fix(gitops): CDI cold-start deadlock repaired IN THE GRAPH, not by a pre-apply

`platform-config` applied the CDI CR *and* cdi-storageprofiles.yaml in ONE pass.
StorageProfile's CRD does not exist until cdi-operator reconciles that CR, and
Flux server-side dry-runs every object before applying any — so the unknown kind
aborted the tier, the CR was never applied, the CRD was never created, and the
tier could NEVER converge. Observed on prod: cdi-operator Available 12h, no CDI
CR, no storageprofiles CRD, every downstream tier blocked.

The profiles now live in their own tier ./platform-config-cdi with
dependsOn: platform-config and wait: true. Because dependsOn is REVISION-gated
and platform-config runs wait: true, the CDI CR must be applied AND healthy —
exactly the event that creates the CRD — before the profiles are applied. Cold
clusters order themselves. `standup.sh crds` is retained as a fallback for
clusters already stuck, and because it is idempotent.

THE GENERALISABLE RULE (recorded in clusters/README.md): a CR whose CRD is
created by a CONTROLLER AT RUNTIME is second-order and needs its own pass.
cdi-operator.yaml registers exactly ONE CRD (cdis.cdi.kubevirt.io); storageprofiles,
datavolumes, datasources and dataimportcrons appear only after it reconciles the
CDI CR. An audit found StorageProfile is the only second-order kind in
platform-config — KubeVirt, CDI, KeycloakRealmImport, CNPG Cluster,
VolumeSnapshotClass, ClusterIssuer, PrometheusRule, ServiceMonitor and the Cilium
L2 CRs all have their CRD in git or in a chart.

Moving the CDI CR up into `platform` was rejected: that would put CDI's health on
the tier the CNI gates and everything waits on — the mistake the oauth2-proxy and
headlamp splits exist to undo.

apps-vms gains dependsOn: platform-config-cdi. LOAD-BEARING, not cosmetic:
apps/vms/unifi/20-datavolume.yaml provisions on storageClassName: longhorn-vm and
its comment claimed platform-config guaranteed the profiles — which this move
would have silently falsified.

THE PRUNE TRANSIENT, MEASURED RATHER THAN ASSUMED. platform-config has
prune: true, so it deletes both profiles once, CDI recreates them with empty spec,
and the new tier re-applies the overrides ~30-60s later. Compared our override
against CDI's unaided inference for the same Longhorn provisioner on dev:
  longhorn-vm (we override)     spec RWX/Block  -> status ReadWriteMany/Block
  longhorn-static (no override) spec unset      -> status ReadWriteOnce/Block
Both infer cloneStrategy: snapshot. So cloneStrategy is NOT at risk; accessModes
IS — unaided CDI gives RWO. A DataVolume provisioned on longhorn-vm inside the
window would be stamped RWO/Block and be PERMANENTLY non-live-migratable. Flux can
no longer cause it (apps-vms gates on the new tier); a human must not do it by hand.
Corroborating evidence that the recreate happens at all: dev has 5 StorageClasses
and 5 StorageProfiles, three with fluxOwner=NONE, spec unset and status populated
— CDI creating and inferring them with no Flux involvement.

MERGE PRECONDITION: `flux get kustomization platform-config` must be Ready on the
target first. If it is not, the profiles are pruned and sit at CDI defaults until
it recovers — and prod was in that state hours earlier. Fallback is the two-step
the Cilium move used (merge with prune: false, verify the ownership label moved,
restore prune: true).

substituteFrom: cluster-vars is declared even though the manifest has no ${TOKEN},
deliberately: conformance/tests/l0-static/flux-postbuild-substitution only audits
paths whose Kustomization declares it, so omitting it would move the file OUT of
the audited set — a blind spot for a future literal-token ship. Gate confirms it
stayed in (path=./platform-config-cdi files=2 defined=0 hazards=0). No SOPS
decryption stanza: the moved file is two plain CRs, so no overlay change was needed.

