From agent-almanac
Creates production-ready Helm charts for Kubernetes app deployments using templating, values management, dependencies, hooks, and testing. Use for repeatable deployments, multi-environment parameterization, and versioned rollbacks.
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Create production-ready Helm charts for deploying applications to Kubernetes.
Generates production-ready Helm 3 charts for Kubernetes apps with Chart.yaml, values.yaml, Go templates, helpers, health probes, security contexts, and multi-environment values overrides.
Designs, organizes, and manages Helm charts for templating and packaging Kubernetes applications with reusable configurations. Use for creating charts, multi-environment deployments, and repositories.
Guides creation, organization, and management of Helm charts for packaging and deploying Kubernetes applications. Useful for scaffolding charts, templating manifests, multi-environment deployments, and repositories.
Share bugs, ideas, or general feedback.
Create production-ready Helm charts for deploying applications to Kubernetes.
See Extended Examples for complete template files, values structures, and hooks.
Create the Helm chart directory structure and define chart metadata.
Install Helm:
# Linux
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 | bash
# macOS
brew install helm
# Windows (Chocolatey)
choco install kubernetes-helm
# Verify installation
helm version
Create chart structure:
# Create new chart
helm create my-app
# Chart structure created:
# my-app/
# Chart.yaml # Chart metadata
# values.yaml # Default configuration values
# charts/ # Chart dependencies
# templates/ # Template files
# deployment.yaml
# service.yaml
# ingress.yaml
# _helpers.tpl # Template helpers
# NOTES.txt # Post-install notes
# .helmignore # Files to ignore
# Or create from scratch
mkdir -p my-app/{templates,charts}
cd my-app
Define Chart.yaml:
# Chart.yaml (excerpt - see EXAMPLES.md for complete file)
apiVersion: v2
name: my-app
description: A Helm chart for deploying my-app to Kubernetes
version: 0.1.0
appVersion: "1.0.0"
maintainers:
- name: Platform Team
email: platform@example.com
# ... (keywords, dependencies, kubeVersion - see EXAMPLES.md)
Create .helmignore:
# .helmignore
# Patterns to ignore when packaging chart
.git/
.gitignore
.bzr/
.bzrignore
.hg/
.hgignore
.svn/
*.swp
*.bak
*.tmp
*.orig
*~
.DS_Store
.project
.idea/
*.tmproj
.vscode/
Expected: Chart directory structure created with all required files. Chart.yaml contains complete metadata. Dependencies listed if applicable. Chart validates: helm lint my-app.
On failure:
helm lint my-apphelm show chart <chart> to inspect existing charts for examplesCreate well-organized values.yaml with sensible defaults and documentation.
Create comprehensive values.yaml:
# values.yaml (excerpt - see EXAMPLES.md for complete structure)
global:
imageRegistry: ""
image:
registry: docker.io
repository: mycompany/my-app
tag: ""
replicaCount: 3
service:
type: ClusterIP
port: 80
resources:
limits: {cpu: 1000m, memory: 512Mi}
requests: {cpu: 100m, memory: 128Mi}
# ... (ingress, autoscaling, probes, persistence - see EXAMPLES.md)
See EXAMPLES.md for the complete values.yaml structure and values.schema.json
Expected: values.yaml organized logically with sections. All values documented with comments. Sensible defaults that work out-of-box. Schema validates value types. No hardcoded environment-specific values.
On failure:
yamllint values.yamlhelm lint my-apphelm lint --strict my-apphelm template my-app --set image.repository=testWrite Kubernetes resource templates using Go template syntax and Helm functions.
Create deployment template:
# templates/deployment.yaml (excerpt)
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: {{ include "my-app.fullname" . }}
labels:
{{- include "my-app.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
spec:
replicas: {{ .Values.replicaCount }}
template:
spec:
containers:
- name: {{ .Chart.Name }}
image: "{{ .Values.image.registry }}/{{ .Values.image.repository }}:{{ .Values.image.tag | default .Chart.AppVersion }}"
# ... (see EXAMPLES.md for complete template with probes, volumes, etc.)
See EXAMPLES.md for the complete deployment template
Create helper template file:
# templates/_helpers.tpl (excerpt)
{{- define "my-app.name" -}}
{{- default .Chart.Name .Values.nameOverride | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
{{- end }}
{{- define "my-app.fullname" -}}
{{- if .Values.fullnameOverride }}
{{- .Values.fullnameOverride | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
{{- else }}
{{- printf "%s-%s" .Release.Name .Chart.Name | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
{{- end }}
{{- end }}
# ... (labels, serviceAccountName, hpa.apiVersion - see EXAMPLES.md)
Create conditional templates:
# templates/ingress.yaml (excerpt)
{{- if .Values.ingress.enabled -}}
apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
name: {{ include "my-app.fullname" . }}
# ... (see EXAMPLES.md for complete ingress and HPA templates)
See EXAMPLES.md for complete _helpers.tpl and conditional templates
Expected: Templates generate valid Kubernetes YAML. Conditionals work correctly (if/with). Helper functions produce expected output. Resources properly labeled and named. No hardcoded values in templates.
