "created (server dry run)").

Hazard kept as is: `make argocd-bootstrap-deploy` still defaults to
`argocd/bootstrap` (automated root). Do not run it on railiance01.

## Apply the AppProjects and the root app, automated sync off (live)

```task
id: RPF-WP-0044-T02
status: wait
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "7d97ee9c-b2fb-520f-8468-3ecf7eea6c01"
```

**Waits on the founder's go-ahead.** T01 is done. Applies the render of
`argocd/railiance01/bootstrap` at commit `c3ebd6dddc830373c75144da178f829b47c3e5de`, from a clean export (not
the working tree), then syncs the root by hand at that commit.

```bash
cd ~/railiance-platform && git fetch origin && git merge-base --is-ancestor c3ebd6dddc830373c75144da178f829b47c3e5de origin/main && echo pinned-commit-on-main
R=$(mktemp -d) && git -C ~/railiance-platform archive c3ebd6dddc830373c75144da178f829b47c3e5de argocd/railiance01/bootstrap | tar -x -C "$R"
kubectl kustomize "$R/argocd/railiance01/bootstrap" > "$R/bootstrap.yaml" && grep -c '^kind: AppProject' "$R/bootstrap.yaml" && grep -c automated "$R/bootstrap.yaml"   # expect 3 and 0
ssh railiance01 'kubectl apply --dry-run=server -f -' < "$R/bootstrap.yaml"
ssh railiance01 'kubectl apply -f -' < "$R/bootstrap.yaml"
ssh railiance01 'kubectl -n argocd patch application railiance-apps-root --type merge -p "{\"operation\":{\"initiatedBy\":{\"username\":\"founder-approved\"},\"sync\":{\"revision\":\"c3ebd6dddc830373c75144da178f829b47c3e5de\",\"prune\":false}}}"'
ssh railiance01 'kubectl -n argocd get appprojects,applications'
ssh railiance01 'kubectl -n argocd get application railiance-apps-root -o jsonpath="{.status.sync.status} {.status.operationState.phase} {.status.operationState.syncResult.revision} resources={.status.resources}{\"\n\"}"'
```

Expect three AppProjects and `railiance-apps-root` `Synced`, operation
`Succeeded` at `c3ebd6d`, and no resources (zero children). A
`ComparisonError` means the repo-server cannot reach Forgejo: stop and fix
egress before any app task. No repository Secret is needed;
`coulomb/railiance-platform` is public.

Rollback: `kubectl -n argocd delete application railiance-apps-root` (no
finalizer, no children), then delete the three AppProjects. Nothing else is
touched.

## Per-app procedure (T03–T06)

Every adoption task follows the same steps. `<app>` and `<sha>` vary.

1. **Diff.** Re-run the evidence render and `kubectl diff --server-side` at
   the commit or chart version being pinned. Any spec change, any missing
   whitelist kind, or a different image: stop.
2. **Merge** the child Application (no `automated`) from
   `argocd/railiance01/drafts/` into `argocd/railiance01/applications/`, then sync the root by hand so it creates the child object only:
   ```bash
   ssh railiance01 'kubectl -n argocd patch application railiance-apps-root --type merge -p "{\"operation\":{\"initiatedBy\":{\"username\":\"founder-approved\"},\"sync\":{\"revision\":\"<sha>\",\"prune\":false}}}"'
   ```
3. **ArgoCD's own diff:** read
   `kubectl -n argocd get application <app> -o jsonpath='{.status.sync.status} {.status.health.status}'`
   and `.status.resources`. Only metadata differences are acceptable.
4. **Manual sync, prune off, hooks skipped** (`apply` strategy):
   ```bash
   ssh railiance01 'kubectl -n argocd patch application <app> --type merge -p "{\"operation\":{\"initiatedBy\":{\"username\":\"founder-approved\"},\"sync\":{\"revision\":\"<sha>\",\"prune\":false,\"syncStrategy\":{\"apply\":{}}}}}"'
   ```
   Then verify Synced/Healthy and run the owner's live check.
5. **Prove it:** Synced and Healthy for at least 24 hours (7 days for
   external-secrets). Only then, with a **second** go-ahead, a merge adds
   `automated: {selfHeal: true}`; `prune: true` is a third step once the
   app's tracked set is confirmed complete.
6. Record `docs/evidence/<date>-<app>-argocd-adoption.json`.

