Helm

helm

Use this skill to keep Helm-based Kubernetes deployments reproducible, auditable, and safe across environments.

Intent Router

| Request | Reference | Load When | | --- | --- | --- | | Install Helm, add repos, configure registries | resources/install-and-setup.md | User needs to install Helm or configure repositories | | install/upgrade/list/rollback/template commands | resources/command-cookbook.md | User needs day-to-day Helm release operations | | Chart.yaml, templates, values, helpers | resources/chart-authoring.md | User wants to author or modify a Helm chart | | Release lifecycle, --atomic, --wait, diff plugin | resources/release-management.md | User asks about release management or upgrade strategies |

Quick Start

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

# Search for a chart
helm search repo bitnami/nginx

# Inspect default values
helm show values bitnami/nginx

# Install with custom values
helm install my-nginx bitnami/nginx --set service.type=ClusterIP -n my-namespace

# Upgrade with a values file
helm upgrade my-nginx bitnami/nginx -f values.yaml -n my-namespace

# List releases
helm list -A

Core Command Tracks

• Install: helm install [flags] — create a new release
• Upgrade: helm upgrade --install — create or update release
• Rollback: helm rollback [revision] — revert to previous revision
• Template: helm template — render manifests locally without applying
• Values: helm get values — inspect values used by a deployed release
• Status: helm status — show release info and notes
• Uninstall: helm uninstall — remove release and resources

Safety Guardrails

• Always run helm upgrade --dry-run --debug or helm template before applying changes to production.
• Use the helm diff plugin (helm diff upgrade) to inspect what will change before applying.
• Use --atomic in CI pipelines so failed upgrades automatically roll back.
• Never pass secrets via --set; use a secrets manager or the helm-secrets plugin.
• Always specify --namespace explicitly; do not rely on the default namespace.
• Pin chart versions with --version in production to ensure reproducibility.
• Confirm before running helm uninstall; it removes all resources managed by the release.

Workflow

1. Add and update chart repository: helm repo add and helm repo update.
2. Inspect default values: helm show values .
3. Create a values.yaml override file for environment-specific configuration.
4. Render and review manifests: helm template -f values.yaml.
5. Install or upgrade: helm upgrade --install -f values.yaml --atomic --wait.
6. Verify: helm list, helm status , kubectl get pods -n .
7. On failure, check: helm history and helm rollback .

# Troubleshoot a failed upgrade: inspect history and roll back
helm history my-nginx -n my-namespace
helm rollback my-nginx 1 -n my-namespace
helm status my-nginx -n my-namespace

Related Skills

• kubectl — inspect and manage Kubernetes resources created by Helm
• docker — build container images referenced in Helm chart values

References

• resources/install-and-setup.md
• resources/command-cookbook.md
• resources/chart-authoring.md
• resources/release-management.md
• Official docs:
• Chart hub:

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: greedychipmunk
• Source: greedychipmunk/agent-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.