VERIFIED INDEPENDENTLY OF THE AGENT: platform-config renders 0 StorageProfile
while keeping the CDI and KubeVirt CRs; platform-config-cdi renders exactly the
two profiles; the graph is byte-identical across dev and prod with apps-vms
carrying both edges and no cycle. Full CI gate PASS.

KNOWN FOLLOW-UP: bootstrap/standup.sh TIER_ORDER does not yet include
platform-config-cdi, so `resume` will not wait on it. Another agent holds that
file; the PM will add it.

Refs R-GITOPS-01, R-ENV-02.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <[email protected]>

clusters/README.md

@@ -97,6 +97,27 @@ Kustomization: apps-wave-1  (./apps/wave-1, dependsOn apps-wave-0)
 Kustomization: apps-wave-N  (./apps/wave-N, dependsOn apps-wave-N-1)
 ```
 
+### Second-order CRDs need a THIRD pass (`platform-config-cdi`, added 2026-09-05)
+
+The controllers/configs split (`platform` → `platform-config`) assumes a CRD is registered by the
+controller **install**. CDI breaks that: `cdi-operator.yaml` registers only `cdis.cdi.kubevirt.io`,
+and cdi-operator creates `storageprofiles` / `datavolumes` / `datasources` **only after it has
+reconciled the `CDI` CR**. Since kustomize-controller server-side **dry-runs every object in a pass
+before applying any of them**, having the `CDI` CR and the CDI `StorageProfile`s in one pass was a
+**deadlock, not a race**: unknown kind → pass aborts → CR never applied → CRD never created →
+`platform-config` can never converge → every tier below it blocked. Invisible on dev (its CDI CRDs
+have existed for months); it cost 12h on prod's cold start.
+
+So there is a third tier, `platform-config-cdi` (`./platform-config-cdi`, `dependsOn:
+platform-config`), and a rule:
+
+> A CR belongs in `platform-config-cdi`, not `platform-config`, when the CRD it needs is created by a
+> **controller at runtime** rather than by a manifest in git.
+
+`apps-vms` `dependsOn` it as well as `platform-config`, because CDI reads
+`StorageProfile/longhorn-vm` at DataVolume **provisioning** time — a VM disk provisioned before that
+profile exists is stamped RWO/Filesystem and is permanently not live-migratable.
+
 Wave 0 `dependsOn` `platform-config` (transitively `platform`) so CNI/storage/TLS/DNS/gateway
 exist before any workload reconciles. The app tier is split into dependency-ordered WAVES
 (`catalog/render.py --emit-waves`): each `apps-wave-<N>` health-gates (wait:true) ONLY its own

clusters/base/apps-vms.yaml

@@ -4,8 +4,11 @@
 # NON-GATING (wait:false): unlike the app waves, this does NOT health-wait. A VM's first-boot image
 # import (CDI, minutes) + in-guest software install mean a VM can be intentionally long-not-Ready, so
 # health-gating it would wedge reconciliation for no benefit. VMs have no in-cluster dependents.
-# dependsOn platform-config so KubeVirt/CDI + the longhorn-vm StorageClass + CDI StorageProfiles
+# dependsOn platform-config so KubeVirt/CDI + the longhorn-vm StorageClass exist first, AND
-# exist first. prune:true — this Kustomization solely owns the VM manifests (no adoption concern).
+# platform-config-cdi so the CDI StorageProfiles do (2026-09-05: the StorageProfiles MOVED OUT of
+# platform-config into their own tier, so `dependsOn: platform-config` alone NO LONGER guarantees
+# them — see the dependsOn block). prune:true — this Kustomization solely owns the VM manifests (no
+# adoption concern).
 apiVersion: kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
 kind: Kustomization
 metadata:
@@ -19,6 +22,28 @@ spec:
   wait: false
   dependsOn:
     - name: platform-config
+    # LOAD-BEARING, not decoration. apps/vms/unifi/20-datavolume.yaml provisions a DataVolume on
+    # storageClassName `longhorn-vm`, and CDI reads StorageProfile/longhorn-vm AT PROVISIONING TIME to
+    # decide the claim's accessModes/volumeMode. Without that profile's `claimPropertySets`
+    # (ReadWriteMany + Block) the PVC is stamped RWO/Filesystem and the VM disk is PERMANENTLY not
+    # live-migratable — a silent, unrecoverable-without-recreate loss. The profiles used to arrive
+    # with platform-config; since 2026-09-05 they arrive with `platform-config-cdi`, so the edge has
+    # to move with them. platform-config-cdi runs wait:true and StorageProfile has no status
+    # conditions (kstatus -> Current on apply), so this edge cannot stall this tier.
