Agent skill

helm-charts

Creates and manages Helm charts for Kubernetes deployments. This skill should be used when packaging applications for Kubernetes using Helm, creating Chart.yaml, values.yaml, and templates. It covers chart structure, templating, dependencies, and deployment patterns. Use this skill for Phase IV+ Kubernetes deployments.

View SKILL.md on GitHub Repository
Stars 163
Forks 31

Install this agent skill to your Project

npx add-skill https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry/tree/main/skills/data/helm-charts

SKILL.md

Helm Charts Skill

Overview

Helm is the package manager for Kubernetes. It packages Kubernetes manifests into reusable charts that can be versioned, shared, and deployed with customizable values.

Core Concepts

What is a Helm Chart?

A chart is a collection of files that describe a related set of Kubernetes resources:

mychart/
├── Chart.yaml          # Chart metadata (name, version, dependencies)
├── values.yaml         # Default configuration values
├── charts/             # Dependency charts
├── templates/          # Kubernetes manifest templates
│   ├── deployment.yaml
│   ├── service.yaml
│   ├── ingress.yaml
│   ├── configmap.yaml
│   ├── secret.yaml
│   ├── _helpers.tpl    # Template helpers
│   └── NOTES.txt       # Post-install notes
└── .helmignore         # Files to ignore when packaging

Key Files

File Purpose
Chart.yaml Metadata: name, version, appVersion, dependencies
values.yaml Default configuration values (overridable)
templates/ Go-templated Kubernetes manifests
_helpers.tpl Reusable template snippets

Chart.yaml Structure

yaml
apiVersion: v2                    # Helm 3 uses v2
name: taskflow                    # Chart name
description: TaskFlow Platform    # Short description
type: application                 # application or library
version: 1.0.0                    # Chart version (SemVer)
appVersion: "1.0.0"               # Application version

# Dependencies (optional)
dependencies:
  - name: postgresql
    version: "12.x.x"
    repository: "https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami"
    condition: postgresql.enabled

values.yaml Pattern

yaml
# Global settings
global:
  imageRegistry: ""
  imagePullSecrets: []

# Per-service configuration
api:
  replicaCount: 1
  image:
    repository: taskflow/api
    tag: "latest"
    pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
  service:
    type: ClusterIP
    port: 8000
  resources:
    limits:
      cpu: 500m
      memory: 512Mi
    requests:
      cpu: 100m
      memory: 128Mi
  env:
    DATABASE_URL: ""
    SSO_URL: "http://sso:3001"

# Feature flags
postgresql:
  enabled: true
  auth:
    postgresPassword: "postgres"
    database: "taskflow"

Template Syntax

Accessing Values

yaml
# templates/deployment.yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: {{ include "taskflow.fullname" . }}
  labels:
    {{- include "taskflow.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
spec:
  replicas: {{ .Values.api.replicaCount }}
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      {{- include "taskflow.selectorLabels" . | nindent 6 }}
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: {{ .Chart.Name }}
          image: "{{ .Values.api.image.repository }}:{{ .Values.api.image.tag }}"
          ports:
            - containerPort: {{ .Values.api.service.port }}
          env:
            - name: DATABASE_URL
              value: {{ .Values.api.env.DATABASE_URL | quote }}

Helper Templates (_helpers.tpl)

yaml
{{/*
Expand the name of the chart.
*/}}
{{- define "taskflow.name" -}}
{{- default .Chart.Name .Values.nameOverride | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
{{- end }}

{{/*
Create a default fully qualified app name.
*/}}
{{- define "taskflow.fullname" -}}
{{- if .Values.fullnameOverride }}
{{- .Values.fullnameOverride | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
{{- else }}
{{- $name := default .Chart.Name .Values.nameOverride }}
{{- printf "%s-%s" .Release.Name $name | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
{{- end }}
{{- end }}

{{/*
Common labels
*/}}
{{- define "taskflow.labels" -}}
helm.sh/chart: {{ include "taskflow.chart" . }}
{{ include "taskflow.selectorLabels" . }}
app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: {{ .Release.Service }}
{{- end }}

