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Integrate with Argo CD

Support level: Community

What is Argo CD?​

Argo CD is a declarative, GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes.

-- https://argoproj.github.io/cd/

Preparation​

The following placeholders are used in this guide:

  • argocd.company is the FQDN of the Argo CD installation.
  • authentik.company is the FQDN of the authentik installation.
info

This documentation lists only the settings that you need to change from their default values. Be aware that any changes other than those explicitly mentioned in this guide could cause issues accessing your application.

authentik configuration​

Redirect URI changes in authentik 2026.5

In authentik versions earlier than 2026.5, all Redirect URIs are automatically treated as Authorization type. If you are using one of these older authentik versions, add only the Authorization URL to your Redirect URIs and do not configure a Post Logout URI.

To support the integration of Argo CD with authentik, you need to create an application/provider pair in authentik.

Create an application and provider​

  1. Log in to authentik as an administrator and open the authentik Admin interface.

  2. Navigate to Applications > Applications and click New Application to open the application wizard.

    • Application: provide a descriptive name, an optional group for the type of application, the policy engine mode, and optional UI settings. Note the application Slug because it will be required later.
    • Choose a Provider type: select OAuth2/OpenID Connect as the provider type.
    • Configure the Provider: provide a name (or accept the auto-provided name), the authorization flow to use for this provider, and the following required configurations.
      • Note the Client ID and Client Secret values because they will be required later.
      • Add a Redirect URI of type Strict Authorization as https://argocd.company/api/dex/callback.
      • Select any available signing key.
    • Configure Bindings (optional): you can create a binding (policy, group, or user) to manage the listing and access to applications on a user's Application Dashboard page.

  3. Click Submit to save the new application and provider.

Create the groups​

Using the authentik Admin interface, navigate to Directory > Groups and click Create to create the groups that Argo CD will use for RBAC:

  • Argo CD Admins for administrator users.
  • Argo CD Viewers for read-only users.

After creating the groups, select a group, navigate to the Users tab, and manage its members by using the Add existing user and Create user buttons as needed.

Argo CD configuration​

This guide uses the bundled Dex connector in Argo CD. With this configuration, Argo CD can use authentik for the web UI and the CLI, and can map authentik groups to Argo CD RBAC roles.

Add the client secret​

In the argocd-secret Secret, add the following value to the data field:

argocd-secret
dex.authentik.clientSecret: <base64_encoded_client_secret_from_authentik>

If you use the Argo CD Helm chart, add the client secret to configs.secret.extra instead:

values.yaml
configs:
    secret:
        extra:
            dex.authentik.clientSecret: <Client Secret from authentik>

Configure Dex​

In the argocd-cm ConfigMap, add the following values to the data field:

argocd-cm
url: https://argocd.company
dex.config: |
    connectors:
    - config:
        issuer: https://authentik.company/application/o/<application_slug>/
        clientID: <client ID from the Provider above>
        clientSecret: $dex.authentik.clientSecret
        insecureEnableGroups: true
        scopes:
          - openid
          - profile
          - email
      name: authentik
      type: oidc
      id: authentik

If you use the Argo CD Helm chart, add these values to configs.cm instead.

Map the groups​

In the argocd-rbac-cm ConfigMap, add the following values to the data field:

argocd-rbac-cm
policy.csv: |
    g, Argo CD Admins, role:admin
    g, Argo CD Viewers, role:readonly

If you already use different group names in authentik, replace Argo CD Admins and Argo CD Viewers with the matching group names. If you do not need the read-only group, remove that line.

If you use the Argo CD Helm chart, add these values to configs.rbac instead.

Apply all modified manifests or Helm values. Group membership is evaluated when users authenticate, so users should log out and log back in after you change their Argo CD group membership.

Configuration verification​

To confirm that authentik is properly configured with Argo CD, open Argo CD and log in with authentik. You should also be able to log in with the Argo CD CLI.

Resources​