+    #
+    # HONEST LIMIT: CDI provisions from the profile's STATUS, which its storageprofile-controller
+    # derives from our spec. This edge proves the spec is applied, not that CDI has folded it into
+    # status — that is a watch-triggered round-trip of seconds against a ~30s dependency requeue, so
+    # it is a timing argument rather than a guarantee. See clusters/base/platform-config-cdi.yaml.
+    #
+    # This edge also makes the StorageProfile prune/recreate transition safe: platform-config's prune
+    # deletes the two profiles for the ~30-60s before platform-config-cdi re-applies them, and this
+    # dependsOn is what guarantees Flux cannot create a DataVolume inside that window.
+    #
+    # The platform-config edge above is kept although platform-config-cdi already dependsOn it: the
+    # edges are a set, there is no cycle, and stating both means a future edit to platform-config-cdi
+    # cannot silently drop this tier's KubeVirt/StorageClass gate.
+    - name: platform-config-cdi
   sourceRef:
     kind: GitRepository
     name: flux-system

clusters/base/kustomization.yaml

@@ -14,6 +14,15 @@ resources:
   - cilium.yaml          # Flux Kustomization -> ./platform/cilium (dependsOn flux-system, wait:true)
   - platform.yaml        # Flux Kustomization -> ./platform (CONTROLLERS: HelmReleases / CRDs)
   - platform-config.yaml # Flux Kustomization -> ./platform-config (CONFIGS: CRs; dependsOn platform)
+  # SECOND-ORDER CDI configs — CRs whose CRD is created by a controller AT RUNTIME, not by any
+  # manifest in git. cdi-operator.yaml registers only `cdis.cdi.kubevirt.io`; `storageprofiles` (and
+  # datavolumes, datasources, …) appear only after cdi-operator reconciles the `CDI` CR that
+  # platform-config applies. Because Flux dry-runs every object in a pass before applying any of them,
+  # keeping the StorageProfiles in platform-config was a TRUE DEADLOCK (unknown kind -> pass aborts ->
+  # CR never applied -> CRD never created -> tier never converges), invisible on dev and fatal on any
+  # cold cluster — observed on prod 2026-09-05. This tier is the durable fix; `standup.sh crds` stays
+  # as the belt-and-braces repair for clusters already wedged. See clusters/base/platform-config-cdi.yaml.
+  - platform-config-cdi.yaml # Flux Kustomization -> ./platform-config-cdi (dependsOn platform-config)
   # App tier, split into dependency-ordered WAVES (was the single ./apps `apps` Kustomization).
   # Each apps-wave-<N> dependsOn wave N-1 (wave 0 dependsOn platform-config) and health-gates
   # (wait:true) ONLY its own wave, so a crashloop in a later wave can't stall an earlier one.

clusters/base/platform-config-cdi.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+---
+# Flux Kustomization: SECOND-ORDER CDI CONFIGS — reconciles ./platform-config-cdi.
+# Serves R-GITOPS-01 (all desired state in git, reconciled by Flux) and R-ENV-02.
+#
+# WHY THIS TIER EXISTS — the durable fix for the 2026-09-05 prod CDI DEADLOCK
+#
+# `platform-config` applied the `CDI` CR and the CDI `StorageProfile`s in the SAME pass.
+# kustomize-controller server-side DRY-RUNS EVERY object before applying ANY of them, and
+# `storageprofiles.cdi.kubevirt.io` does not exist until cdi-operator has reconciled that `CDI` CR.
+# So the unknown kind aborted the whole tier → the CR was never applied → the CRD was never created →
+# platform-config could NEVER converge and every tier below it stayed blocked. Not a race: a
+# deadlock. cdi-operator was Available for 12h on prod with no CR. Invisible on dev (its CDI CRDs
+# have existed for months), FATAL on any cold cluster. See DECISIONS-LOG 2026-09-05.
