Harness currently supports variable resolution (e.g., <+ env.name >) in Kustomize patch files only when those patches are explicitly defined through the Harness UI under Service Manifests → Kustomize Patches. However, if patches are defined directly in the kustomization.yaml using patchesStrategicMerge, Harness variables are not rendered, which can result in deployment failures due to unresolved values. Use Case: Each environment (dev, QA, etc.) has its own overlay and unique patch files. Patch files may change across releases depending on what needs to be customized for each environment. Managing the patch file paths from the Harness UI adds friction and introduces risk (e.g., pipeline failure if a patch file doesn’t exist for a given release). Developers are more comfortable managing kustomization.yaml directly, as part of GitOps workflows. Having to switch between Git and the Harness UI to keep patches in sync can be error-prone and less scalable. Proposed Enhancement: Allow users to specify patches directly in kustomization.yaml using the standard Kustomize format: ================ bases: - ../../base resources: - xyz.yaml patchesStrategicMerge: - abc.yaml ================ Enable Harness variable resolution (e.g., <+ env.name >, <+pipeline.variables.*>) within these patch files without requiring them to be added as separate Kustomize Patch manifests in the Harness UI. This would provide a more Git-native experience and allow flexible, environment-specific patch management without additional UI overhead.