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helm-chart-scaffolding Design, organize, and manage Helm charts for templating and packaging Kubernetes applications with reusable configurations. Use when creating Helm charts, packaging Kubernetes applications, or implementing templated deployments.
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name helm-chart-scaffolding description Design, organize, and manage Helm charts for templating and packaging Kubernetes applications with reusable configurations. Use when creating Helm charts, packaging Kubernetes applications, or implementing templated deployments. version 1.0.0 model sonnet invoked_by ["devops"] tools ["Read","Write","Edit","Bash","Glob","Grep"] verified false lastVerifiedAt "2026-02-19T05:29:09.098Z" source builtin trust_score 100 provenance_sha e86dfc4613a714f3
Helm Chart Scaffolding
Comprehensive guidance for creating, organizing, and managing Helm charts for packaging and deploying Kubernetes applications.
Purpose
This skill provides step-by-step instructions for building production-ready Helm charts, including chart structure, templating patterns, values management, and validation strategies.
When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when you need to:
Create new Helm charts from scratch
Package Kubernetes applications for distribution
Manage multi-environment deployments with Helm
Implement templating for reusable Kubernetes manifests
Set up Helm chart repositories
Follow Helm best practices and conventions
Helm Overview
Helm is the package manager for Kubernetes that:
Templates Kubernetes manifests for reusability
Manages application releases and rollbacks
Handles dependencies between charts
Provides version control for deployments
Simplifies configuration management across environments
Step-by-Step Workflow
1. Initialize Chart Structure
Create new chart:
helm create my-app
Standard chart structure:
my-app/
โโโ Chart.yaml # Chart metadata
โโโ values.yaml # Default configuration values
โโโ charts/ # Chart dependencies
โโโ templates/ # Kubernetes manifest templates
โ โโโ NOTES.txt # Post-install notes
โ โโโ _helpers.tpl # Template helpers
โ โโโ deployment.yaml
โ โโโ service.yaml
โ โโโ ingress.yaml
โ โโโ serviceaccount.yaml
โ โโโ hpa.yaml
โ โโโ tests/
โ โโโ test-connection.yaml
โโโ .helmignore # Files to ignore
2. Configure Chart.yaml
Chart metadata defines the package:
apiVersion: v2
name: my-app
description: A Helm chart for My Application
type: application
version: 1.0
.0
appVersion:
'2.1.0'
keywords:
-
web
-
api
-
backend
maintainers:
-
name:
DevOps
Team
email:
devops@example.com
url:
https://github.com/example/my-app
sources:
-
https://github.com/example/my-app
home:
https://example.com
icon:
https://example.com/icon.png
dependencies:
-
name:
postgresql
version:
'12.0.0'
repository:
'https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami'
condition:
postgresql.enabled
-
name:
redis
version:
'17.0.0'
repository:
'https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami'
condition:
redis.enabled
Reference: See assets/Chart.yaml.template for complete example
3. Design values.yaml Structure Organize values hierarchically:
image:
repository: myapp
tag: '1.0.0'
pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
replicaCount: 3
service:
type: ClusterIP
port: 80
targetPort: 8080
ingress:
enabled: false
className: nginx
hosts:
- host: app.example.com
paths:
- path: /
pathType: Prefix
resources:
requests:
memory: '256Mi'
cpu: '250m'
limits:
memory: '512Mi'
cpu: '500m'
autoscaling:
enabled: false
minReplicas: 2
maxReplicas: 10
targetCPUUtilizationPercentage: 80
env:
- name: LOG_LEVEL
value: 'info'
configMap:
data:
APP_MODE: production
postgresql:
enabled: true
auth:
database: myapp
username: myapp
redis:
enabled: false
Reference: See assets/values.yaml.template for complete structure
4. Create Template Files Use Go templating with Helm functions:
templates/deployment.yaml:
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: {{ include "my-app.fullname" . }}
labels:
{{- include "my-app.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
spec:
{{- if not .Values.autoscaling.enabled }}
replicas: {{ .Values.replicaCount }}
{{- end }}
selector:
matchLabels:
{{- include "my-app.selectorLabels" . | nindent 6 }}
template:
metadata:
labels:
{{- include "my-app.selectorLabels" . | nindent 8 }}
spec:
containers:
- name: {{ .Chart.Name }}
image: "{{ .Values.image.repository }} :{{ .Values.image.tag | default .Chart.AppVersion }} "
imagePullPolicy: {{ .Values.image.pullPolicy }}
ports:
- name: http
containerPort: {{ .Values.service.targetPort }}
resources:
{{- toYaml .Values.resources | nindent 12 }}
env:
{{- toYaml .Values.env | nindent 12 }}
5. Create Template Helpers {{/*
Expand the name of the chart.
*/ }}
{{- define "my-app.name" - }}
{{- default .Chart.Name .Values.nameOverride | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
{{- end }}
{{/*
Create a default fully qualified app name.
