diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ad3ba6d3..6d3722f0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ When you run `bazel run ///helloworld:mynamespace.apply`, it applies this file i
 | ***image_repository_prefix*** | `None`     | Add a prefix to the image_repository. Can be used to upload the images in
 | ***release_branch_prefix*** | `master`     | A git branch name/prefix. Automatically run GitOps while building this branch. See [GitOps and Deployment](#gitops_and_deployment).
 | ***deployment_branch***   | `None`         | Automatic GitOps output will appear in a branch and PR with this name. See [GitOps and Deployment](#gitops_and_deployment).
+| ***gitops_path***         | `cloud`        | Path within the git repo where gitops files get generated into
 | ***visibility***          | [Default_visibility](https://docs.bazel.build/versions/master/be/functions.html#package.default_visibility) | Changes the visibility of all rules generated by this macro. See [Bazel docs on visibility](https://docs.bazel.build/versions/master/be/common-definitions.html#common-attributes).
 
 <a name="base-manifests-and-overlays"></a>
diff --git a/examples/.gitignore b/examples/.gitignore
index 59ef5f05..42d0155f 100644
--- a/examples/.gitignore
+++ b/examples/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 cloud/
+custom_cloud/
diff --git a/examples/e2e-test.sh b/examples/e2e-test.sh
index f196c58e..b76c9d95 100755
--- a/examples/e2e-test.sh
+++ b/examples/e2e-test.sh
@@ -39,9 +39,14 @@ rm -rf cloud
 
 bazel run //helloworld:canary.gitops
 bazel run //helloworld:release.gitops
+bazel run //helloworld:gitops_custom_path.gitops
 #the result of .gitops operation goes into /cloud directory and should be submitted back to the repo
 
 #apply everything generated
 kubectl apply -f cloud -R
+
+#apply gitops_custom_path gen
+kubectl apply -f custom_cloud -R
+
 #wait for readiness
-kubectl -n hwteam wait --timeout=60s --for=condition=Available deployment/helloworld deployment/helloworld-canary
+kubectl -n hwteam wait --timeout=60s --for=condition=Available deployment/helloworld deployment/helloworld-canary deployment/helloworld-gitops-custom-path
diff --git a/examples/helloworld/BUILD b/examples/helloworld/BUILD
index 1e5d209e..b297deda 100644
--- a/examples/helloworld/BUILD
+++ b/examples/helloworld/BUILD
@@ -102,6 +102,26 @@ k8s_deploy(
     user = USER,
 )
 
