diff --git a/go.work.sum b/go.work.sum
index b5582001..75ddff8e 100644
--- a/go.work.sum
+++ b/go.work.sum
@@ -1594,12 +1594,14 @@ github.com/onsi/ginkgo v1.12.1/go.mod h1:zj2OWP4+oCPe1qIXoGWkgMRwljMUYCdkwsT2108
 github.com/onsi/ginkgo v1.13.0/go.mod h1:+REjRxOmWfHCjfv9TTWB1jD1Frx4XydAD3zm1lskyM0=
 github.com/onsi/ginkgo v1.14.0/go.mod h1:iSB4RoI2tjJc9BBv4NKIKWKya62Rps+oPG/Lv9klQyY=
 github.com/onsi/ginkgo v1.16.4/go.mod h1:dX+/inL/fNMqNlz0e9LfyB9TswhZpCVdJM/Z6Vvnwo0=
+github.com/onsi/ginkgo v1.16.5 h1:8xi0RTUf59SOSfEtZMvwTvXYMzG4gV23XVHOZiXNtnE=
 github.com/onsi/ginkgo v1.16.5/go.mod h1:+E8gABHa3K6zRBolWtd+ROzc/U5bkGt0FwiG042wbpU=
 github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2 v2.1.3/go.mod h1:vw5CSIxN1JObi/U8gcbwft7ZxR2dgaR70JSE3/PpL4c=
 github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2 v2.19.0/go.mod h1:rlwLi9PilAFJ8jCg9UE1QP6VBpd6/xj3SRC0d6TU0To=
 github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2 v2.20.1/go.mod h1:lG9ey2Z29hR41WMVthyJBGUBcBhGOtoPF2VFMvBXFCI=
 github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2 v2.21.0/go.mod h1:7Du3c42kxCUegi0IImZ1wUQzMBVecgIHjR1C+NkhLQo=
 github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2 v2.22.0/go.mod h1:7Du3c42kxCUegi0IImZ1wUQzMBVecgIHjR1C+NkhLQo=
+github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2 v2.23.3 h1:edHxnszytJ4lD9D5Jjc4tiDkPBZ3siDeJJkUZJJVkp0=
 github.com/onsi/gomega v0.0.0-20151007035656-2152b45fa28a/go.mod h1:C1qb7wdrVGGVU+Z6iS04AVkA3Q65CEZX59MT0QO5uiA=
 github.com/onsi/gomega v0.0.0-20170829124025-dcabb60a477c/go.mod h1:C1qb7wdrVGGVU+Z6iS04AVkA3Q65CEZX59MT0QO5uiA=
 github.com/onsi/gomega v1.5.0/go.mod h1:ex+gbHU/CVuBBDIJjb2X0qEXbFg53c61hWP/1CpauHY=
@@ -1614,6 +1616,7 @@ github.com/onsi/gomega v1.33.1/go.mod h1:U4R44UsT+9eLIaYRB2a5qajjtQYn0hauxvRm16A
 github.com/onsi/gomega v1.34.2/go.mod h1:v1xfxRgk0KIsG+QOdm7p8UosrOzPYRo60fd3B/1Dukc=
 github.com/onsi/gomega v1.35.1/go.mod h1:PvZbdDc8J6XJEpDK4HCuRBm8a6Fzp9/DmhC9C7yFlog=
 github.com/onsi/gomega v1.36.1/go.mod h1:PvZbdDc8J6XJEpDK4HCuRBm8a6Fzp9/DmhC9C7yFlog=
+github.com/onsi/gomega v1.37.0 h1:CdEG8g0S133B4OswTDC/5XPSzE1OeP29QOioj2PID2Y=
 github.com/open-policy-agent/opa v0.42.2 h1:qocVAKyjrqMjCqsU02S/gHyLr4AQQ9xMtuV1kKnnyhM=
 github.com/open-policy-agent/opa v0.42.2/go.mod h1:MrmoTi/BsKWT58kXlVayBb+rYVeaMwuBm3nYAN3923s=
 github.com/opencontainers/go-digest v0.0.0-20170106003457-a6d0ee40d420/go.mod h1:cMLVZDEM3+U2I4VmLI6N8jQYUd2OVphdqWwCJHrFt2s=
diff --git a/internal/resource/cache.go b/internal/resource/cache.go
index 34c582f1..b03896f9 100644
--- a/internal/resource/cache.go
+++ b/internal/resource/cache.go
@@ -125,7 +125,10 @@ func (c *Cache) Fill(ctx context.Context, comp *apiv1.Composition, synUUID strin
 		}
 	}
 	tree := builder.Build()
-
+	if found, cycle := tree.cycles(); found {
+		logger.V(0).Info("cycles found", "path", cycle)
+		//be nice to error?
+	}
 	compNSN := types.NamespacedName{Name: comp.Name, Namespace: comp.Namespace}
 	c.mut.Lock()
 	c.initUnlocked()
diff --git a/internal/resource/tree.go b/internal/resource/tree.go
index c5d78170..1fa282ce 100644
--- a/internal/resource/tree.go
+++ b/internal/resource/tree.go
@@ -168,6 +168,31 @@ func (t *tree) UpdateState(ref ManifestRef, state *apiv1.ResourceState, enqueue
 	}
 }
 
+func (t *tree) cycles() (bool, []string) {
+	for _, ref := range t.byRef {
+		if found, cycle := t.cycle(ref, []string{}); found {
+			return true, cycle
+		}
+	}
+	return false, []string{}
+}
+
+func (t *tree) cycle(r *indexedResource, visited []string) (bool, []string) {
+
+	key := r.Resource.Ref.Namespace + r.Resource.Ref.Name
+	if slices.Contains(visited, key) {
+		return true, visited
+	}
+	visited = append(visited, key)
+	for r, _ := range r.PendingDependencies {
+		dep := t.byRef[r]
+		if found, cycle := t.cycle(dep, visited); found {
+			return true, cycle
+		}
+	}
+	return false, []string{}
+}
+
 // MarshalJSON allows the current tree to be serialized to JSON for testing/debugging purposes.
 // This should not be expected to provide a stable schema.
 func (t *tree) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {