diff --git a/api/ifc/ifc.go b/api/ifc/ifc.go
index 1d12b3eae..b17da2c59 100644
--- a/api/ifc/ifc.go
+++ b/api/ifc/ifc.go
@@ -44,8 +44,10 @@ type Kunstructured interface {
 	// Several uses.
 	Copy() Kunstructured
 
-	// Used by Resource.Replace, in turned used by resWrangler.AbsorbAll,
-	// called by runGenerators to merge maps.  Hmm.
+	// Used by Resource.Replace, which in turn is used in many places, e.g.
+	//  - resource.Resource.Merge
+	//  - resWrangler.appendReplaceOrMerge (AbsorbAll)
+	//  - api.internal.k8sdeps.transformer.patch.conflictdetector
 	GetAnnotations() map[string]string
 
 	// Used by ResAccumulator and ReplacementTransformer.
@@ -63,7 +65,8 @@ type Kunstructured interface {
 	// Used by Resource.CurId and resource factory.
 	GetName() string
 
-	// Used by special case code used by ResMap.SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedByResource
+	// Used by special case code in
+	// ResMap.SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedByResource
 	GetSlice(path string) ([]interface{}, error)
 
 	// GetString returns the value of a string field.
diff --git a/api/resid/gvk.go b/api/resid/gvk.go
index d8ff6610d..4b5ab0e77 100644
--- a/api/resid/gvk.go
+++ b/api/resid/gvk.go
@@ -22,8 +22,15 @@ func FromKind(k string) Gvk {
 	}
 }
 
-// GvkFromString makes a Gvk with a string,
-// which is constructed by String() function
+// ParseGroupVersion parses a KRM metadata apiVersion field.
+func ParseGroupVersion(apiVersion string) (group, version string) {
+	if i := strings.Index(apiVersion, "/"); i > -1 {
+		return apiVersion[:i], apiVersion[i+1:]
+	}
+	return "", apiVersion
+}
+
+// GvkFromString makes a Gvk from the output of Gvk.String().
 func GvkFromString(s string) Gvk {
 	values := strings.Split(s, fieldSep)
 	g := values[0]
diff --git a/api/resid/gvk_test.go b/api/resid/gvk_test.go
index 440109d9e..5ef2bf6dc 100644
--- a/api/resid/gvk_test.go
+++ b/api/resid/gvk_test.go
@@ -113,6 +113,30 @@ func TestString(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestParseGroupVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		input string
+		g     string
+		v     string
+	}{
+		{input: "", g: "", v: ""},
+		{input: "v1", g: "", v: "v1"},
+		{input: "apps/v1", g: "apps", v: "v1"},
+		{input: "/v1", g: "", v: "v1"},
+		{input: "apps/", g: "apps", v: ""},
+		{input: "/apps/", g: "", v: "apps/"},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range tests {
+		g, v := ParseGroupVersion(tc.input)
+		if g != tc.g {
+			t.Errorf("%s: expected group '%s', got '%s'", tc.input, tc.g, g)
+		}
+		if v != tc.v {
+			t.Errorf("%s: expected version '%s', got '%s'", tc.input, tc.v, v)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestSelectByGVK(t *testing.T) {
 	type testCase struct {
 		description string
diff --git a/api/resource/resource.go b/api/resource/resource.go
index 109276c72..61a2aee8c 100644
--- a/api/resource/resource.go
+++ b/api/resource/resource.go
@@ -14,55 +14,9 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
 )
 
