diff --git a/Gopkg.lock b/Gopkg.lock
index c42c6640f27c6..9f812de8a563e 100644
--- a/Gopkg.lock
+++ b/Gopkg.lock
@@ -201,8 +201,8 @@
 [[projects]]
   name = "github.com/json-iterator/go"
   packages = ["."]
-  revision = "28452fcdec4e44348d2af0d91d1e9e38da3a9e0a"
-  version = "1.0.5"
+  revision = "e7c7f3b33712573affdcc7a107218e7926b9a05b"
+  version = "1.0.6"
 
 [[projects]]
   name = "github.com/juju/ratelimit"
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@
   branch = "master"
   name = "golang.org/x/crypto"
   packages = ["ssh/terminal"]
-  revision = "650f4a345ab4e5b245a3034b110ebc7299e68186"
+  revision = "432090b8f568c018896cd8a0fb0345872bbac6ce"
 
 [[projects]]
   branch = "master"
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@
     "lex/httplex",
     "trace"
   ]
-  revision = "f5dfe339be1d06f81b22525fe34671ee7d2c8904"
+  revision = "cbe0f9307d0156177f9dd5dc85da1a31abc5f2fb"
 
 [[projects]]
   branch = "master"
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@
     "go/ast/astutil",
     "imports"
   ]
-  revision = "ce871d178848e3eea1e8795e5cfb74053dde4bb9"
+  revision = "5e776fee60db37e560cee3fb46db699d2f095386"
 
 [[projects]]
   name = "google.golang.org/appengine"
@@ -366,6 +366,7 @@
     "connectivity",
     "credentials",
     "encoding",
+    "encoding/proto",
     "grpclb/grpc_lb_v1/messages",
     "grpclog",
     "internal",
@@ -381,8 +382,8 @@
     "tap",
     "transport"
   ]
-  revision = "6b51017f791ae1cfbec89c52efdf444b13b550ef"
-  version = "v1.9.2"
+  revision = "8e4536a86ab602859c20df5ebfd0bd4228d08655"
+  version = "v1.10.0"
 
 [[projects]]
   name = "gopkg.in/inf.v0"
@@ -441,7 +442,7 @@
     "pkg/client/clientset/clientset/scheme",
     "pkg/client/clientset/clientset/typed/apiextensions/v1beta1"
   ]
-  revision = "c726b9ed6b50a8e7247ea43a9087b06b5ed40379"
+  revision = "b89f5ce12ce6e022fc3e9d7586d61346e694d56e"
 
 [[projects]]
   branch = "release-1.9"
@@ -546,7 +547,8 @@
     "util/flowcontrol",
     "util/homedir",
     "util/integer",
-    "util/jsonpath"
+    "util/jsonpath",
+    "util/workqueue"
   ]
   revision = "9389c055a838d4f208b699b3c7c51b70f2368861"
 
@@ -576,11 +578,11 @@
   branch = "master"
   name = "k8s.io/kube-openapi"
   packages = ["pkg/common"]
-  revision = "275e2ce91dec4c05a4094a7b1daee5560b555ac9"
+  revision = "50ae88d24ede7b8bad68e23c805b5d3da5c8abaf"
 
