diff --git a/create_kind_cluster.sh b/create_kind_cluster.sh
index 3ec944fa..64411c66 100755
--- a/create_kind_cluster.sh
+++ b/create_kind_cluster.sh
@@ -13,19 +13,24 @@ set -o errexit
 # desired cluster name; default is "kind"
 KIND_CLUSTER_NAME="${KIND_CLUSTER_NAME:-kind}"
 
+# kind executable
+go install sigs.k8s.io/kind@v0.29.0
+kind="$(go env GOPATH)/bin/kind"
+which "${kind}"
+
 # create registry container unless it already exists
 reg_name='kind-registry'
-reg_port='5000'
+reg_port='15000'
 running="$(docker inspect -f '{{.State.Running}}' "${reg_name}" 2>/dev/null || true)"
 if [ "${running}" != 'true' ]; then
   docker container rm "${reg_name}" 2>/dev/null || true
   docker run \
-    -d --restart=always -p "${reg_port}:5000" --name "${reg_name}" \
-    registry:2
+    -d --restart=always -e "REGISTRY_HTTP_ADDR=0.0.0.0:${reg_port}" -p "${reg_port}:${reg_port}" --name "${reg_name}" \
+    registry:3
 fi
 
 # create a cluster with the local registry enabled in containerd
-cat <<EOF | kind create cluster --name "${KIND_CLUSTER_NAME}" --image "kindest/node:v1.30.13" --config=-
+cat <<EOF | "${kind}" create cluster --name "${KIND_CLUSTER_NAME}" --image "kindest/node:v1.30.13" --config=-
 kind: Cluster
 apiVersion: kind.x-k8s.io/v1alpha4
 containerdConfigPatches:
diff --git a/e2e_test.sh b/e2e_test.sh
index ef10386f..dc21ebdc 100755
--- a/e2e_test.sh
+++ b/e2e_test.sh
@@ -17,14 +17,12 @@ bindir=$(cd `dirname "$0"` && pwd)
 repo_path=$bindir
 cd $repo_path
 
-#check installs
+# Check prerequisites
 bazel version
 docker version
 which kubectl
 go version
 
-go get sigs.k8s.io/kind@v0.29.0
-
 cluster_running="$(docker inspect -f '{{.State.Running}}' kind-control-plane 2>/dev/null || true)"
 if [ "${cluster_running}" != 'true' ]; then
   ./create_kind_cluster.sh
diff --git a/examples/helloworld/BUILD b/examples/helloworld/BUILD
index 2fff4c0c..0c6bb091 100644
--- a/examples/helloworld/BUILD
+++ b/examples/helloworld/BUILD
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ CLUSTER = "kind-kind"
 
 USER = "kind-kind"
 
-REGISTRY = "localhost:5000"
+REGISTRY = "localhost:15000"
 
 k8s_deploy(
     name = "mynamespace",
diff --git a/examples/helloworld/k8s_deploy_test.sh b/examples/helloworld/k8s_deploy_test.sh
index c30c3101..40c82001 100755
--- a/examples/helloworld/k8s_deploy_test.sh
+++ b/examples/helloworld/k8s_deploy_test.sh
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ cat mynamespace.show
 grep -F "kind: Deployment" mynamespace.show
 grep -F "kind: Service" mynamespace.show
 grep -F "name: helloworld" mynamespace.show
-grep -E "image: localhost:5000/.*/helloworld/image@sha256" mynamespace.show
+grep -E "image: localhost:15000/.*/helloworld/image@sha256" mynamespace.show
 grep -E "app_label_image_short_digest" mynamespace.show | grep -v -F 'image.short-digest'
 
 $(rlocation examples/helloworld/canary.show) > canary.show
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ grep -F "kind: Deployment" canary.show
 grep -F "kind: Service" canary.show
 grep -F "namespace: $NAMESPACE" canary.show
 grep -F "name: helloworld-canary" canary.show
-grep -E "image: localhost:5000/k8s/helloworld/image@sha256" canary.show
+grep -E "image: localhost:15000/k8s/helloworld/image@sha256" canary.show
 
 $(rlocation examples/helloworld/release.show) > release.show
 echo "DEBUG: release.show:"
@@ -52,4 +52,4 @@ grep -F "kind: Deployment" release.show
 grep -F "kind: Service" release.show
 grep -F "namespace: $NAMESPACE" canary.show
 grep -F "name: helloworld" mynamespace.show
-grep -E "image: localhost:5000/k8s/helloworld/image@sha256" release.show
+grep -E "image: localhost:15000/k8s/helloworld/image@sha256" release.show
diff --git a/gitops/git/git.go b/gitops/git/git.go
index 190ca0d0..e8b8cfab 100644
--- a/gitops/git/git.go
+++ b/gitops/git/git.go
@@ -45,10 +45,13 @@ func Clone(repo, dir, mirrorDir, primaryBranch, gitopsPath string) (*Repo, error
 	}
 	args = append(args, repo, dir)
 	exec.Mustex("", "git", args...)
-	exec.Mustex(dir, "git", "config", "--local", "core.sparsecheckout", "true")
-	genPath := fmt.Sprintf("%s/\n", gitopsPath)
-	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, ".git/info/sparse-checkout"), []byte(genPath), 0644); err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unable to create .git/info/sparse-checkout: %w", err)
+	// Enable sparse-checkout when restricting to a subdir
+	if !isRootPath(gitopsPath) {
+		exec.Mustex(dir, "git", "config", "--local", "core.sparsecheckout", "true")
+		genPath := fmt.Sprintf("%s/\n", gitopsPath)
+		if err := ioutil.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, ".git/info/sparse-checkout"), []byte(genPath), 0644); err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unable to create .git/info/sparse-checkout: %w", err)
+		}
 	}
 	exec.Mustex(dir, "git", "checkout", primaryBranch)
 	return &Repo{
@@ -108,7 +111,11 @@ func (r *Repo) GetLastCommitMessage() (msg string) {
 
 // Commit all changes to the current branch. returns true if there were any changes
 func (r *Repo) Commit(message, gitopsPath string) bool {
-	exec.Mustex(r.Dir, "git", "add", gitopsPath)
+	if isRootPath(gitopsPath) {
+		exec.Mustex(r.Dir, "git", "add", ".")
+	} else {
+		exec.Mustex(r.Dir, "git", "add", gitopsPath)
+	}
 	if r.IsClean() {
 		return false
 	}
@@ -155,3 +162,8 @@ func (r *Repo) Push(branches []string) {
 	args := append([]string{"push", r.RemoteName, "-f", "--set-upstream"}, branches...)
 	exec.Mustex(r.Dir, "git", args...)
 }
+
+// isRootPath is an internal helper to detect "full repo" case.
+func isRootPath(gitopsPath string) bool {
+	return gitopsPath == "" || gitopsPath == "."
+}
\ No newline at end of file