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Overview

The Application Service API provides comprehensive CRUD operations for Application resources. Applications represent the desired state of a Kubernetes application managed by Argo CD. Base Path: /api/v1/applications gRPC Service: application.ApplicationService

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Application Resource

An Application defines the source repository, destination cluster, and sync policies.

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Application Spec

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source
ApplicationSource
Reference to the location of manifests or chart (single-source)
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sources
ApplicationSource[]
Multiple sources for multi-source applications
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destination
ApplicationDestination
required
Target Kubernetes cluster and namespace
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project
string
required
Project name (use “default” if not specified)
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syncPolicy
SyncPolicy
Sync policy configuration

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Example Application

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: guestbook
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  project: default
  source:
    repoURL: https://github.com/argoproj/argocd-example-apps
    targetRevision: HEAD
    path: guestbook
  destination:
    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
    namespace: guestbook
  syncPolicy:
    automated:
      prune: true
      selfHeal: true
    syncOptions:
    - CreateNamespace=true

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API Operations

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List Applications

Retrieve a list of applications. 
GET /api/v1/applications
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projects
string[]
Filter by project names
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selector
string
Label selector (e.g., app=myapp,env=prod)
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repo
string
Filter by repository URL
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appNamespace
string
Filter by application namespace
curl https://argocd-server/api/v1/applications?projects=default \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

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Get Application

Retrieve a specific application by name. 
GET /api/v1/applications/{name}
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name
string
required
Application name
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refresh
string
Force refresh from Git (“normal” or “hard”)
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project
string
Project filter for validation
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appNamespace
string
Application namespace
curl https://argocd-server/api/v1/applications/guestbook \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

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Create Application

Create a new application. 
POST /api/v1/applications
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application
Application
required
Complete Application resource definition
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upsert
boolean
Update if already exists (default: false)
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validate
boolean
Validate before creating (default: true)
curl -X POST https://argocd-server/api/v1/applications \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "metadata": {
      "name": "guestbook"
    },
    "spec": {
      "project": "default",
      "source": {
        "repoURL": "https://github.com/argoproj/argocd-example-apps",
        "path": "guestbook",
        "targetRevision": "HEAD"
      },
      "destination": {
        "server": "https://kubernetes.default.svc",
        "namespace": "guestbook"
      }
    }
  }'

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Update Application

Update an existing application. 
PUT /api/v1/applications/{application.metadata.name}
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application
Application
required
Updated Application resource
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validate
boolean
Validate before updating

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Update Application Spec

Update only the application spec. 
PUT /api/v1/applications/{name}/spec
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name
string
required
Application name
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spec
ApplicationSpec
required
Updated specification

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Patch Application

Partially update an application. 
PATCH /api/v1/applications/{name}
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name
string
required
Application name
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patch
string
required
JSON patch or merge patch content
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patchType
string
required
Patch type: “json”, “merge”, or “strategic”
Example: 
curl -X PATCH https://argocd-server/api/v1/applications/guestbook \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "patch": "{\"spec\":{\"syncPolicy\":{\"automated\":{\"prune\":true}}}}",
    "patchType": "merge"
  }'

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Delete Application

Delete an application. 
DELETE /api/v1/applications/{name}
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name
string
required
Application name
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cascade
boolean
Delete application resources (default: true)
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propagationPolicy
string
Kubernetes propagation policy: “foreground”, “background”, or “orphan”
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appNamespace
string
Application namespace
curl -X DELETE "https://argocd-server/api/v1/applications/guestbook?cascade=true" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

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Sync Operations

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Sync Application

Trigger a sync operation to deploy the application. 
POST /api/v1/applications/{name}/sync
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name
string
required
Application name
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revision
string
Target revision to sync (default: spec.targetRevision)
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prune
boolean
Delete resources not in Git
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dryRun
boolean
Preview sync without applying changes
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strategy
SyncStrategy
Sync strategy (hook, apply)
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resources
SyncOperationResource[]
Specific resources to sync
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syncOptions
string[]
Sync options (e.g., “PruneLast=true”)
curl -X POST https://argocd-server/api/v1/applications/guestbook/sync \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "prune": true,
    "dryRun": false
  }'

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Terminate Operation

Cancel a running sync operation. 
DELETE /api/v1/applications/{name}/operation

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Rollback Application

Rollback to a previous revision. 
POST /api/v1/applications/{name}/rollback
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name
string
required
Application name
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id
int64
required
History ID to rollback to
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prune
boolean
Prune resources during rollback
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dryRun
boolean
Preview rollback

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Resource Operations

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Get Resource

Get a specific resource managed by the application. 
GET /api/v1/applications/{name}/resource
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namespace
string
Resource namespace
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resourceName
string
required
Resource name
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version
string
required
API version (e.g., “v1”)
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group
string
API group (empty for core)
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kind
string
required
Resource kind (e.g., “Deployment”)

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Delete Resource

Delete a specific resource. 
DELETE /api/v1/applications/{name}/resource

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Patch Resource

Patch a specific resource. 
POST /api/v1/applications/{name}/resource

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Monitoring & Observability

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Get Resource Tree

Get the application’s resource hierarchy. 
GET /api/v1/applications/{applicationName}/resource-tree

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Watch Resource Tree

Stream resource tree updates. 
GET /api/v1/stream/applications/{applicationName}/resource-tree

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Get Pod Logs

Stream logs from application pods. 
GET /api/v1/applications/{name}/pods/{podName}/logs
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container
string
Container name
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follow
boolean
Stream logs
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tailLines
int64
Number of lines to tail
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sinceSeconds
int64
Logs from last N seconds

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Watch Applications

Stream application change events. 
GET /api/v1/stream/applications

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Next Steps

ApplicationSet API

Manage ApplicationSets

Project API

Configure projects for applications

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