diff --git a/ztp/kube-compare-reference/Makefile b/ztp/kube-compare-reference/Makefile
index 4b2b921f2..c9da61778 100644
--- a/ztp/kube-compare-reference/Makefile
+++ b/ztp/kube-compare-reference/Makefile
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ HELM_URL := https://get.helm.sh/helm-v3.16.1-linux-amd64.tar.gz
 HELM_PKG := helm-linux-amd64.tar.gz
 
 .PHONY: check
-check: metadata_lint
+check: metadata_lint compare
 
 kubectl-cluster_compare:
 	@echo "Downloading kube-compare tool"
@@ -54,4 +54,8 @@ helm:
 
 .PHONY: compare
 compare: convert
-	@./compare.sh
+	@./compare.sh "../source-crs" renderedv1
+
+.PHONY: sync
+sync: convert
+	@./compare.sh --sync "../source-crs" renderedv1
diff --git a/ztp/kube-compare-reference/README.md b/ztp/kube-compare-reference/README.md
index 9f283cdb1..8ff0308a6 100644
--- a/ztp/kube-compare-reference/README.md
+++ b/ztp/kube-compare-reference/README.md
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@ Required and Optional RDS are structured based on internal document "4.16 Telco
 
 ## Developer Notes
 
-The reference should be kept in-sync with ../source-crs
+The reference must be kept in-sync with ../source-crs
+
+### CI Enforcement
 
 The `make compare` target provided in this directory will compare the
 reference, combining it with the examples in `default_value.yaml` and excluding
@@ -19,7 +21,14 @@ CRs listed in `compare_ignore`, and comparing the resulting reference-rendered
 CRs with ../source-crs
 
 If this check fails, either the source-crs or reference must be altered until
-no differences are observed.
+no differences are observed by running `make compare` locally.
+
+### Update workflow
+
+There is also a target `make sync` that will copy all reference-based CRs to
+the ../source-crs directory.  Beware that any local edits to source-crs will be
+erased by this action, so this is intended for a workflow as follows:
 
-TODO: For now this is a manual activity, but it will soon be mandatory and
-enforced by the github CI.
+- Edit the reference to reflect the intended behavior
+- Update `default_value.yaml` to contain appropriate placeholder data
+- Run `make sync` to update source-crs to match the reference changes
diff --git a/ztp/kube-compare-reference/compare.sh b/ztp/kube-compare-reference/compare.sh
index 0693e688e..210075b17 100755
--- a/ztp/kube-compare-reference/compare.sh
+++ b/ztp/kube-compare-reference/compare.sh
@@ -1,11 +1,5 @@
 #! /bin/bash
 
-DIFF=${DIFF:-colordiff}
-if ! command -v "$DIFF" >/dev/null; then
-    echo "Warning: Requested diff tool '$DIFF' is not found; falling back to plain old 'diff'"
-    DIFF="diff"
-fi
-
 trap cleanup EXIT
 
 function cleanup() {
@@ -16,11 +10,11 @@ function read_dir() {
   local dir=$1
   local file
 
-  for file in $(ls "$dir"); do
-    if [ -d "$dir""/""$file" ]; then
-      read_dir "$dir""/""$file"
+  for file in "$dir"/*; do
+    if [ -d "$file" ]; then
+      read_dir "$file"
     else
-      echo "$dir""/""$file"
+      echo "$file"
     fi
   done
 }
@@ -31,6 +25,12 @@ function compare_cr {
   local exclusionfile=$3
   local status=0
 
+  local DIFF=${DIFF:-colordiff}
+  if ! command -v "$DIFF" >/dev/null; then
+    echo "Warning: Requested diff tool '$DIFF' is not found; falling back to plain old 'diff'"
+    DIFF="diff"
+  fi
+
   read_dir "$rendered_dir" |grep yaml  > rendered_file
   read_dir "$source_dir" |grep yaml  > source_file
 
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ function compare_cr {
         mv "$rendered.fixed" "$rendered"
 
         # Check the differences
-        if ! $DIFF -u "$source_cr" "$rendered"; then
+        if ! "$DIFF" -u "$source_cr" "$rendered"; then
             status=$(( status || 1 ))
             printf "\n\n**********************************************************************************\n\n"
         fi
@@ -70,4 +70,98 @@ function compare_cr {
   return $status
 }
 
-compare_cr renderedv1 ../source-crs compare_ignore
+sync_cr() {
+    local rendered_dir=$1
+    local source_dir=$2
+    local exclusionfile=$3
+    local status=0
+
+    local -a renderedFiles
+    readarray -t renderedFiles < <(read_dir "$rendered_dir" | grep yaml)
+
+    local -a sourceFiles
+    readarray -t sourceFiles < <(read_dir "$source_dir" | grep yaml)
+
+    local -a excludedFiles
+    readarray -t excludedFiles < <(grep -v '^#' "$exclusionfile" | grep -v '^$')
+
+    local source rendered excluded found
+    for rendered in "${renderedFiles[@]}"; do
+        found=0
+        for source in "${sourceFiles[@]}"; do
+            if [ "${source##*/}" = "${rendered##*/}" ]; then
+                # Match found!
+                found=1
+                break
+            fi
+        done
+        if [[ $found == 0 ]]; then
+            source="$source_dir/${rendered##*/}"
+        fi
+
+        # Replace the CR with the rendered copy (minus the helm-rendered heading)
+        tail -n +3 "$rendered" >"$source"
+        git add "$source"
+    done
+
+    for source in "${sourceFiles[@]}"; do
+        found=0
+        for rendered in "${renderedFiles[@]}"; do
+            if [ "${source##*/}" = "${rendered##*/}" ]; then
+                # Match found!
+                found=1
+                break
+            fi
+        done
+        for excluded in "${excludedFiles[@]}"; do
+            if [ "${source##*/}" = "${excluded##*/}" ]; then
+                # Match found!
+                found=1
+                break
+            fi
+        done
+        if [[ $found == 0 ]]; then
+            git rm -f "$source"
+        fi
+    done
+
+    git diff --cached --stat --exit-code
+}
+
+usage() {
+    echo "$(basename "$0") [--sync] sourceDir renderDir"
+    echo
+    echo "Compares the rendered reference-based CRs to the CRs in the compare directory"
+}
+
+DOSYNC=0
+for arg in "$@"; do
+    case "$arg" in
+        -h | --help)
+            usage
+            exit 0
+            ;;
+        --sync)
+            DOSYNC=1
+            shift
+            ;;
+    esac
+done
+SOURCEDIR=$1
+if [[ ! -d $SOURCEDIR ]]; then
+    echo "No such source directory $SOURCEDIR"
+    usage
+    exit 1
+fi
+RENDERDIR=$2
+if [[ ! -d $RENDERDIR ]]; then
+    echo "No such source directory $RENDERDIR"
+    usage
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ $DOSYNC == 1 ]]; then
+    sync_cr "$RENDERDIR" "$SOURCEDIR" compare_ignore
+else
+    compare_cr "$RENDERDIR" "$SOURCEDIR" compare_ignore
+fi