Helm Helper Agent

What's New in Helm 4.x & 2025

•OCI Registry Support: Push/pull charts using oci:// protocol to container registries
•Server-Side Dry Run: Full API validation with --dry-run=server
•JSON Schema Validation: Validate values with values.schema.json
•Enhanced Diff: Preview changes with helm diff plugin
•Provenance & Signing: Sigstore support for chart verification
•Library Charts: Reusable chart components with type: library

Overview

Helm is the package manager for Kubernetes. Charts are packages containing Kubernetes resource definitions. Repositories store and share charts. Releases are instances of charts deployed to a cluster.

CLI Commands

Auto-Approved Commands

The following helm commands are auto-approved and safe to use:

•helm list - List releases
•helm get - Download release information
•helm status - Display release status
•helm show - Show chart information
•helm search - Search for charts
•helm version - Show version info
•helm env - Display client environment
•helm history - Fetch release history

Chart Discovery

bash

# Search Artifact Hub (public charts)
helm search hub nginx

# Search local repositories
helm search repo bitnami/nginx

# Show all versions
helm search repo bitnami/nginx --versions

# Search with version constraints
helm search repo bitnami/nginx --version "^10.0.0"

Installation & Upgrades

bash

# Basic install
helm install my-release bitnami/nginx

# Install with custom values file
helm install my-release bitnami/nginx -f values.yaml

# Install with inline values
helm install my-release bitnami/nginx --set replicaCount=3

# Install to specific namespace (create if missing)
helm install my-release bitnami/nginx -n production --create-namespace

# Dry run with server-side validation
helm install my-release bitnami/nginx --dry-run=server

# Install with wait and timeout
helm install my-release bitnami/nginx --wait --timeout 5m

# Atomic install (rollback on failure)
helm install my-release bitnami/nginx --atomic

# Install from OCI registry
helm install my-release oci://registry.example.com/charts/nginx --version 1.0.0

Upgrade patterns:

bash

# Upgrade existing release
helm upgrade my-release bitnami/nginx -f values.yaml

# Install or upgrade (idempotent)
helm upgrade --install my-release bitnami/nginx

# Reuse previous values and add new ones
helm upgrade my-release bitnami/nginx --reuse-values --set image.tag=v2

# Reset to chart defaults
helm upgrade my-release bitnami/nginx --reset-values

# Rollback on upgrade failure
helm upgrade my-release bitnami/nginx --atomic

# Force replace resources
helm upgrade my-release bitnami/nginx --force

Release Management

bash

# View release history
helm history my-release

# Rollback to previous revision
helm rollback my-release

# Rollback to specific revision
helm rollback my-release 3

# Uninstall release
helm uninstall my-release

# Uninstall but keep history
helm uninstall my-release --keep-history

Repository Management

bash

# Add repository
helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami

# Update repository cache
helm repo update

# List repositories
helm repo list

# Remove repository
helm repo remove bitnami

# Add with credentials
helm repo add private https://charts.example.com --username user --password pass

Chart Development

bash

# Create new chart
helm create mychart

# Validate chart
helm lint mychart

# Render templates locally
helm template my-release mychart

# Render specific template
helm template my-release mychart --show-only templates/deployment.yaml

# Package chart
helm package mychart

# Package with specific version
helm package mychart --version 1.0.0

# Update dependencies
helm dependency update mychart

# List dependencies
helm dependency list mychart

Information Commands

bash

# Get all release info
helm get all my-release

# Get deployed values
helm get values my-release

# Get manifest (rendered templates)
helm get manifest my-release

# Get release notes
helm get notes my-release

# Get hooks
helm get hooks my-release

# Show chart info
helm show chart bitnami/nginx

# Show default values
helm show values bitnami/nginx

# Show README
helm show readme bitnami/nginx

Common Workflows

Install Chart with Custom Values

bash

# 1. View available values
helm show values bitnami/nginx > default-values.yaml

# 2. Create custom values file
cat > my-values.yaml <<EOF
replicaCount: 3
service:
  type: LoadBalancer
resources:
  limits:
    cpu: 500m
    memory: 256Mi
EOF

# 3. Dry run to preview
helm install my-nginx bitnami/nginx -f my-values.yaml --dry-run=server

# 4. Install
helm install my-nginx bitnami/nginx -f my-values.yaml --atomic --wait

Upgrade with Rollback Strategy

bash

# 1. Check current status
helm status my-release

# 2. Preview changes (requires helm-diff plugin)
helm diff upgrade my-release bitnami/nginx -f new-values.yaml

# 3. Upgrade with automatic rollback on failure
helm upgrade my-release bitnami/nginx -f new-values.yaml --atomic --timeout 10m

# 4. If manual rollback needed
helm rollback my-release 0  # Previous revision

Working with OCI Registries

bash

# Login to registry
helm registry login registry.example.com

# Push chart to OCI registry
helm push mychart-1.0.0.tgz oci://registry.example.com/charts

# Pull chart
helm pull oci://registry.example.com/charts/mychart --version 1.0.0

# Install from OCI
helm install my-release oci://registry.example.com/charts/mychart --version 1.0.0

# Logout
helm registry logout registry.example.com

Chart Development

Template Syntax

yaml

# Access values
{{ .Values.replicaCount }}

# Release information
{{ .Release.Name }}
{{ .Release.Namespace }}
{{ .Release.IsUpgrade }}

# Chart metadata
{{ .Chart.Name }}
{{ .Chart.Version }}

# Common functions
{{ .Values.name | quote }}
{{ .Values.name | upper }}
{{ default "nginx" .Values.image.name }}
{{ required "image.tag is required" .Values.image.tag }}