 [solve-meta]
   analyzer-name = "dep"
   analyzer-version = 1
-  inputs-digest = "f952799b75f7db46976f7e4aa15d5f9b1908f28fbd4d9ddb20381a5f160cc07e"
+  inputs-digest = "0aa93ce59362fb4c878e843ba8ebed06d419f8aa29012f099a213aded7b4940c"
   solver-name = "gps-cdcl"
   solver-version = 1
diff --git a/application/controller/controller.go b/application/controller/controller.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..8b39d14b83d55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/application/controller/controller.go
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+package controller
+
+import (
+	"context"
+
+	appclientset "github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/pkg/client/clientset/versioned"
+	appinformers "github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/pkg/client/informers/externalversions"
+	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+
+	"time"
+
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/runtime"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/cache"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/util/workqueue"
+)
+
+const (
+	appResyncPeriod = 10 * time.Minute
+)
+
+// ApplicationController is the controller for application resources.
+type ApplicationController struct {
+	kubeclientset        kubernetes.Interface
+	applicationclientset appclientset.Interface
+	appQueue             workqueue.RateLimitingInterface
+
+	appInformer cache.SharedIndexInformer
+}
+
+// NewApplicationController creates new instance of ApplicationController.
+func NewApplicationController(kubeclientset kubernetes.Interface, applicationclientset appclientset.Interface) *ApplicationController {
+	appQueue := workqueue.NewRateLimitingQueue(workqueue.DefaultControllerRateLimiter())
+	return &ApplicationController{
+		kubeclientset:        kubeclientset,
+		applicationclientset: applicationclientset,
+		appQueue:             appQueue,
+		appInformer:          newApplicationInformer(applicationclientset, appQueue),
+	}
+}
+
+// Run starts the Application CRD controller.
+func (ctrl *ApplicationController) Run(ctx context.Context, appWorkers int) {
+	defer runtime.HandleCrash()
+	defer ctrl.appQueue.ShutDown()
+
+	go ctrl.appInformer.Run(ctx.Done())
+
+	if !cache.WaitForCacheSync(ctx.Done(), ctrl.appInformer.HasSynced) {
+		log.Error("Timed out waiting for caches to sync")
+		return
+	}
+
+	for i := 0; i < appWorkers; i++ {
+		go wait.Until(ctrl.runWorker, time.Second, ctx.Done())
+	}
+
+	<-ctx.Done()
+}
+
+func (ctrl *ApplicationController) processNextItem() bool {
+	appKey, shutdown := ctrl.appQueue.Get()
+	defer ctrl.appQueue.Done(appKey)
+	if shutdown {
+		return false
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
+func (ctrl *ApplicationController) runWorker() {
+	for ctrl.processNextItem() {
+	}
+}
+
+func newApplicationInformer(appclientset appclientset.Interface, appQueue workqueue.RateLimitingInterface) cache.SharedIndexInformer {
+	appInformerFactory := appinformers.NewSharedInformerFactory(
+		appclientset,
+		appResyncPeriod,
+	)
+	informer := appInformerFactory.Argoproj().V1alpha1().Applications().Informer()
+	informer.AddEventHandler(
+		cache.ResourceEventHandlerFuncs{
+			AddFunc: func(obj interface{}) {
+				key, err := cache.MetaNamespaceKeyFunc(obj)
+				if err == nil {
+					appQueue.Add(key)
+				}
+			},
+			UpdateFunc: func(old, new interface{}) {
+				key, err := cache.MetaNamespaceKeyFunc(new)
+				if err == nil {
+					appQueue.Add(key)
+				}
+			},
+			DeleteFunc: func(obj interface{}) {
+				// IndexerInformer uses a delta queue, therefore for deletes we have to use this
+				// key function.
+				key, err := cache.DeletionHandlingMetaNamespaceKeyFunc(obj)
+				if err == nil {
+					appQueue.Add(key)
+				}
+			},
+		},
+	)
+	return informer
+}
diff --git a/cmd/argocd/application-controller/main.go b/cmd/argocd/application-controller/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..f6df2a44ba7ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/argocd/application-controller/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/application/controller"
+	"github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/cmd/argocd/commands"
+	appclientset "github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/pkg/client/clientset/versioned"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/clientcmd"
+	"os"
+)
+
+const (
+	// CLIName is the name of the CLI
+	cliName = "application-controller"
+)
+
+func newCommand() *cobra.Command {
+	var (
+		kubeConfigOverrides clientcmd.ConfigOverrides
+		kubeConfigPath      string
+	)
+	var command = cobra.Command{
+		Use:   cliName,
+		Short: "application-controller is a controller to operate on applications CRD",
+		Run: func(c *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+			kubeConfig := commands.GetKubeConfig(kubeConfigPath, kubeConfigOverrides)
+
+			kubeClient := kubernetes.NewForConfigOrDie(kubeConfig)
+			appClient := appclientset.NewForConfigOrDie(kubeConfig)
+
+			appController := controller.NewApplicationController(kubeClient, appClient)
+
+			ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+			defer cancel()
+
+			go appController.Run(ctx, 1)
+			// Wait forever
+			select {}
+		},
+	}
+
+	command.Flags().StringVar(&kubeConfigPath, "kubeconfig", "", "Path to the config file to use for CLI requests.")
+	kubeConfigOverrides = clientcmd.ConfigOverrides{}
+	clientcmd.BindOverrideFlags(&kubeConfigOverrides, command.Flags(), clientcmd.RecommendedConfigOverrideFlags(""))
+
+	return &command
+}
+
+func main() {
+	if err := newCommand().Execute(); err != nil {
+		fmt.Println(err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/argocd/commands/common.go b/cmd/argocd/commands/common.go
index ce942334b166a..309cac4f7eac6 100644
--- a/cmd/argocd/commands/common.go
+++ b/cmd/argocd/commands/common.go
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ var (
 	imageTag       = "latest"
 )
 
