Reference Architecture: Push-Based GitOps for Staging (Test) Environments

Abstract: This technical report defines a Reference Architecture (RA-001) for a lightweight, cost-effective Continuous Deployment (CD) pipeline designed for Test and Staging environments. It details a push-based GitOps pattern utilizing Docker Compose and GitHub Actions to decouple application code from infrastructure state, without the overhead of managed Kubernetes clusters. Operational Context: For a narrative discussion on the implementation experience and design trade-offs of this architecture, please refer to the companion article on the author's engineering playbook: https://archtenet.dev/blog/gitops-lite-pattern