Answer
The reconciliation loop continuously compares desired (Git) vs live (cluster) state and acts on differences. ArgoCD polls Git on an interval (default ~3 minutes) and can react instantly to webhooks; it also watches cluster resources. Reconciliation computes the diff, updates sync/health status, and applies changes if auto-sync is enabled.
# argocd-cm: change polling interval
data:
timeout.reconciliation: 180sReal-world example A Git webhook triggers ArgoCD to reconcile immediately on merge instead of waiting for the next poll cycle.