On failure:
helm template my-apphelm lint my-apphelm template --debug for detailed error messageshelm template my-app -f values-prod.yamlhelm template my-app | kubectl apply --dry-run=client -f -Create hooks for database migrations, setup tasks, or cleanup.
Create pre-install hook for migrations:
# templates/hooks/pre-install-migration.yaml (excerpt)
apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: Job
metadata:
name: {{ include "my-app.fullname" . }}-migration
annotations:
"helm.sh/hook": pre-install,pre-upgrade
"helm.sh/hook-weight": "-5"
spec:
template:
spec:
containers:
- name: migration
image: "{{ .Values.image.registry }}/{{ .Values.image.repository }}:{{ .Values.image.tag }}"
command: ["/app/migrate"]
# ... (see EXAMPLES.md for test hook, pre-delete backup, NOTES.txt)
See EXAMPLES.md for complete hook templates and NOTES.txt
Expected: Hooks execute in correct order (weights determine sequence). Pre-install migration completes before deployment. Test hook validates deployment. Pre-delete hook runs cleanup. NOTES.txt provides helpful post-install information.
On failure:
restartPolicy: Neverkubectl get jobs -n <namespace>kubectl logs job/<job-name> -n <namespace>helm install --dry-run --debug my-appValidate chart, run tests, and package for distribution.
Lint and validate chart:
# Basic linting
helm lint my-app
# Strict linting
helm lint --strict my-app
# Test template rendering
helm template my-app
# Test with custom values
helm template my-app -f values-prod.yaml
# Validate against Kubernetes cluster (dry-run)
helm install my-app my-app --dry-run --debug
# Check for deprecated API versions
helm install my-app my-app --dry-run | kubectl apply --dry-run=server -f -
Create chart tests:
# Run Helm tests
helm install my-app my-app -n test --create-namespace
helm test my-app -n test
kubectl logs -n test -l "helm.sh/hook=test" --tail=-1
# See EXAMPLES.md for complete test script (test-chart.sh)
Package chart:
# Update dependencies first
helm dependency update my-app
# Package chart
helm package my-app
# Creates: my-app-0.1.0.tgz
# Verify package
helm verify my-app-0.1.0.tgz
# Generate index for repository
helm repo index . --url https://charts.example.com/
# Creates: index.yaml
Create different values files for environments:
# values-dev.yaml (excerpt)
replicaCount: 1
resources:
limits: {cpu: 500m, memory: 256Mi}
ingress:
hosts: [my-app-dev.example.com]
# values-prod.yaml (excerpt)
replicaCount: 5
autoscaling: {enabled: true, minReplicas: 3, maxReplicas: 10}
# ... (see EXAMPLES.md for complete env-specific values)
tls:
- secretName: my-app-tls
hosts:
- my-app.example.com
podDisruptionBudget:
enabled: true
minAvailable: 2
postgresql:
enabled: true
primary:
persistence:
size: 50Gi
resources:
limits:
cpu: 4000m
memory: 8Gi
Test with different environments:
# Test development values
helm install my-app-dev my-app -f values-dev.yaml --dry-run --debug
# Test production values
helm install my-app-prod my-app -f values-prod.yaml --dry-run --debug
# Install to dev namespace
helm install my-app my-app -f values-dev.yaml -n development --create-namespace
# Install to prod namespace
helm install my-app my-app -f values-prod.yaml -n production --create-namespace
Expected: Chart passes all lint checks. Template rendering produces valid Kubernetes YAML. Tests pass successfully. Chart packages without errors. Different values files work for each environment. Installation succeeds without warnings.
On failure:
--debug flaghelm get values <release>helm dependency list my-apptar -tzf my-app-0.1.0.tgzSet up chart repository and publish versioned releases.
Options for publishing:
# GitHub Pages
git checkout -b gh-pages && mkdir charts
cp my-app-0.1.0.tgz charts/
helm repo index charts/ --url https://username.github.io/repo/charts
# OCI registry (Helm 3.8+)
helm registry login registry.example.com -u $USER -p $PASS
helm push my-app-0.1.0.tgz oci://registry.example.com/charts
# Install from repo
helm repo add myrepo https://charts.example.com
helm install my-app myrepo/my-app -f custom-values.yaml
See Extended Examples for ChartMuseum setup, release automation, and complete README template.
Expected: Chart published to repository successfully. Chart discoverable via helm search. Installation works from repository. Versioning follows SemVer.
On failure:
helm repo index --helphelm repo add test <url>