Featured · Kubernetes
SOPS + AGE in a Flux GitOps cluster: the parts nobody explains
Getting secrets management right in a GitOps workflow took me days of debugging.
Here's everything from key generation, to Kustomize integration,
to the exact reason your decryption silently fails when you expect it to work.
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Homelab
Fixing a CrashLoopBackOff the hard way (PVC edition)
Mealie kept dying. The culprit was a PersistentVolume with a Retain policy
holding stale data. Here's the reset procedure I wish I found on Google.
Linux
Half of the year on Arch Linux with Sway as my only desktop
No GNOME, no KDE. Just Sway, a config file, and occasional frustration
with PipeWire audio. Would I go back? Absolutely not.
DevOps
Helm vs. Kustomize: what I got wrong for months
Helm is a package manager and one-shot applier, not a controller.
Kustomize is a patcher. Both have a place. Here's how I finally made
it click after confusing them for way too long.
Networking
Cloudflare tunnels as a poor man's VPN for self-hosted apps
No open ports. No public IP headaches. Just cloudflared in a pod
and your app on the internet in 15 minutes. Setup, pitfalls, and the credentials.json story.
What is API
An API (Application Programming Interface) is a standardized way for software systems to communicate.
One system requests data or an action, and another system responds, without exposing its internal workings. APIs are fundamental to modern software because they allow applications, services, and platforms to work together reliably and at scale.
APIs make it possible to connect independent systems, reuse existing functionality instead of rebuilding it, and grow complex platforms without tightly coupling all components. Most everyday digital experiences rely on APIs, even if users never see them directly.
REST APIs in Brief
REST is one of the most common ways APIs are built for the web. It uses familiar internet concepts such as URLs and HTTP requests. Each piece of data is treated as a resource and is accessed using standard actions like retrieving data, creating new entries,
updating existing ones, or deleting them. Each request is handled independently, and data is typically exchanged in a readable format like JSON. REST is widely adopted because it is lightweight, predictable, and works well over the internet.
APIs in Kubernetes
Kubernetes is entirely API‑driven. Every object in a Kubernetes cluster, such as Pods, Nodes, Deployments, and Services, exists as data exposed through the Kubernetes API. Whether commands come from administrators, automation tools, or applications, all interactions go through this API.
Control Plane and Information Flow
The Control Plane is the decision‑making core of Kubernetes, and it operates through continuous use of the API. The API server acts as the main entry point and validates every request. The desired state of the cluster is stored in a shared data store,
while controllers and schedulers constantly observe the API to detect changes. When a request is made, the desired state is recorded, and the Control Plane components distribute this information throughout the infrastructure. Each component reacts to changes it observes
and takes action to make the real system match the requested state. This constant feedback loop is how Kubernetes maintains reliability and consistency across many machines. In simple terms, Kubernetes is a system where the entire platform communicates through an API,
and the Control Plane ensures that the cluster continuously moves toward the state defined through that API.