+#
+# `bootstrap/standup.sh crds` pre-applies the `CDI` CR to break it by hand. That is a WORKAROUND and
+# stays as belt-and-braces for clusters already wedged; THIS Kustomization is the fix that makes the
+# graph order itself, so a cold cluster needs no human in the loop.
+#
+# THE ORDERING GUARANTEE, precisely: `dependsOn` is REVISION-gated, not merely Ready-gated (verified
+# against kustomize-controller v1.4.0 `kustomization_controller.go :: checkDependencies`, our
+# version): sharing a GitRepository with the dependency, this Kustomization cannot reconcile revision
+# N until `platform-config` has APPLIED revision N — and, because platform-config runs `wait: true`,
+# not until the `CDI` CR it applied is HEALTHY. cdi-operator creates the remaining CDI CRDs as part of
+# reaching that state, so by the time this tier's first dry-run runs, `StorageProfile` is a known
+# kind. One edge, no pre-apply.
+#
+# WHY NOT just move the CDI CR earlier, into `platform`? Because `platform` is the tier the CNI gates
+# and everything else waits on: putting CDI's health on that critical path is the mistake the
+# oauth2-proxy/headlamp splits were made to undo. The CR is correctly a platform-config CR; it is the
+# StorageProfiles that were in the wrong pass.
+apiVersion: kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
+kind: Kustomization
+metadata:
+  name: platform-config-cdi
+  namespace: flux-system
+spec:
+  interval: 10m
+  # 2m (short, deliberately). kustomize-controller caches API discovery, so on a COLD cluster the
+  # very first attempt here can still fail `no matches for kind "StorageProfile"` even though the CRD
+  # now exists — a stale RESTMapper, not a missing CRD (the failure mode `standup.sh crds` warns
+  # about). The controller resets the mapper and the retry succeeds, so the only cost of that stale
+  # cache is one retryInterval. Keep it short.
+  retryInterval: 2m
+  # 2m is ample: this tier applies two tiny cluster-scoped CRs. There is no workload to roll out, no
+  # image to pull and no controller to become Available, so a slow apply here means a real error, not
+  # a slow rollout — failing fast surfaces it instead of burning 5m per attempt.
+  timeout: 2m
+  # TRUE, and this tier is the SOLE declarer of both StorageProfiles (checked repo-wide), so prune is
+  # component-scoped: the stale set can only ever be a StorageProfile this file stopped rendering.
+  # It is NOT the platform/cilium case — nothing here declares a shared Namespace, or any object a
+  # second path also declares. See the transition note at the bottom of this file.
+  prune: true
+  # TRUE, but understand exactly what it buys and what it does NOT.
+  #
+  # CANNOT STALL: `StorageProfile`'s status type (CDI v1beta1 StorageProfileStatus: storageClass,
+  # provisioner, claimPropertySets, cloneStrategy, dataImportCronSourceFormat) carries NO
+  # `conditions` and NO `observedGeneration`, so kstatus's generic path reports it Current the moment
+  # it is applied. `wait: true` therefore adds a Ready condition without adding a way to hang — which
+  # is why it is safe to let `apps-vms` gate on it (contrast the headlamp gating stall).
+  # If a resource that CAN be unhealthy is ever added to ./platform-config-cdi, re-derive this:
+  # `apps-vms` waits on it.
+  #
+  # WHAT IT DOES NOT PROVE (honest gap): CDI reads the profile's **status**, not its spec, when it
+  # provisions a claim (status.claimPropertySets / status.cloneStrategy), and CDI's
+  # storageprofile-controller computes that status from our spec override plus inference. So Ready
+  # here means "the spec override is accepted by the API server", not "CDI has folded it into
+  # status". That reconcile is a watch-triggered round-trip of seconds, and the dependency requeue
+  # below it is ~30s, so a DataVolume cannot realistically beat it — but it is a timing argument, not
+  # a guarantee, and no `wait` setting can turn it into one (there is no condition to wait on).
