Skill: Helm Chart Generator
Purpose: Generate Helm charts for todo app with templated values for different environments (Phase V advanced).
Trigger Conditions
Invoke this skill when:
- •User asks for "Helm chart", "Helm deployment", or "templated K8s"
- •Need to deploy to multiple environments (dev, staging, prod)
- •Want reusable Kubernetes deployment configuration
Capabilities
1. Chart Structure
Creates helm/todo-app/:
code
helm/todo-app/ ├── Chart.yaml ├── values.yaml ├── values-dev.yaml ├── values-prod.yaml ├── templates/ │ ├── _helpers.tpl │ ├── namespace.yaml │ ├── backend-deployment.yaml │ ├── backend-service.yaml │ ├── backend-configmap.yaml │ ├── backend-secrets.yaml │ ├── backend-hpa.yaml │ ├── frontend-deployment.yaml │ ├── frontend-service.yaml │ └── ingress.yaml └── .helmignore
2. Chart.yaml
yaml
apiVersion: v2
name: todo-app
description: Full-stack Todo Application Helm Chart
type: application
version: 1.0.0
appVersion: "1.0.0"
maintainers:
- name: Your Name
email: your.email@example.com
3. values.yaml (defaults)
yaml
# Global settings
global:
namespace: todo-app
environment: development
# Backend configuration
backend:
name: todo-backend
replicaCount: 2
image:
repository: your-registry/todo-backend
tag: latest
pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
service:
type: ClusterIP
port: 80
targetPort: 8000
resources:
requests:
memory: "256Mi"
cpu: "100m"
limits:
memory: "512Mi"
cpu: "500m"
config:
corsOrigins: "http://localhost:3000"
debug: "true"
secrets:
databaseUrl: "" # Set via --set or values file
betterAuthSecret: ""
hpa:
enabled: false
minReplicas: 2
maxReplicas: 10
targetCPU: 70
# Frontend configuration
frontend:
name: todo-frontend
replicaCount: 2
image:
repository: your-registry/todo-frontend
tag: latest
pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
service:
type: ClusterIP
port: 80
targetPort: 3000
resources:
requests:
memory: "128Mi"
cpu: "50m"
limits:
memory: "256Mi"
cpu: "250m"
config:
apiUrl: "http://localhost:8000"
# Ingress configuration
ingress:
enabled: false
className: nginx
annotations: {}
hosts:
- host: todo.local
paths:
- path: /
pathType: Prefix
service: frontend
- host: api.todo.local
paths:
- path: /
pathType: Prefix
service: backend
tls: []
# Image pull secrets
imagePullSecrets: []
4. values-prod.yaml
yaml
global:
namespace: todo-app
environment: production
backend:
replicaCount: 3
image:
tag: v1.0.0
config:
corsOrigins: "https://your-domain.com"
debug: "false"
hpa:
enabled: true
minReplicas: 3
maxReplicas: 20
frontend:
replicaCount: 3
image:
tag: v1.0.0
config:
apiUrl: "https://api.your-domain.com"
ingress:
enabled: true
className: nginx
annotations:
cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: letsencrypt-prod
nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/ssl-redirect: "true"
hosts:
- host: your-domain.com
paths:
- path: /
pathType: Prefix
service: frontend
- host: api.your-domain.com
paths:
- path: /
pathType: Prefix
service: backend
tls:
- secretName: todo-tls
hosts:
- your-domain.com
- api.your-domain.com
5. templates/_helpers.tpl
yaml
{{/*
Expand the name of the chart.
*/}}
{{- define "todo-app.name" -}}
{{- default .Chart.Name .Values.nameOverride | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
{{- end }}
{{/*
Create a default fully qualified app name.
*/}}
{{- define "todo-app.fullname" -}}
{{- if .Values.fullnameOverride }}
{{- .Values.fullnameOverride | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
{{- else }}
{{- $name := default .Chart.Name .Values.nameOverride }}
{{- printf "%s" $name | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
{{- end }}
{{- end }}
{{/*
Common labels
*/}}
{{- define "todo-app.labels" -}}
helm.sh/chart: {{ include "todo-app.name" . }}
app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: {{ .Release.Service }}
app.kubernetes.io/version: {{ .Chart.AppVersion | quote }}
environment: {{ .Values.global.environment }}
{{- end }}
{{/*
Backend selector labels
*/}}
{{- define "todo-app.backend.selectorLabels" -}}
app: {{ .Values.backend.name }}
{{- end }}
{{/*
Frontend selector labels
*/}}
{{- define "todo-app.frontend.selectorLabels" -}}
app: {{ .Values.frontend.name }}
{{- end }}
6. templates/backend-deployment.yaml
yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: {{ .Values.backend.name }}
namespace: {{ .Values.global.namespace }}
labels:
{{- include "todo-app.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
{{- include "todo-app.backend.selectorLabels" . | nindent 4 }}
spec:
replicas: {{ .Values.backend.replicaCount }}
selector:
matchLabels:
{{- include "todo-app.backend.selectorLabels" . | nindent 6 }}
template:
metadata:
labels:
{{- include "todo-app.backend.selectorLabels" . | nindent 8 }}
spec:
{{- with .Values.imagePullSecrets }}
imagePullSecrets:
{{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
{{- end }}
containers:
- name: {{ .Values.backend.name }}
image: "{{ .Values.backend.image.repository }}:{{ .Values.backend.image.tag }}"
imagePullPolicy: {{ .Values.backend.image.pullPolicy }}
ports:
- containerPort: {{ .Values.backend.service.targetPort }}
envFrom:
- configMapRef:
name: {{ .Values.backend.name }}-config
- secretRef:
name: {{ .Values.backend.name }}-secrets
resources:
{{- toYaml .Values.backend.resources | nindent 10 }}
livenessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /health
port: {{ .Values.backend.service.targetPort }}
initialDelaySeconds: 30
periodSeconds: 10
readinessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /health
port: {{ .Values.backend.service.targetPort }}
initialDelaySeconds: 5
periodSeconds: 5
Helm Commands
bash
# Install chart (development) helm install todo-app ./helm/todo-app \ --namespace todo-app \ --create-namespace \ --set backend.secrets.databaseUrl="your-db-url" \ --set backend.secrets.betterAuthSecret="your-secret" # Install chart (production) helm install todo-app ./helm/todo-app \ -f ./helm/todo-app/values-prod.yaml \ --namespace todo-app \ --create-namespace \ --set backend.secrets.databaseUrl="$DATABASE_URL" \ --set backend.secrets.betterAuthSecret="$BETTER_AUTH_SECRET" # Upgrade deployment helm upgrade todo-app ./helm/todo-app \ -f ./helm/todo-app/values-prod.yaml \ --namespace todo-app # Dry run (test) helm install todo-app ./helm/todo-app --dry-run --debug # Uninstall helm uninstall todo-app -n todo-app # List releases helm list -n todo-app
Checklist
- • Create Chart.yaml with metadata
- • Create values.yaml with defaults
- • Create values-prod.yaml for production
- • Create _helpers.tpl with common functions
- • Create all template files
- • Test with:
helm template ./helm/todo-app - • Dry run:
helm install --dry-run --debug - • Install to dev cluster
- • Test production values