-// Resource is a representation of a Kubernetes Resource Model object paired
-// with metadata used by kustomize.
-//
-// At time of writing Resource is changing from being based on an object
-// sitting behind
-//
-//     sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/ifc.Unstructured
-//
-// to being based on an instance of
-//
-//    sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/kyaml/yaml.RNode
-//
-// Ultimately, use of the Resource struct in kustomize should be entirely
-// replaced by instances of RNode for direct use in kyaml, with all metadata
-// stored directly in the RNodes as short-lived annotations, to be deleted
-// before final output as part of a final filtration step.  Using annotations
-// will allow pipelined KRM Config Functions to share metadata that would
-// otherwise be hidden in kustomize-only structures.
-//
-// ifc.Unstructured is an interface hiding an instance of
-// 	  sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/k8sdeps/kunstruct.UnstructAdapter
-// which in turn adapts an instance of
-//    k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured
-// to the ifc.Unstructured interface.  This latter code handles
-// mutations in the old code.
-//
-// The rule in kustomize development has been
-//                           api/
-//                 k8sdeps/ ifc/ krusty/ theRest/
-//
-//   1) Depend on k8s.io/ only via sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/k8sdeps.
-//
-//   2) Instances created in k8sdeps/ can only be injected into theRest/
-//      behind interfaces defined in ifc/, arranged by a small bit of code
-//      in krusty/.  Nothing in theRest/ can import k8sdeps/.
-//
-// This was to allow for importing kustomize code into kubectl, which also
-// depends on k8s.io/apimachinery, albeit via a strange, old arrangement
-// predating Go modules.  The idea was to copy the k8sdeps/ tree into kubectl
-// via a large PR, and depend on the rest via vendoring (and a small copy of
-// krusty/ code).  Over 2019, however, kubectl underwent large code changes
-// including a switch to Go modules, and an attempt to extract it from the
-// k8s repo, and this made large kustomize integration PRs hard to get through
-// code review.
-//
-// The new plan is to eliminate k8sdeps/ entirely, along with its k8s.io/
-// dependence, switch to kyaml, and thus allow kustomize to be imported into
-// kubectl via normal Go module imports.
-//
+// Resource is a representation of a Kubernetes Resource Model (KRM) object
+// paired with metadata used by kustomize.
+// For more history, see sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/ifc.Unstructured
 type Resource struct {
 	kunStr       ifc.Kunstructured
 	originalName string
@@ -75,7 +29,7 @@ type Resource struct {
 }
 
 func (r *Resource) ResetPrimaryData(incoming *Resource) {
-	r.kunStr = incoming.kunStr.Copy()
+	r.kunStr = incoming.Copy()
 }
 
 func (r *Resource) GetAnnotations() map[string]string {
@@ -173,7 +127,7 @@ type ResCtxMatcher func(ResCtx) bool
 // DeepCopy returns a new copy of resource
 func (r *Resource) DeepCopy() *Resource {
 	rc := &Resource{
-		kunStr: r.kunStr.Copy(),
+		kunStr: r.Copy(),
 	}
 	rc.copyOtherFields(r)
 	return rc
@@ -181,11 +135,10 @@ func (r *Resource) DeepCopy() *Resource {
 
 // Replace performs replace with other resource.
 func (r *Resource) Replace(other *Resource) {
-	r.kunStr.SetLabels(mergeStringMaps(other.kunStr.GetLabels(), r.kunStr.GetLabels()))
-	r.kunStr.SetAnnotations(
-		mergeStringMaps(other.kunStr.GetAnnotations(), r.kunStr.GetAnnotations()))
-	r.kunStr.SetName(other.GetName())
-	r.kunStr.SetNamespace(other.GetNamespace())
+	r.SetLabels(mergeStringMaps(other.GetLabels(), r.GetLabels()))
+	r.SetAnnotations(mergeStringMaps(other.GetAnnotations(), r.GetAnnotations()))
+	r.SetName(other.GetName())
+	r.SetNamespace(other.GetNamespace())
 	r.copyOtherFields(other)
 }
 
@@ -226,7 +179,7 @@ func (r *Resource) KunstructEqual(o *Resource) bool {
 // Merge performs merge with other resource.
 func (r *Resource) Merge(other *Resource) {
 	r.Replace(other)
-	mergeConfigmap(r.kunStr.Map(), other.Map(), r.Map())
+	mergeConfigmap(r.Map(), other.Map(), r.Map())
 }
 
 func (r *Resource) copyRefBy() []resid.ResId {
@@ -352,7 +305,7 @@ func (r *Resource) setOriginalNs(n string) *Resource {
 
 // String returns resource as JSON.
 func (r *Resource) String() string {
-	bs, err := r.kunStr.MarshalJSON()
+	bs, err := r.MarshalJSON()
 	if err != nil {
 		return "<" + err.Error() + ">"
 	}
@@ -362,7 +315,7 @@ func (r *Resource) String() string {
 // AsYAML returns the resource in Yaml form.
 // Easier to read than JSON.
 func (r *Resource) AsYAML() ([]byte, error) {
-	json, err := r.kunStr.MarshalJSON()
+	json, err := r.MarshalJSON()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -387,7 +340,7 @@ func (r *Resource) NeedHashSuffix() bool {
 
 // GetNamespace returns the namespace the resource thinks it's in.
 func (r *Resource) GetNamespace() string {
-	namespace, _ := r.kunStr.GetString("metadata.namespace")
+	namespace, _ := r.GetString("metadata.namespace")
 	// if err, namespace is empty, so no need to check.
 	return namespace
 }
@@ -397,7 +350,7 @@ func (r *Resource) GetNamespace() string {
 // TODO: compute this once and save it in the resource.
 func (r *Resource) OrgId() resid.ResId {
 	return resid.NewResIdWithNamespace(
-		r.kunStr.GetGvk(), r.GetOriginalName(), r.GetOriginalNs())
+		r.GetGvk(), r.GetOriginalName(), r.GetOriginalNs())
 }
 