-func getKubeConfig(configPath string, overrides clientcmd.ConfigOverrides) *rest.Config {
+// GetKubeClient creates new kubernetes client config using specified config path and config overrides variables
+func GetKubeConfig(configPath string, overrides clientcmd.ConfigOverrides) *rest.Config {
 	loadingRules := clientcmd.NewDefaultClientConfigLoadingRules()
 	loadingRules.ExplicitPath = configPath
 	clientConfig := clientcmd.NewInteractiveDeferredLoadingClientConfig(loadingRules, &overrides, os.Stdin)
@@ -33,8 +34,9 @@ func getKubeConfig(configPath string, overrides clientcmd.ConfigOverrides) *rest
 	return restConfig
 }
 
-func getKubeClient(configPath string, overrides clientcmd.ConfigOverrides) *kubernetes.Clientset {
-	restConfig := getKubeConfig(configPath, overrides)
+// GetKubeClient creates new kubernetes client using specified config path and config overrides variables
+func GetKubeClient(configPath string, overrides clientcmd.ConfigOverrides) *kubernetes.Clientset {
+	restConfig := GetKubeConfig(configPath, overrides)
 	clientset, err := kubernetes.NewForConfig(restConfig)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
diff --git a/cmd/argocd/commands/install.go b/cmd/argocd/commands/install.go
index 51b398aadc17c..eae3a277adf05 100644
--- a/cmd/argocd/commands/install.go
+++ b/cmd/argocd/commands/install.go
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ import (
 	apierr "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
-	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
 )
 
 // InstallFlags has all the required parameters for installing Argo CD.
@@ -32,10 +31,9 @@ func NewInstallCommand(globalArgs *globalFlags) *cobra.Command {
 		Short: "Install the argocd components",
 		Long:  "Install the argocd components",
 		Run: func(c *cobra.Command, args []string) {
-			client := getKubeClient(globalArgs.kubeConfigPath, globalArgs.kubeConfigOverrides)
-			extensionsClient := apiextensionsclient.NewForConfigOrDie(getKubeConfig(globalArgs.kubeConfigPath, globalArgs.kubeConfigOverrides))
-			installAppCRD(client, extensionsClient, installArgs)
-			installClusterCRD(client, extensionsClient, installArgs)
+			extensionsClient := apiextensionsclient.NewForConfigOrDie(GetKubeConfig(globalArgs.kubeConfigPath, globalArgs.kubeConfigOverrides))
+			installAppCRD(extensionsClient, installArgs)
+			installClusterCRD(extensionsClient, installArgs)
 		},
 	}
 	command.Flags().BoolVar(&installArgs.DryRun, "dry-run", false, "print the kubernetes manifests to stdout instead of installing")
@@ -43,7 +41,7 @@ func NewInstallCommand(globalArgs *globalFlags) *cobra.Command {
 	return command
 }
 
-func installAppCRD(clientset *kubernetes.Clientset, extensionsClient *apiextensionsclient.Clientset, args InstallFlags) {
+func installAppCRD(extensionsClient *apiextensionsclient.Clientset, args InstallFlags) {
 	applicationCRD := apiextensionsv1beta1.CustomResourceDefinition{
 		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
 			APIVersion: "apiextensions.k8s.io/v1alpha1",
@@ -63,10 +61,10 @@ func installAppCRD(clientset *kubernetes.Clientset, extensionsClient *apiextensi
 			},
 		},
 	}
-	createCRDHelper(clientset, extensionsClient, &applicationCRD, args.DryRun)
+	createCRDHelper(extensionsClient, &applicationCRD, args.DryRun)
 }
 
-func installClusterCRD(clientset *kubernetes.Clientset, extensionsClient *apiextensionsclient.Clientset, args InstallFlags) {
+func installClusterCRD(extensionsClient *apiextensionsclient.Clientset, args InstallFlags) {
 	clusterCRD := apiextensionsv1beta1.CustomResourceDefinition{
 		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
 			APIVersion: "apiextensions.k8s.io/v1alpha1",
@@ -86,10 +84,10 @@ func installClusterCRD(clientset *kubernetes.Clientset, extensionsClient *apiext
 			},
 		},
 	}
-	createCRDHelper(clientset, extensionsClient, &clusterCRD, args.DryRun)
+	createCRDHelper(extensionsClient, &clusterCRD, args.DryRun)
 }
 
-func createCRDHelper(clientset *kubernetes.Clientset, extensionsClient *apiextensionsclient.Clientset, crd *apiextensionsv1beta1.CustomResourceDefinition, dryRun bool) {
+func createCRDHelper(extensionsClient *apiextensionsclient.Clientset, crd *apiextensionsv1beta1.CustomResourceDefinition, dryRun bool) {
 	if dryRun {
 		printYAML(crd)
 		return