Rollback:

- **R1, before automated sync:** revert the merge, then
  `kubectl -n argocd delete application <app>`. No finalizer, so nothing
  cascades; the workload keeps running. Tracking annotations stay and are
  harmless.
- **R2, after automated sync:** revert the automated-sync commit first and
  sync the root by hand, then R1. Never hand-patch a child while the root
  self-heals; that is `BREAK_GLASS`, recorded and reconciled into git.
- **Workload restore:** only once ArgoCD no longer manages the app, with the
  previous deploy method named in the task.

## Adopt openbao-secretstore (lowest risk)

```task
id: RPF-WP-0044-T03
status: wait
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "6d5fc801-e361-579b-bcd8-6fe719a82e94"
```

**Waits on the founder's go-ahead.** Depends on T02. One object,
`ClusterSecretStore/openbao`, zero diff, public source. It is the store
issue-core's `ExternalSecret` reads, so adopt it before issue-core. The 24
other ClusterSecretStores on railiance01 are not in the kustomization and stay
untracked (declared gap, RPF-WP-0043-T05). Live check:
`kubectl get clustersecretstore openbao` stays `Valid`, and
`externalsecret/issue-core-runtime` stays `SecretSynced`. Workload restore:
`kubectl apply -f argocd/platform-addons/openbao-secretstore/openbao.clustersecretstore.yaml`.

Exact commands (the root sync pins the merge commit `$SHA`; the child is
pinned to `d2dbc19`, the last commit touching its source path):

```bash
# 1. Diff at the pinned source commit (expect no output, rc=0)
cd ~/railiance-platform && git fetch origin && git checkout main && git pull --ff-only
R=$(mktemp -d) && git archive d2dbc19c254247652c49fda8721c80d53bca206a argocd/platform-addons/openbao-secretstore | tar -x -C "$R"
ssh railiance01 'kubectl diff --server-side -f -' < <(kubectl kustomize "$R/argocd/platform-addons/openbao-secretstore"); echo rc=$?
# 2. Merge the child (drop the 3-line DRAFT header), push, sync the root at that commit
sed '1,3d' argocd/railiance01/drafts/openbao-secretstore.application.yaml > argocd/railiance01/applications/openbao-secretstore.application.yaml
git rm -q argocd/railiance01/drafts/openbao-secretstore.application.yaml
git add argocd/railiance01/applications/openbao-secretstore.application.yaml
git commit -m "Adopt openbao-secretstore on railiance01 (RPF-WP-0044-T03)" && git push origin main
SHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD) && echo "$SHA"
ssh railiance01 "kubectl -n argocd patch application railiance-apps-root --type merge -p '{\"operation\":{\"initiatedBy\":{\"username\":\"founder-approved\"},\"sync\":{\"revision\":\"$SHA\",\"prune\":false}}}'"
# 3. ArgoCD's own diff (expect OutOfSync or Synced, one resource ClusterSecretStore/openbao, metadata-only)
ssh railiance01 'kubectl -n argocd get application openbao-secretstore -o jsonpath="{.status.sync.status} {.status.health.status} {.status.resources}{\"\n\"}"'
# 4. Manual sync, prune off, apply strategy (hooks skipped)
ssh railiance01 'kubectl -n argocd patch application openbao-secretstore --type merge -p "{\"operation\":{\"initiatedBy\":{\"username\":\"founder-approved\"},\"sync\":{\"revision\":\"d2dbc19c254247652c49fda8721c80d53bca206a\",\"prune\":false,\"syncStrategy\":{\"apply\":{}}}}}"'
ssh railiance01 'kubectl -n argocd get application openbao-secretstore -o jsonpath="{.status.sync.status} {.status.health.status} {.status.operationState.phase}{\"\n\"}"'
ssh railiance01 'kubectl get clustersecretstore openbao; kubectl -n issue-core get externalsecret issue-core-runtime'
```

Rollback (R1): `git revert` the merge commit and push, then
`ssh railiance01 'kubectl -n argocd delete application openbao-secretstore'`
(no finalizer; the ClusterSecretStore keeps running).