+k8s_deploy(
+    name = "gitops_custom_path",
+    cluster = CLUSTER,
+    deployment_branch = "helloworld-gitops-custom-path",
+    gitops_path = "custom_cloud",
+    image_digest_tag = True,  # test optional image tagging
+    image_registry = REGISTRY,  # override the default registry host for production
+    image_repository_prefix = "k8s",
+    images = {
+        "helloworld-image": ":image",
+    },
+    manifests = [
+        "deployment.yaml",
+        "service.yaml",
+    ],
+    name_suffix = "-gitops-custom-path",
+    namespace = NAMESPACE,
+    user = USER,
+)
+
 sh_test(
     name = "k8s_deploy_test",
     srcs = ["k8s_deploy_test.sh"],
diff --git a/gitops/git/git.go b/gitops/git/git.go
index 9ae4c2af..78181649 100644
--- a/gitops/git/git.go
+++ b/gitops/git/git.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ var (
 // repo: https://aleksey.pesternikov@bitbucket.tubemogul.info/scm/tm/repo.git
 // dir: /tmp/cloudrepo
 // mirrorDir: optional (if not empty) local mirror of the repository
-func Clone(repo, dir, mirrorDir, primaryBranch string) (*Repo, error) {
+func Clone(repo, dir, mirrorDir, primaryBranch, gitopsPath string) (*Repo, error) {
 	if err := os.RemoveAll(dir); err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unable to clone repo: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@ func Clone(repo, dir, mirrorDir, primaryBranch string) (*Repo, error) {
 		exec.Mustex("", "git", "clone", "-n", repo, dir)
 	}
 	exec.Mustex(dir, "git", "config", "--local", "core.sparsecheckout", "true")
-	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, ".git/info/sparse-checkout"), []byte("cloud/\n"), 0644); err != nil {
+	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)
@@ -93,8 +94,8 @@ 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 string) bool {
-	exec.Mustex(r.Dir, "git", "add", "cloud")
+func (r *Repo) Commit(message, gitopsPath string) bool {
+	exec.Mustex(r.Dir, "git", "add", gitopsPath)
 	if r.IsClean() {
 		return false
 	}
diff --git a/gitops/prer/create_gitops_prs.go b/gitops/prer/create_gitops_prs.go
index 44177699..55d09ced 100644
--- a/gitops/prer/create_gitops_prs.go
+++ b/gitops/prer/create_gitops_prs.go
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ var (
 	workspace              = flag.String("workspace", "", "path to workspace root")
 	repo                   = flag.String("git_repo", "https://bitbucket.tubemogul.info/scm/tm/repo.git", "git repo location")
 	gitMirror              = flag.String("git_mirror", "", "git mirror location, like /mnt/mirror/bitbucket.tubemogul.info/tm/repo.git for jenkins")
+	gitopsPath             = flag.String("gitops_path", "cloud", "location to store files in repo.")
 	gitopsTmpDir           = flag.String("gitops_tmpdir", os.TempDir(), "location to check out git tree with /cloud.")
 	target                 = flag.String("target", "//... except //experimental/...", "target to scan. Useful for debugging only")
 	pushParallelism        = flag.Int("push_parallelism", 5, "Number of image pushes to perform concurrently")
@@ -116,7 +117,7 @@ func main() {
 		log.Fatalf("Unable to create tempdir in %s: %v", *gitopsTmpDir, err)
 	}
 	defer os.RemoveAll(gitopsdir)
-	workdir, err := git.Clone(*repo, gitopsdir, *gitMirror, *prInto)
+	workdir, err := git.Clone(*repo, gitopsdir, *gitMirror, *prInto, *gitopsPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("Unable to clone repo: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -149,7 +150,7 @@ func main() {
 			bin := bazel.TargetToExecutable(target)
 			exec.Mustex("", bin, "--nopush", "--nobazel", "--deployment_root", gitopsdir)
 		}
-		if workdir.Commit(fmt.Sprintf("GitOps for release branch %s from %s commit %s\n%s", *releaseBranch, *branchName, *gitCommit, commitmsg.Generate(targets))) {
+		if workdir.Commit(fmt.Sprintf("GitOps for release branch %s from %s commit %s\n%s", *releaseBranch, *branchName, *gitCommit, commitmsg.Generate(targets)), *gitopsPath) {
 			log.Println("branch", branch, "has changes, push is required")
 			updatedGitopsTargets = append(updatedGitopsTargets, targets...)
 			updatedGitopsBranches = append(updatedGitopsBranches, branch)
diff --git a/skylib/k8s.bzl b/skylib/k8s.bzl
index 41cc3fdd..a29ddf39 100644
--- a/skylib/k8s.bzl
+++ b/skylib/k8s.bzl
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@ def k8s_deploy(
         image_repository_prefix = None,  # Mutually exclusive with 'image_repository'. Add a prefix to the repository name generated from the image bazel path
         objects = [],
         gitops = True,  # make sure to use gitops = False to work with individual namespace. This option will be turned False if namespace is '{BUILD_USER}'
+        gitops_path = "cloud",
         deployment_branch = None,
         release_branch_prefix = "master",
         flatten_manifest_directories = False,
@@ -258,6 +259,7 @@ def k8s_deploy(
             srcs = [name],
             cluster = cluster,
             namespace = namespace,
+            gitops_path = gitops_path,
             strip_prefixes = [
                 namespace + "-",
                 cluster + "-",
diff --git a/skylib/kustomize/kustomize.bzl b/skylib/kustomize/kustomize.bzl
index 844abb5c..a5f902ab 100644
--- a/skylib/kustomize/kustomize.bzl
+++ b/skylib/kustomize/kustomize.bzl
@@ -442,14 +442,15 @@ fi
         if "{" in namespace:
             fail("unable to gitops namespace with placeholders %s" % inattr.label)  #mynamespace should not be gitopsed
         for infile in inattr.files.to_list():
-            statements += ("echo $TARGET_DIR/cloud/{namespace}/{cluster}/{file}\n" +
-                           "mkdir -p $TARGET_DIR/cloud/{namespace}/{cluster}\n" +
-                           "echo '# GENERATED BY {rulename} -> {gitopsrulename}' > $TARGET_DIR/cloud/{namespace}/{cluster}/{file}\n" +
-                           "{template_engine} --template={infile} --variable=NAMESPACE={namespace} --stamp_info_file={info_file} >> $TARGET_DIR/cloud/{namespace}/{cluster}/{file}\n").format(
+            statements += ("echo $TARGET_DIR/{gitops_path}/{namespace}/{cluster}/{file}\n" +
+                           "mkdir -p $TARGET_DIR/{gitops_path}/{namespace}/{cluster}\n" +
+                           "echo '# GENERATED BY {rulename} -> {gitopsrulename}' > $TARGET_DIR/{gitops_path}/{namespace}/{cluster}/{file}\n" +
+                           "{template_engine} --template={infile} --variable=NAMESPACE={namespace} --stamp_info_file={info_file} >> $TARGET_DIR/{gitops_path}/{namespace}/{cluster}/{file}\n").format(
                 infile = infile.path,
                 rulename = inattr.label,
                 gitopsrulename = ctx.label,
                 namespace = namespace,
+                gitops_path = ctx.attr.gitops_path,
                 cluster = cluster,
                 file = _remove_prefixes(infile.path.split("/")[-1], strip_prefixes),
                 template_engine = "${RUNFILES}/%s" % _get_runfile_path(ctx, ctx.executable._template_engine),
@@ -483,6 +484,7 @@ gitops = rule(
         "cluster": attr.string(mandatory = True),
         "namespace": attr.string(mandatory = True),
         "deployment_branch": attr.string(),
+        "gitops_path": attr.string(),
         "release_branch_prefix": attr.string(),
         "strip_prefixes": attr.string_list(),
         "_info_file": attr.label(