diff --git a/rollouts/controllers/remoterootsync_controller_test.go b/rollouts/controllers/remoterootsync_controller_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..93f77a37ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rollouts/controllers/remoterootsync_controller_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,275 @@
+package controllers
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+
+	gitopsv1alpha1 "github.com/GoogleContainerTools/kpt/rollouts/api/v1alpha1"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
+)
+
+func TestBuildObjectsToApply(t *testing.T) {
+	testCases := map[string]struct {
+		rrsInput      string
+		gvk           schema.GroupVersionKind
+		syncNamespace string
+		expectedSync  string
+	}{
+		"minimal": {
+			rrsInput: `apiVersion: gitops.kpt.dev/v1alpha1
+kind: RemoteRootSync
+metadata:
+  name: my-remote-root-sync
+spec:
+  template:
+    metadata: null
+`,
+			gvk:           rootSyncGVK,
+			syncNamespace: rootSyncNamespace,
+			expectedSync: `apiVersion: configsync.gke.io/v1beta1
+kind: RootSync
+metadata:
+  labels:
+    gitops.kpt.dev/remoterootsync-name: my-remote-root-sync
+    gitops.kpt.dev/remoterootsync-namespace: ""
+  name: my-remote-root-sync
+  namespace: config-management-system
+`,
+		},
+
+		"minimal, rootSync type specified": {
+			rrsInput: `apiVersion: gitops.kpt.dev/v1alpha1
+kind: RemoteRootSync
+metadata:
+  name: my-remote-root-sync
+spec:
+  template:
+    type: RootSync
+`,
+			gvk:           rootSyncGVK,
+			syncNamespace: rootSyncNamespace,
+			expectedSync: `apiVersion: configsync.gke.io/v1beta1
+kind: RootSync
+metadata:
+  labels:
+    gitops.kpt.dev/remoterootsync-name: my-remote-root-sync
+    gitops.kpt.dev/remoterootsync-namespace: ""
+  name: my-remote-root-sync
+  namespace: config-management-system
+`,
+		},
+
+		"minimal, repoSync type specified": {
+			rrsInput: `apiVersion: gitops.kpt.dev/v1alpha1
+kind: RemoteRootSync
+metadata:
+  name: my-remote-root-sync
+spec:
+  template:
+    type: RepoSync
+`,
+			gvk:           repoSyncGVK,
+			syncNamespace: "",
+			expectedSync: `apiVersion: configsync.gke.io/v1beta1
+kind: RepoSync
+metadata:
+  labels:
+    gitops.kpt.dev/remoterootsync-name: my-remote-root-sync
+    gitops.kpt.dev/remoterootsync-namespace: ""
+  name: my-remote-root-sync
+`,
+		},
+		"with additional labels and annotations": {
+			rrsInput: `apiVersion: gitops.kpt.dev/v1alpha1
+kind: RemoteRootSync
+metadata:
+  name: my-remote-root-sync
+spec:
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+       foo: bar
+      annotations:
+       abc: def
+       efg: hij
+`,
+			gvk:           rootSyncGVK,
+			syncNamespace: rootSyncNamespace,
+			expectedSync: `apiVersion: configsync.gke.io/v1beta1
+kind: RootSync
+metadata:
+  annotations:
+    abc: def
+    efg: hij
+  labels:
+    foo: bar
+    gitops.kpt.dev/remoterootsync-name: my-remote-root-sync
+    gitops.kpt.dev/remoterootsync-namespace: ""
+  name: my-remote-root-sync
+  namespace: config-management-system
+`,
+		},
+		"with source format": {
+			rrsInput: `apiVersion: gitops.kpt.dev/v1alpha1
+kind: RemoteRootSync
+metadata:
+  name: my-remote-root-sync
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      sourceFormat: unstructured
+`,
+			gvk:           rootSyncGVK,
+			syncNamespace: rootSyncNamespace,
+			expectedSync: `apiVersion: configsync.gke.io/v1beta1
+kind: RootSync
+metadata:
+  labels:
+    gitops.kpt.dev/remoterootsync-name: my-remote-root-sync
+    gitops.kpt.dev/remoterootsync-namespace: ""
+  name: my-remote-root-sync
+  namespace: config-management-system
+spec:
+  sourceFormat: unstructured
+`,
+		},
+		"with git info": {
+			rrsInput: `apiVersion: gitops.kpt.dev/v1alpha1
+kind: RemoteRootSync
+metadata:
+  name: my-remote-root-sync
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      sourceFormat: unstructured
+      git:
+        repo: blueprints
+        branch: main
+        dir: namespaces
+`,