## Adopt issue-core (from rapp-issue-core)

```task
id: RPF-WP-0044-T04
status: wait
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "0e619658-0453-51ed-b9a0-bed28b5544fd"
```

**Waits on the founder's go-ahead**, and on two preconditions:

- `rapp-issue-core` agrees (hub message) that ArgoCD owns production and its
  `make deploy` stops being a production path; it would fight self-heal.
  Image releases become commits to `manifests/30-runtime.yaml`.
- A CCR for the ArgoCD repository credential, source at
  `platform/operators/argocd/repositories/rapp-issue-core`, read-only deploy
  token. Applied with `make argocd-repo-apply`; no value is handled in this
  plan.

Zero diff against live for both the raw `manifests/` and the rendered output
(digest `sha256:a56c80cc…b92cf`). All kinds are in the `railiance-tenants`
whitelist. Live check: `rapp-issue-core make verify-live`. Workload restore:
`rapp-issue-core make rollback`.

## Adopt target-revenue

```task
id: RPF-WP-0044-T05
status: wait
priority: medium
state_hub_task_id: "d418068a-6fb0-5416-aac5-d23c93924d9c"
```

**Waits on the founder's go-ahead.** Preconditions: T01 item 2 (CNPG
`Cluster` whitelisted) applied to the AppProject by hand, and `target-revenue`
confirms the two Sync-hook Jobs (`target-revenue-migrate`,
`target-revenue-bootstrap-binky`) are safe to re-run against production. They
are absent live and would run on every sync with the default hook strategy.
The adoption sync uses the `apply` strategy, which skips them. Once automated
sync is enabled they run on each sync, so the second go-ahead depends on that
confirmation. Ask `target-revenue` to pin an image digest instead of `0.1.4`.
Live check: `https://revenue.coulomb.social` health and the CNPG cluster
healthy. Workload restore: `kubectl apply -k k8s/railiance` from the previous
target-revenue commit.

## Adopt external-secrets (highest risk)

```task
id: RPF-WP-0044-T06
status: wait
priority: medium
state_hub_task_id: "4ca54868-c31f-5e3d-b7d3-a15b84c15f80"
```

**Waits on the founder's go-ahead.** Zero diff, but ESO serves every
`ExternalSecret` on the cluster (25 ClusterSecretStores). Before the merge,
add `crds.annotations: {argocd.argoproj.io/sync-options: "Prune=false,Delete=false"}`
to the values and re-run the diff; pruning a CRD would delete every
`ExternalSecret` and store. Adopt with `ServerSideApply=true` as declared.
Watch for drift on `caBundle` fields injected by the cert-controller; if
ArgoCD shows it, add `ignoreDifferences` before enabling self-heal. After
adoption, retire the stale `pending-upgrade` Helm release record (its
`sh.helm.release.v1.external-secrets.v*` Secrets) under a separate go-ahead;
ArgoCD does not track them. Live check: all ClusterSecretStores keep their
current `Valid` state (two, `openbao-activity-core` and
`openbao-email-connect`, are already `ValidationFailed`). Workload restore:
`helm template` 0.16.1 with the same values, `kubectl apply --server-side`.

## Turn the root back to the production lane

```task
id: RPF-WP-0044-T07
status: wait
priority: medium
state_hub_task_id: "844ff115-def2-55ca-ab01-413ba7e6857d"
```

**Waits on the founder's go-ahead.** After T03–T06 are proven, restore
`automated: {prune: true, selfHeal: true}` on `railiance-apps-root`, as the
change-gate decision's production row expects. From then on a merge to the
railiance01 path is a live production change, and `RPF-WP-0043-T04`
(policy-nexus) can use it.

## Plan phase C: retire coulombcore's ArgoCD

```task
id: RPF-WP-0044-T08
status: todo
priority: low
state_hub_task_id: "55d1382f-5862-5321-a1c9-96767764ba43"
```

Planning only. Needs a read-only check of coulombcore's ArgoCD, outside this
session's scope. Under Option A, retiring it also removes `argocd/applications/`.
Also hand back to the cluster layer: the phase A install is not declared in
any repository and its pods have no resource requests (BestEffort).