Helm Best Practices

This skill provides Helm chart development and maintenance patterns.

When to Use

Activates when:

• Working with Helm charts
• Modifying Chart.yaml dependencies
• Updating Helm values
• Deploying applications with Helm

Dependency Management

Critical Rules

Always use helm dependency update - NOT helm dependency build

# Correct
helm dependency update

# Wrong - Don't use this
helm dependency build

After changing Chart.yaml dependencies:

1. Run helm dependency update to fetch updated dependencies
2. Run make check-deps before committing changes
3. Pre-commit hooks automatically rebuild dependencies

Common Workflow

# 1. Modify Chart.yaml
vim Chart.yaml

# 2. Update dependencies
helm dependency update

# 3. Check dependencies
make check-deps

# 4. Commit changes (pre-commit hook runs automatically)
git add Chart.yaml Chart.lock charts/
git commit -m "update helm dependencies"

Helm Commands

Testing Charts

# Template and check output
helm template <release-name> <chart-path>

# Template with specific values
helm template <release-name> <chart-path> -f values.yaml

# Dry-run install
helm install <release-name> <chart-path> --dry-run --debug

Debugging

# Check current values
helm get values <release-name>

# Check all computed values
helm get values <release-name> --all

# Get manifest
helm get manifest <release-name>

Best Practices

Chart Structure

• Keep templates focused and modular
• Use helpers (_helpers.tpl) for repeated logic
• Document all values in values.yaml with comments
• Use semantic versioning for chart versions

Values Organization

• Use nested structures for related values
• Provide sensible defaults
• Document required vs optional values
• Use .Values consistently

Dependency Management

• Pin dependency versions explicitly
• Use repository URLs, not local paths in production
• Keep Chart.lock in version control
• Run make check-deps before committing

Common Gotchas

❌ Don't:

• Use helm dependency build (use update instead)
• Forget to run make check-deps before committing
• Commit without running pre-commit hooks
• Hard-code values that should be configurable

✅ Do:

• Use helm dependency update for dependency changes
• Run make check-deps as part of your workflow
• Let pre-commit hooks rebuild dependencies automatically
• Make values configurable and well-documented