`patch.Helper` doesn't work with secrets and configmaps

[errordeveloper]

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I was using patcher in a project and discovered the hard way that it doesn't actually patch secrets.

The reason behind that is to do with this logic: https://github.com/fluxcd/pkg/blob/a04ccbfc5bc8348e31131978140640f0b1363d18/runtime/patch/patch.go#L239-L242

So it very deliberately checks spec field, which is something secrets and configmaps don't have.

[errordeveloper]

Of course, there are more examples of resources that don't have spec.

[stefanprodan]

I suggest you use ssa.apply to patch Kubernetes native resources, the patcher is for custom resources which subscribe to the spec/status standard.

[errordeveloper]

@stefanprodan maybe that should be made more explicit in the docs?

[stefanprodan]

Yes for sure, patcher is for controllers to set finalizers and status conditions, we use it as such in Flux, and we should clearly state it’s purpose in docs.