diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a8dac76..63b8a89 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -16,3 +16,8 @@ data/
 *.jks.bak
 *.jks.bak*
 *.keystore
+
+# Kubernetes secrets — apply manually, never commit
+deploy/matomo-secret.yaml
+deploy/*-secret.yaml
+deploy/*-auth-secret.yaml
diff --git a/argocd/application.yaml b/argocd/application.yaml
index 0893697..d62d673 100644
--- a/argocd/application.yaml
+++ b/argocd/application.yaml
@@ -12,6 +12,14 @@ spec:
   destination:
     server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
     namespace: solitaire
+  # Secrets are applied manually and must not be pruned by ArgoCD.
+  ignoreDifferences:
+    - group: ""
+      kind: Secret
+      name: matomo-secret
+      namespace: solitaire
+      jsonPointers:
+        - /data
   syncPolicy:
     automated:
       prune: true
diff --git a/deploy/kustomization.yaml b/deploy/kustomization.yaml
index 8c76776..fbbfbad 100644
--- a/deploy/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/deploy/kustomization.yaml
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ resources:
 - mariadb-deployment.yaml
 - mariadb-service.yaml
 - matomo-pvc.yaml
-- matomo-secret.yaml
 - matomo-deployment.yaml
 - matomo-service.yaml
 - ingress-analytics.yaml
diff --git a/deploy/matomo-secret.yaml.example b/deploy/matomo-secret.yaml.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0b9a4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deploy/matomo-secret.yaml.example
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# DO NOT COMMIT THE REAL VERSION OF THIS FILE.
+# deploy/matomo-secret.yaml is gitignored — apply it manually once:
+#
+#   cp deploy/matomo-secret.yaml.example deploy/matomo-secret.yaml
+#   # edit the passwords below, then:
+#   kubectl apply -f deploy/matomo-secret.yaml
+#   kubectl annotate secret matomo-secret -n solitaire \
+#     argocd.argoproj.io/sync-options=Prune=false --overwrite
+#
+# Generate strong passwords with:
+#   python3 -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_urlsafe(18))"
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Secret
+metadata:
+  name: matomo-secret
+  namespace: solitaire
+stringData:
+  MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: "CHANGE_ME"
+  MYSQL_DATABASE: matomo
+  MYSQL_USER: matomo
+  MYSQL_PASSWORD: "CHANGE_ME"
+  MATOMO_ADMIN_PASSWORD: "CHANGE_ME"