*/ }}
{{- define "my-app.fullname" - }}
{{- if .Values.fullnameOverride }}
{{- .Values.fullnameOverride | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
{{- else }}
{{- $name := default .Chart.Name .Values.nameOverride }}
{{- if contains $name .Release.Name }}
{{- .Release.Name | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
{{- else }}
{{- printf "%s-%s" .Release.Name $name | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
{{- end }}
{{- end }}
{{- end }}
{{/*
Common labels
*/ }}
{{- define "my-app.labels" - }}
helm.sh/chart: {{ include "my-app.chart" . }}
{{ include "my-app.selectorLabels" . }}
{{- if .Chart.AppVersion }}
app.kubernetes.io/version: {{ .Chart.AppVersion | quote }}
{{- end }}
app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: {{ .Release.Service }}
{{- end }}
{{/*
Selector labels
*/ }}
{{- define "my-app.selectorLabels" - }}
app.kubernetes.io/name: {{ include "my-app.name" . }}
app.kubernetes.io/instance: {{ .Release.Name }}
{{- end }}
6. Manage Dependencies Add dependencies in Chart.yaml:
dependencies:
- name: postgresql
version: '12.0.0'
repository: 'https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami'
condition: postgresql.enabled
helm dependency update
helm dependency build
Override dependency values:
postgresql:
enabled: true
auth:
database: myapp
username: myapp
password: changeme
primary:
persistence:
enabled: true
size: 10Gi
7. Test and Validate
helm lint my-app/
helm install my-app ./my-app --dry-run --debug
helm template my-app ./my-app
helm template my-app ./my-app -f values-prod.yaml
helm show values ./my-app
#!/bin/bash
set -e
echo "Linting chart..."
helm lint .
echo "Testing template rendering..."
helm template test-release . --dry-run
echo "Checking for required values..."
helm template test-release . --validate
echo "All validations passed!"
Reference: See scripts/validate-chart.sh
8. Package and Distribute
helm repo index .
aws s3 sync . s3://my-helm-charts/ --exclude "*" --include "*.tgz" --include "index.yaml"
helm repo add my-repo https://charts.example.com
helm repo update
helm install my-app my-repo/my-app
9. Multi-Environment Configuration Environment-specific values files:
my-app/
โโโ values.yaml # Defaults
โโโ values-dev.yaml # Development
โโโ values-staging.yaml # Staging
โโโ values-prod.yaml # Production
replicaCount: 5
image:
tag: '2.1.0'
resources:
requests:
memory: '512Mi'
cpu: '500m'
limits:
memory: '1Gi'
cpu: '1000m'
autoscaling:
enabled: true
minReplicas: 3
maxReplicas: 20
ingress:
enabled: true
hosts:
- host: app.example.com
paths:
- path: /
pathType: Prefix
postgresql:
enabled: true
primary:
persistence:
size: 100Gi
Install with environment:
helm install my-app ./my-app -f values-prod.yaml --namespace production
10. Implement Hooks and Tests
apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: Job
metadata:
name: {{ include "my-app.fullname" . }}-db-setup
annotations:
"helm.sh/hook": pre-install
"helm.sh/hook-weight": "-5"
"helm.sh/hook-delete-policy": hook-succeeded
spec:
template:
spec:
containers:
- name: db-setup
image: postgres:15
command: ["psql" , "-c" , "CREATE DATABASE myapp" ]
restartPolicy: Never
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
name: "{{ include "my-app.fullname" . }} -test-connection"
annotations:
"helm.sh/hook": test
spec:
containers:
- name: wget
image: busybox
command: ['wget' ]
args: ['{{ include "my-app.fullname" . }}:{{ .Values.service.port }}' ]
restartPolicy: Never
Common Patterns
Pattern 1: Conditional Resources {{- if .Values.ingress.enabled }}
apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
name: {{ include "my-app.fullname" . }}
spec:
{{- end }}
Pattern 2: Iterating Over Lists env:
{{- range .Values.env }}
- name: {{ .name }}
value: {{ .value | quote }}
{{- end }}
Pattern 3: Including Files data:
config.yaml: |
{{- .Files.Get "config/application.yaml" | nindent 4 }}
Pattern 4: Global Values global:
imageRegistry: docker.io
imagePullSecrets:
- name: regcred
image: {{ .Values.global.imageRegistry }}/{{ .Values.image.repository }}
Best Practices
Use semantic versioning for chart and app versionsDocument all values in values.yaml with commentsUse template helpers for repeated logicValidate charts before packagingPin dependency versions explicitlyUse conditions for optional resourcesFollow naming conventions (lowercase, hyphens)Include NOTES.txt with usage instructionsAdd labels consistently using helpersTest installations in all environments
Troubleshooting Template rendering errors:
helm template my-app ./my-app --debug
helm dependency update
helm dependency list
helm install my-app ./my-app --dry-run --debug
kubectl get events --sort-by='.lastTimestamp'
Reference Files
assets/Chart.yaml.template - Chart metadata templateassets/values.yaml.template - Values structure templatescripts/validate-chart.sh - Validation scriptreferences/chart-structure.md - Detailed chart organization
Related Skills
k8s-manifest-generator - For creating base Kubernetes manifestsgitops-workflow - For automated Helm chart deployments
Memory Protocol (MANDATORY) cat C:\dev\projects\agent-studio\.claude\context\memory\learnings.md
New pattern -> C:\dev\projects\agent-studio\.claude\context\memory\learnings.md
Issue found -> C:\dev\projects\agent-studio\.claude\context\memory\issues.md
Decision made -> C:\dev\projects\agent-studio\.claude\context\memory\decisions.md
ASSUME INTERRUPTION: If it's not in memory, it didn't happen.