+  wait: true
+  dependsOn:
+    # platform-config applies the `CDI` CR and (wait:true) waits for it to be healthy — which is what
+    # causes cdi-operator to create `storageprofiles.cdi.kubevirt.io`. Revision-gated, so this is an
+    # ordering guarantee and not a hope. Transitively this also chains platform -> cilium ->
+    # flux-system, so `cluster-vars` at revision N is applied before this renders revision N.
+    - name: platform-config
+  sourceRef:
+    kind: GitRepository
+    name: flux-system
+  path: ./platform-config-cdi
+  # NO SOPS `decryption` stanza: ../platform/kubevirt/cdi-storageprofiles.yaml is two plain CRs with
+  # no Secret and no *.sops.yaml, so neither overlay needs to patch one in (unlike
+  # oauth2-proxy/headlamp/crafty/velero, which each carry an encrypted Secret). Nothing to add to
+  # clusters/dev or clusters/prod for this tier.
+  #
+  # substituteFrom cluster-vars: the manifest currently contains NO `${TOKEN}`, so this stanza
+  # substitutes nothing today. It is declared anyway for two concrete reasons, not for symmetry:
+  #   1. COVERAGE. conformance/tests/l0-static/flux-postbuild-substitution/check.sh only audits paths
+  #      whose Kustomization declares substituteFrom. Omitting it would move
+  #      cdi-storageprofiles.yaml OUT of the audited set — a blind spot where a future `${TOKEN}`
+  #      could ship as a literal string, precisely the class of bug that check exists to stop.
+  #   2. FAIL-CLOSED. kustomize-controller runs --feature-gates=StrictPostBuildSubstitutions=true, so
+  #      with this stanza an undefined token FAILS this Kustomization loudly instead of rendering
+  #      empty. Without the stanza there is no substitution at all and the literal ships silently.
+  postBuild:
+    substituteFrom:
+      - kind: ConfigMap
+        name: cluster-vars
+  # ── FIRST RECONCILE AFTER MERGE: a TRANSIENT DELETE-THEN-RECREATE. READ BEFORE MERGING. ──────────
+  # Moving cdi-storageprofiles.yaml out of ./platform-config drops both StorageProfiles from THAT
+  # Kustomization's inventory, and platform-config has `prune: true` — so its next apply DELETES
+  # StorageProfile/longhorn and StorageProfile/longhorn-vm, and this Kustomization recreates them on
+  # the following reconcile (revision-gated: strictly after platform-config's apply, so there is no
+  # dual-ownership fight — the objects are pruned before they are re-applied under this tier's
+  # `kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/name=platform-config-cdi` label).
+  #
+  # Why that is acceptable here — and it is NOT the platform/cilium case:
+  #   * Neither object is the sole (or any) declarer of a shared object. No Namespace, no ConfigMap,
+  #     nothing else in the repo declares a StorageProfile. The stale set is exactly two
+  #     cluster-scoped CDI CRs.
+  #   * The objects do not actually go missing: CDI's storageprofile-controller creates a
+  #     StorageProfile per StorageClass and recreates a deleted one, with an EMPTY `.spec` and
+  #     inferred `.status`. So the transient is "our .spec overrides are absent", not "the object is
+  #     absent".
+  #   * A StorageProfile is read at DataVolume/PVC PROVISIONING and CLONE time only. Existing PVCs,
+  #     existing DataVolumes and running VMs do not consult it again, so nothing already provisioned
+  #     is disturbed and no data path is touched.
+  #   * The only exposure is a DataVolume/clone STARTED inside the window: it would clone by `copy`
+  #     instead of `snapshot`, and on `longhorn-vm` be stamped RWO/Filesystem instead of RWX/Block —
+  #     permanently non-live-migratable for that disk. Flux cannot cause that, because `apps-vms` now
+  #     dependsOn THIS tier (clusters/base/apps-vms.yaml), so no Flux-managed DataVolume can be
+  #     created while the overrides are absent. A human running `virtctl`/`kubectl` in that minute
+  #     could.