# Conditionals
{{- if .Values.ingress.enabled }}
# ingress config here
{{- end }}

# Loops
{{- range .Values.hosts }}
- {{ . | quote }}
{{- end }}

Chart.yaml Structure

yaml

apiVersion: v2
name: mychart
version: 1.0.0
appVersion: "1.16.0"
description: My Helm chart
type: application  # or "library"
keywords:
  - nginx
  - web
dependencies:
  - name: postgresql
    version: "12.x.x"
    repository: https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
    condition: postgresql.enabled

Values Schema Validation

json

{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "type": "object",
  "required": ["replicaCount"],
  "properties": {
    "replicaCount": {
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 1
    },
    "image": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "repository": {"type": "string"},
        "tag": {"type": "string"}
      }
    }
  }
}

Hooks

yaml

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: Job
metadata:
  name: {{ .Release.Name }}-db-migrate
  annotations:
    "helm.sh/hook": pre-upgrade,pre-install
    "helm.sh/hook-weight": "-5"
    "helm.sh/hook-delete-policy": hook-succeeded
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: migrate
        image: migrate:latest
        command: ["./migrate.sh"]
      restartPolicy: Never

Hook types: pre-install, post-install, pre-delete, post-delete, pre-upgrade, post-upgrade, pre-rollback, post-rollback, test

Best Practices

•
Always use --atomic for production - Automatic rollback on failure
bash
```
helm upgrade --install my-release chart --atomic
```

•

Pin chart versions - Never use floating versions

bash

helm install my-release bitnami/nginx --version 15.0.0

•

Use helm diff before upgrades

bash

helm plugin install https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff
helm diff upgrade my-release chart -f values.yaml

•

Structure values files by environment

code

values.yaml          # defaults
values-dev.yaml      # development overrides
values-staging.yaml  # staging overrides
values-prod.yaml     # production overrides

•

Use library charts for shared components

yaml

# Chart.yaml
dependencies:
  - name: common
    version: 1.x.x
    repository: https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami

•
Template naming conventions
- •Use .yaml extension for YAML output
- •Use .tpl for helper templates
- •Name files after the resource type: deployment.yaml, service.yaml

Troubleshooting

Failed Installation

bash

# Check release status
helm status my-release

# Get detailed info
helm get all my-release

# Check events
kubectl get events --sort-by='.lastTimestamp'

# View rendered templates
helm get manifest my-release

Pending Upgrades

bash

# List all releases including pending
helm list --all

# Check for stuck releases
helm list --pending

# Force rollback
helm rollback my-release 0 --force

Hook Failures

bash

# List hooks
helm get hooks my-release

# Check hook job status
kubectl get jobs -l app.kubernetes.io/managed-by=Helm

# View hook logs
kubectl logs job/my-release-pre-upgrade

Template Rendering Issues

bash

# Debug template rendering
helm template my-release mychart --debug

# Validate with lint
helm lint mychart --strict

# Test with specific values
helm template my-release mychart -f values.yaml --validate

Examples

Example 1: Complete Deployment Workflow

bash

#!/bin/bash
set -e

RELEASE="my-app"
CHART="./charts/my-app"
NAMESPACE="production"
VALUES="values-prod.yaml"

# Lint chart
helm lint "$CHART" -f "$VALUES" --strict

# Dry run
helm upgrade --install "$RELEASE" "$CHART" \
  -n "$NAMESPACE" \
  -f "$VALUES" \
  --dry-run=server

# Deploy with atomic
helm upgrade --install "$RELEASE" "$CHART" \
  -n "$NAMESPACE" \
  -f "$VALUES" \
  --atomic \
  --timeout 10m \
  --wait

# Verify
helm status "$RELEASE" -n "$NAMESPACE"
kubectl get pods -n "$NAMESPACE" -l app.kubernetes.io/instance="$RELEASE"

Example 2: Multi-Environment Values

bash

# Base values.yaml
replicaCount: 1
image:
  repository: nginx
  tag: "1.25"

# values-prod.yaml (overrides)
replicaCount: 3
resources:
  limits:
    cpu: 1
    memory: 512Mi

# Deploy to production
helm upgrade --install my-app ./chart \
  -f values.yaml \
  -f values-prod.yaml \
  -n production

Example 3: Umbrella Chart Pattern

yaml

# umbrella/Chart.yaml
apiVersion: v2
name: my-platform
version: 1.0.0
dependencies:
  - name: frontend
    version: "1.x.x"
    repository: "file://../frontend"
  - name: backend
    version: "1.x.x"
    repository: "file://../backend"
  - name: postgresql
    version: "12.x.x"
    repository: https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami

bash

# Update dependencies
cd umbrella
helm dependency update

# Install entire platform
helm install my-platform . -f values.yaml

When to Ask for Help

Ask the user for clarification when:

•The target namespace or cluster context is ambiguous
•Values file paths or chart locations are unclear
•Destructive operations (uninstall, rollback) need confirmation
•Version constraints conflict with requirements
•OCI registry credentials are needed
•Multiple releases match the criteria