 // CurId returns a ResId for the resource using the
@@ -405,7 +358,7 @@ func (r *Resource) OrgId() resid.ResId {
 // This should be unique in any ResMap.
 func (r *Resource) CurId() resid.ResId {
 	return resid.NewResIdWithNamespace(
-		r.kunStr.GetGvk(), r.kunStr.GetName(), r.GetNamespace())
+		r.GetGvk(), r.GetName(), r.GetNamespace())
 }
 
 // GetRefBy returns the ResIds that referred to current resource
diff --git a/cmd/config/go.sum b/cmd/config/go.sum
index 2eefbef24..712cb5346 100644
--- a/cmd/config/go.sum
+++ b/cmd/config/go.sum
@@ -615,8 +615,6 @@ modernc.org/golex v1.0.0/go.mod h1:b/QX9oBD/LhixY6NDh+IdGv17hgB+51fET1i2kPSmvk=
 modernc.org/mathutil v1.0.0/go.mod h1:wU0vUrJsVWBZ4P6e7xtFJEhFSNsfRLJ8H458uRjg03k=
 modernc.org/strutil v1.0.0/go.mod h1:lstksw84oURvj9y3tn8lGvRxyRC1S2+g5uuIzNfIOBs=
 modernc.org/xc v1.0.0/go.mod h1:mRNCo0bvLjGhHO9WsyuKVU4q0ceiDDDoEeWDJHrNx8I=
-sigs.k8s.io/cli-utils v0.18.0 h1:PPFUhhwKsdMiYYm1DY9lZursNWSAEj8FYgMCZKVvOkQ=
-sigs.k8s.io/cli-utils v0.18.0/go.mod h1:B7KdqkSkHNIUn3cFbaR4aKUZMKtr+Benboi1w/HW/Fg=
 sigs.k8s.io/cli-utils v0.19.0 h1:lAoR5okhSV/dIusodaQp5VbDpHMcKnvjqKYHU+AB3a4=
 sigs.k8s.io/cli-utils v0.19.0/go.mod h1:B7KdqkSkHNIUn3cFbaR4aKUZMKtr+Benboi1w/HW/Fg=
 sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime v0.4.0 h1:wATM6/m+3w8lj8FXNaO6Fs/rq/vqoOjO1Q116Z9NPsg=
diff --git a/kustomize/go.sum b/kustomize/go.sum
index f5b591a41..849400f19 100644
--- a/kustomize/go.sum
+++ b/kustomize/go.sum
@@ -742,8 +742,8 @@ modernc.org/xc v1.0.0/go.mod h1:mRNCo0bvLjGhHO9WsyuKVU4q0ceiDDDoEeWDJHrNx8I=
 mvdan.cc/interfacer v0.0.0-20180901003855-c20040233aed/go.mod h1:Xkxe497xwlCKkIaQYRfC7CSLworTXY9RMqwhhCm+8Nc=
 mvdan.cc/lint v0.0.0-20170908181259-adc824a0674b/go.mod h1:2odslEg/xrtNQqCYg2/jCoyKnw3vv5biOc3JnIcYfL4=
 mvdan.cc/unparam v0.0.0-20190720180237-d51796306d8f/go.mod h1:4G1h5nDURzA3bwVMZIVpwbkw+04kSxk3rAtzlimaUJw=
-sigs.k8s.io/cli-utils v0.18.0 h1:PPFUhhwKsdMiYYm1DY9lZursNWSAEj8FYgMCZKVvOkQ=
-sigs.k8s.io/cli-utils v0.18.0/go.mod h1:B7KdqkSkHNIUn3cFbaR4aKUZMKtr+Benboi1w/HW/Fg=
+sigs.k8s.io/cli-utils v0.19.0 h1:lAoR5okhSV/dIusodaQp5VbDpHMcKnvjqKYHU+AB3a4=
+sigs.k8s.io/cli-utils v0.19.0/go.mod h1:B7KdqkSkHNIUn3cFbaR4aKUZMKtr+Benboi1w/HW/Fg=
 sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime v0.4.0 h1:wATM6/m+3w8lj8FXNaO6Fs/rq/vqoOjO1Q116Z9NPsg=
 sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime v0.4.0/go.mod h1:ApC79lpY3PHW9xj/w9pj+lYkLgwAAUZwfXkME1Lajns=
 sigs.k8s.io/kustomize v2.0.3+incompatible h1:JUufWFNlI44MdtnjUqVnvh29rR37PQFzPbLXqhyOyX0=