+  #
+  # PRECONDITION THE OPERATOR MUST CHECK, because it is what bounds the window: the recreate cannot
+  # happen until `platform-config` is Ready, and platform-config runs `wait: true` over the whole
+  # config tier (ClusterIssuers, wildcard Certificate, Gateway, Keycloak, CNPG, KubeVirt, CDI…). On a
+  # healthy cluster that is seconds and the window is ~30-60s (kustomize-controller's
+  # --requeue-dependency default is 30s). If platform-config is NOT Ready when this merges, the
+  # StorageProfiles are pruned and stay at CDI defaults until it recovers. So:
+  #   `flux get kustomization platform-config` must be Ready BEFORE merging.
+  # If it is not, do the two-step the cilium move used instead: merge with `platform-config.prune`
+  # temporarily set to `false` (the objects are then dropped from its inventory but NOT deleted, and
+  # this tier ADOPTS them with zero window), verify the ownership label transferred, then restore
+  # `prune: true` in a second commit.

platform-config-cdi/kustomization.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+---
+# platform-config-cdi — the SECOND-ORDER config wave: custom resources whose CRD is created at
+# RUNTIME by a controller that a `platform-config` custom resource switches on.
+#
+# ── THE BUG THIS DIRECTORY EXISTS TO FIX (observed on PROD, 2026-09-05) ───────────────────────────
+# The repo already splits CONTROLLERS (`platform`) from CONFIGS (`platform-config`) because a CR
+# cannot be dry-run before its CRD is registered. That split assumes a CRD is registered by the
+# controller INSTALL. CDI breaks the assumption: `cdi-operator.yaml` registers exactly ONE CRD
+# (`cdis.cdi.kubevirt.io`). Every OTHER CDI CRD — `storageprofiles`, `datavolumes`, `datasources`,
+# `dataimportcrons`, … — is created by cdi-operator only AFTER it has reconciled the `CDI` CR.
+#
+# So `cdi-cr.yaml` is a FIRST-order CR (its CRD comes from the install) and belongs in
+# platform-config, while `cdi-storageprofiles.yaml` is a SECOND-order CR (its CRD comes from
+# reconciling the first-order CR). Having both in ONE Flux Kustomization is a true DEADLOCK, not a
+# race: kustomize-controller server-side dry-runs EVERY object before applying ANY of them, so the
+# unknown `StorageProfile` kind aborts the whole pass → the `CDI` CR is never applied → the
+# StorageProfile CRD is never created → platform-config can NEVER converge, and every tier that
+# dependsOn it stays blocked forever. On prod, cdi-operator sat Available for 12h with no CR:
+#
+#   StorageProfile/longhorn dry-run failed: no matches for kind "StorageProfile"
+#   in version "cdi.kubevirt.io/v1beta1"
+#
+# Invisible on dev (whose CDI CRDs have existed for months) and fatal on any COLD cluster.
+#
+# ── THE RULE, so this is not rediscovered a third time ────────────────────────────────────────────
+# A CR belongs HERE (not in platform-config) when the CRD it needs is created by a CONTROLLER AT
+# RUNTIME rather than by a manifest in git. Grep test: if `grep -rn "kind: CustomResourceDefinition"`
+# over ./platform (following remote bases) does not produce the CRD, and no chart installs it, then
+# some operator creates it after being switched on — and this is the tier for it.
+#
+# Files are referenced IN PLACE via ../platform/... (Flux builds with LoadRestrictionsNone, and the
+# manifests stay beside the component they configure). Build/verify locally with:
+#   kubectl kustomize --load-restrictor LoadRestrictionsNone platform-config-cdi
+apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: Kustomization
+resources:
+  # CDI StorageProfiles — snapshot smart-clone for `longhorn`, and RWX/Block + snapshot clone for the
+  # `longhorn-vm` virt-default class (clears CDIDefaultStorageClassDegraded). `StorageProfile`'s CRD
+  # is created by cdi-operator only once the `CDI` CR (applied by platform-config) is reconciled,
+  # which is exactly why these cannot live in the same pass as that CR.
+  - ../platform/kubevirt/cdi-storageprofiles.yaml

platform-config/kustomization.yaml

@@ -41,9 +41,23 @@ resources:
   # ConfigMap kept beside them for locality.
   - ../platform/kubevirt/kubevirt-cr.yaml
   - ../platform/kubevirt/cdi-cr.yaml
-  # CDI StorageProfiles: snapshot smart-clone for `longhorn`, and RWX/Block + snapshot clone for the
+  # *** DO NOT ADD ../platform/kubevirt/cdi-storageprofiles.yaml BACK HERE. IT DEADLOCKS THIS TIER. ***
-  # `longhorn-vm` virt-default class (consume cdi.kubevirt.io; clears CDIDefaultStorageClassDegraded).
+  # The CDI StorageProfiles were MOVED OUT on 2026-09-05 into their own Flux Kustomization
-  - ../platform/kubevirt/cdi-storageprofiles.yaml
+  # (clusters/base/platform-config-cdi.yaml -> ./platform-config-cdi, dependsOn platform-config).
+  #
+  # `StorageProfile`'s CRD is NOT registered by the CDI operator INSTALL — cdi-operator.yaml ships only
+  # `cdis.cdi.kubevirt.io`. cdi-operator creates `storageprofiles` (and datavolumes, datasources, …)
+  # only AFTER it has reconciled the `CDI` CR two lines above. Flux server-side DRY-RUNS EVERY object
+  # in a Kustomization before applying ANY of them, so having both in this list meant: unknown kind
+  # `StorageProfile` -> the whole pass aborts -> the `CDI` CR is never applied -> the CRD is never
+  # created -> THIS TIER CAN NEVER CONVERGE, and every tier that dependsOn it is blocked forever.
+  # A true deadlock, not a race. Observed on prod 2026-09-05 (cdi-operator Available 12h, no CR):
+  #   StorageProfile/longhorn dry-run failed: no matches for kind "StorageProfile" in version
+  #   "cdi.kubevirt.io/v1beta1"
+  # Invisible on dev, whose CDI CRDs have existed for months. See DECISIONS-LOG 2026-09-05.
+  #
+  # THE RULE: a CR whose CRD is created by a controller AT RUNTIME (rather than by a manifest in git)
+  # is SECOND-ORDER and belongs in ./platform-config-cdi, not here.
   - ../platform/kubevirt/servicemonitor.yaml
   - ../platform/kubevirt/alerts.yaml
   - ../platform/kubevirt/dashboard.yaml

platform/external-snapshotter/README.md

@@ -20,8 +20,12 @@ Neither k3s nor the Longhorn chart ships this. It is a prerequisite for:
 ## Wiring
 
 - **Pass:** `platform` (controllers). Registers the CRDs.
-- The `VolumeSnapshotClass` / `StorageProfile` CRs that consume the CRDs live in the
+- The `VolumeSnapshotClass` CR that consumes the CRDs lives in the `platform-config` pass
-  `platform-config` pass (`dependsOn: platform`), per the controllers/configs split.
+  (`dependsOn: platform`), per the controllers/configs split.
+- The CDI `StorageProfile`s live one pass further out, in `platform-config-cdi`
+  (`dependsOn: platform-config`) — `storageprofiles.cdi.kubevirt.io` is created by cdi-operator only
+  after it reconciles the `CDI` CR, so they cannot share a pass with it. See
+  `clusters/base/platform-config-cdi.yaml`.
 
 ## Version
 

platform/external-snapshotter/kustomization.yaml

@@ -9,8 +9,10 @@
 #   * no VolumeSnapshotClass can be created (item 2), and
 #   * CDI cannot do SNAPSHOT smart-clone (item 3) — it falls back to slow host-assisted `copy`,
 #     which leaves the default virt StorageClass "degraded" (CDIDefaultStorageClassDegraded).
-# Installing it here (controllers pass) registers the CRDs; the VolumeSnapshotClass + the CDI
+# Installing it here (controllers pass) registers the CRDs; the VolumeSnapshotClass that CONSUMES them
-# StorageProfiles that CONSUME them are applied by platform-config (dependsOn: platform).