+			gvk:           rootSyncGVK,
+			syncNamespace: rootSyncNamespace,
+			expectedSync: `apiVersion: configsync.gke.io/v1beta1
+kind: RootSync
+metadata:
+  labels:
+    gitops.kpt.dev/remoterootsync-name: my-remote-root-sync
+    gitops.kpt.dev/remoterootsync-namespace: ""
+  name: my-remote-root-sync
+  namespace: config-management-system
+spec:
+  git:
+    auth: ""
+    branch: main
+    dir: namespaces
+    period: 0s
+    repo: blueprints
+    secretRef: {}
+  sourceFormat: unstructured
+`,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for tn, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tn, func(t *testing.T) {
+			var rrs gitopsv1alpha1.RemoteRootSync
+			require.NoError(t, yaml.Unmarshal([]byte(tc.rrsInput), &rrs))
+
+			u, err := BuildObjectsToApply(&rrs, tc.gvk, tc.syncNamespace)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			actual, err := yaml.Marshal(u)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			require.Equal(t, tc.expectedSync, string(actual))
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestGetExternalSyncNamespace(t *testing.T) {
+	testCases := map[string]struct {
+		rrsInput string
+		expected string
+	}{
+		"empty type": { // should default to RootSync
+			rrsInput: `apiVersion: gitops.kpt.dev/v1alpha1
+kind: RemoteRootSync
+metadata:
+  name: my-remote-root-sync`,
+			expected: rootSyncNamespace,
+		},
+		"RootSync type": {
+			rrsInput: `apiVersion: gitops.kpt.dev/v1alpha1
+kind: RemoteRootSync
+metadata:
+  name: my-remote-root-sync
+spec:
+  type: RootSync`,
+			expected: rootSyncNamespace,
+		},
+		"RepoSync type": {
+			rrsInput: `apiVersion: gitops.kpt.dev/v1alpha1
+kind: RemoteRootSync
+metadata:
+  name: my-remote-root-sync
+  namespace: foo
+spec:
+  type: RepoSync`,
+			expected: "foo",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for tn, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tn, func(t *testing.T) {
+			var rrs gitopsv1alpha1.RemoteRootSync
+			require.NoError(t, yaml.Unmarshal([]byte(tc.rrsInput), &rrs))
+			require.Equal(t, tc.expected, getExternalSyncNamespace(&rrs))
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestGetGvrAndGvk(t *testing.T) {
+	testCases := map[string]struct {
+		input gitopsv1alpha1.SyncTemplateType
+
+		expectedGVK schema.GroupVersionKind
+		expectedGVR schema.GroupVersionResource
+		expectedErr error
+	}{
+		"empty type": { // should default to RootSync
+			input: "",
+
+			expectedGVK: rootSyncGVK,
+			expectedGVR: rootSyncGVR,
+		},
+		"RootSync type": {
+			input: gitopsv1alpha1.TemplateTypeRootSync,
+
+			expectedGVK: rootSyncGVK,
+			expectedGVR: rootSyncGVR,
+		},
+		"RepoSync type": {
+			input: gitopsv1alpha1.TemplateTypeRepoSync,
+
+			expectedGVK: repoSyncGVK,
+			expectedGVR: repoSyncGVR,
+		},
+		"unsupported type": {
+			input: "unsupported",
+
+			expectedErr: fmt.Errorf(`invalid sync type "unsupported"`),
+		},
+	}
+
+	for tn, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tn, func(t *testing.T) {
+			actualGVR, actualGVK, actualErr := getGvrAndGvk(tc.input)
+
+			require.Equal(t, tc.expectedGVK, actualGVK)
+			require.Equal(t, tc.expectedGVR, actualGVR)
+			require.Equal(t, tc.expectedErr, actualErr)
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/rollouts/go.mod b/rollouts/go.mod
index 95b9f056d7..7d233ab512 100644
--- a/rollouts/go.mod
+++ b/rollouts/go.mod
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ require (
 	sigs.k8s.io/cli-utils v0.34.0
 	sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime v0.13.1
 	sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/kyaml v0.13.9
+	sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.3.0
 )
 
 require (
@@ -96,5 +97,4 @@ require (
 	k8s.io/utils v0.0.0-20221108210102-8e77b1f39fe2 // indirect
 	sigs.k8s.io/json v0.0.0-20220713155537-f223a00ba0e2 // indirect
 	sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v4 v4.2.3 // indirect
-	sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.3.0 // indirect
 )