At its most basic level, GitOps is a development approach that uses a code version control system, often Git, as the basis for defining and controlling a DevOps workflow and synchronization across systems.
A formal definition for the GitOps model is in the works, which is one of the reasons why 2021 will be a breakout year for GitOps. The definition as well as direction on best practices are being developed by the GitOps Working Group within the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) Special Interest Group (SIG) for App Delivery. A consortium of vendors including Amazon Web Services (AWS), GitHub, Weaveworks and Codefresh are all also working together on figuring out how best to advance the state of GitOps.