+# is applied by platform-config (dependsOn: platform), and the CDI StorageProfiles that set
+# `cloneStrategy: snapshot` by platform-config-cdi (dependsOn: platform-config — their own CRD is
+# created by cdi-operator only after the `CDI` CR reconciles; see clusters/base/platform-config-cdi.yaml).
 #
 # CONTROLLERS/CONFIGS SPLIT (F-MON1): this is the CONTROLLERS half. The snapshot.storage.k8s.io
 # CRDs are registered by the `client/config/crd` base below; the snapshot-controller Deployment

platform/kubevirt/cdi-storageprofiles.yaml

@@ -1,9 +1,19 @@
 ---
 # CDI StorageProfiles — the storage "recipes" CDI uses when it provisions/clones VM disk PVCs
-# (ADR-0005). CONSUME the cdi.kubevirt.io CRD registered by the CDI operator (platform pass), so —
+# (ADR-0005).
-# like cdi-cr.yaml — these CRs are applied by the `platform-config` Flux Kustomization
+#
-# (dependsOn: platform). They live here beside the KubeVirt/CDI component and are referenced in
+# APPLIED BY `platform-config-cdi`, NOT `platform-config` (moved 2026-09-05). These are SECOND-ORDER
-# place from platform-config/kustomization.yaml.
+# CRs: `storageprofiles.cdi.kubevirt.io` is NOT registered by the CDI operator install (cdi-operator.yaml
+# ships only `cdis.cdi.kubevirt.io`) — cdi-operator creates it only AFTER it has reconciled the `CDI` CR
+# that platform-config applies. Flux server-side dry-runs every object in a pass before applying any of
+# them, so co-locating these with that CR was a TRUE DEADLOCK: unknown kind -> pass aborts -> CR never
+# applied -> CRD never created -> platform-config never converges -> every tier below it blocked. It was
+# invisible on dev (CDI CRDs long present) and cost 12h on prod's cold start, 2026-09-05.
+# They live here beside the KubeVirt/CDI component and are referenced in place from
+# platform-config-cdi/kustomization.yaml (dependsOn: platform-config, revision-gated).
+#
+# `apps-vms` dependsOn platform-config-cdi for these: a DataVolume created before the longhorn-vm
+# profile below exists is stamped RWO/Filesystem and is permanently not live-migratable.
 #
 # CDI AUTO-CREATES a StorageProfile per StorageClass and fills its STATUS (inferred capabilities).
 # The operator owns `.status`; the USER owns `.spec`. Setting `.spec` here does NOT fight CDI — it

platform/kubevirt/kustomization.yaml

@@ -8,6 +8,16 @@
 # (dependsOn: platform, wait) so the CRDs exist BEFORE the CRs apply. Applying both in one atomic pass
 # deadlocks ("no matches for kind KubeVirt"), exactly the failure F-MON1 documents.
 #
+# THERE IS A THIRD PASS FOR CDI, and it is not optional (2026-09-05). The two operator manifests below
+# register exactly ONE CDI CRD, `cdis.cdi.kubevirt.io`. Every other CDI CRD — `storageprofiles`,
+# `datavolumes`, `datasources`, `dataimportcrons` — is created by cdi-operator only AFTER it reconciles
+# the `CDI` CR. So `cdi-storageprofiles.yaml` is a SECOND-ORDER CR and CANNOT share a pass with
+# `cdi-cr.yaml`: the dry-run of the unknown `StorageProfile` kind aborts the pass, the CR is never
+# applied, the CRD is never created, and platform-config deadlocks (cost 12h on prod's cold start).
+# It is therefore applied by a third Kustomization, `platform-config-cdi` (dependsOn platform-config).
+# Before adding any new CDI CR here, ask which pass owns it: CRD in git -> platform-config;
+# CRD created by cdi-operator at runtime -> platform-config-cdi.
+#
 # Namespaces: the operator manifests each create their own namespace (`kubevirt`, `cdi`) with the
 # pod-security profile they need (kubevirt is privileged) — so we do NOT redeclare them here (that
 # would be a duplicate-resource kustomize error). These are PLATFORM namespaces: they intentionally