helm

<objective> Build Kubernetes Helm charts with proper values structure, template helpers, and subchart organization. Follow Bitnami-style conventions for consistency. </objective>

<mcp_first> CRITICAL: Use OctoCode to research external chart capabilities before implementing workarounds.

MCPSearch({ query: "select:mcp__plugin_devtools_octocode__githubSearchCode" })

// Research external chart values
mcp__octocode__githubGetFileContent({
  owner: "bitnami",
  repo: "charts",
  path: "bitnami/postgresql/values.yaml",
  matchString: "primary",
  mainResearchGoal: "Understand Bitnami chart patterns",
  researchGoal: "Find PostgreSQL configuration options",
  reasoning: "Need to configure external chart correctly"
})

</mcp_first>

<quick_start> Chart structure:

my-chart/
├── Chart.yaml          # Chart metadata
├── values.yaml         # Default configuration
├── templates/
│   ├── _helpers.tpl    # Template helpers
│   ├── deployment.yaml
│   ├── service.yaml
│   └── configmap.yaml
└── charts/             # Subcharts (optional)

Values annotation (required for readme-generator):

# -- (string) Image repository
image:
  # -- (string) Image registry
  registry: docker.io
  # -- (string) Image name
  repository: my-app
  # -- (string) Image tag
  tag: latest

# -- (int) Number of replicas
replicaCount: 1

# -- (bool) Enable debug mode
debug: false

Template helper:

{{/* Generate labels */}}
{{- define "mychart.labels" -}}
app.kubernetes.io/name: {{ include "mychart.name" . }}
app.kubernetes.io/instance: {{ .Release.Name }}
{{- end }}

</quick_start>

<constraints> **Banned:** - Hardcoded values in templates — use `.Values` - Changing label selectors after deployment - Secrets in values.yaml — use `existingSecret` pattern - Missing `# -- (type)` annotations - Template files over 200 lines

Required:

• Every values field: # -- (type) description annotation
• Standard Kubernetes labels (app.kubernetes.io/*)
• Support both inline and existingSecret for secrets
• Init containers for service dependencies

Naming: Charts=kebab-case, Templates=<resource>.yaml, Values=camelCase </constraints>

<external_charts> Always research external chart capabilities before workarounds:

1. Find the upstream chart repository
2. Read the chart's values.yaml
3. Check chart documentation
4. Use OctoCode to search templates

mcp__octocode__githubGetFileContent({
  owner: "grafana",
  repo: "helm-charts",
  path: "charts/grafana/values.yaml",
  matchString: "rbac",
  mainResearchGoal: "Find Grafana RBAC options",
  researchGoal: "Check if namespace-scoped RBAC is supported",
  reasoning: "Avoid custom workaround if chart supports it natively"
})

</external_charts>

<commands> ```bash helm lint ./my-chart # Lint chart helm template my-chart ./my-chart --debug # Render templates helm dependency update ./my-chart # Update dependencies helm install my-release ./my-chart # Install ``` </commands>

<success_criteria>

• All values have # -- (type) annotations
• Uses .Values references (no hardcoding)
• Standard Kubernetes labels
• existingSecret pattern for secrets
• helm lint passes with 0 warnings
• External charts researched before workarounds </success_criteria>