{{/*
Selector labels
*/}}
{{- define "taskflow.selectorLabels" -}}
app.kubernetes.io/name: {{ include "taskflow.name" . }}
app.kubernetes.io/instance: {{ .Release.Name }}
{{- end }}

Essential Commands

Create New Chart

bash
helm create mychart

Install Chart

bash
# From local directory
helm install my-release ./mychart

# With custom values file
helm install my-release ./mychart --values custom-values.yaml

# With inline value overrides
helm install my-release ./mychart \
  --set api.replicaCount=3 \
  --set api.image.tag=v2.0.0

# To specific namespace (create if needed)
helm install my-release ./mychart \
  --namespace production \
  --create-namespace

# Dry run (preview without installing)
helm install my-release ./mychart --dry-run --debug

Upgrade Release

bash
helm upgrade my-release ./mychart --values new-values.yaml

Rollback

bash
helm rollback my-release 1  # Rollback to revision 1

Uninstall

bash
helm uninstall my-release

List Releases

bash
helm list
helm list --all-namespaces

Debug Templates

bash
# Render templates without installing
helm template my-release ./mychart

# Debug with computed values
helm template my-release ./mychart --debug

Multi-Service Chart Pattern

For TaskFlow (api, sso, web, mcp-server), use a single chart with multiple templates:

helm/taskflow/
├── Chart.yaml
├── values.yaml
├── templates/
│   ├── _helpers.tpl
│   ├── NOTES.txt
│   ├── api/
│   │   ├── deployment.yaml
│   │   ├── service.yaml
│   │   └── configmap.yaml
│   ├── sso/
│   │   ├── deployment.yaml
│   │   └── service.yaml
│   ├── web/
│   │   ├── deployment.yaml
│   │   └── service.yaml
│   ├── mcp-server/
│   │   ├── deployment.yaml
│   │   └── service.yaml
│   └── ingress.yaml

ConfigMap and Secrets

ConfigMap Template

yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: {{ include "taskflow.fullname" . }}-config
data:
  SSO_URL: {{ .Values.sso.url | quote }}
  API_URL: {{ .Values.api.url | quote }}

Secret Template (from values)

yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: {{ include "taskflow.fullname" . }}-secrets
type: Opaque
data:
  database-url: {{ .Values.secrets.databaseUrl | b64enc | quote }}
  openai-api-key: {{ .Values.secrets.openaiApiKey | b64enc | quote }}

Health Checks Pattern

yaml
spec:
  containers:
    - name: api
      livenessProbe:
        httpGet:
          path: /health
          port: 8000
        initialDelaySeconds: 30
        periodSeconds: 10
      readinessProbe:
        httpGet:
          path: /health
          port: 8000
        initialDelaySeconds: 5
        periodSeconds: 5

Ingress Pattern

yaml
{{- if .Values.ingress.enabled -}}
apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: {{ include "taskflow.fullname" . }}
  annotations:
    {{- toYaml .Values.ingress.annotations | nindent 4 }}
spec:
  ingressClassName: {{ .Values.ingress.className }}
  rules:
    - host: {{ .Values.ingress.host }}
      http:
        paths:
          - path: /api
            pathType: Prefix
            backend:
              service:
                name: {{ include "taskflow.fullname" . }}-api
                port:
                  number: 8000
          - path: /
            pathType: Prefix
            backend:
              service:
                name: {{ include "taskflow.fullname" . }}-web
                port:
                  number: 3000
{{- end }}

Common Gotchas

  1. Quote strings in templates: Use {{ .Values.foo | quote }} for strings
  2. Indentation matters: Use nindent for proper YAML formatting
  3. Resource names: Keep under 63 characters (K8s limit)
  4. Image pull policy: Use IfNotPresent in production, Always in dev
  5. Secrets: Never commit real secrets to values.yaml

Resources

Refer to references/ for:

  • chart-patterns.md - Advanced templating patterns
  • values-structure.md - Values.yaml organization guide

Refer to assets/ for:

  • base-chart/ - Complete starter chart template

Recommended Agent Skills

Expand your agent's capabilities with these related and highly-rated skills.

majiayu000/claude-skill-registry

agent-ops-spec

Manage specification documents in .agent/specs/. Use when user provides requirements, acceptance criteria, or feature descriptions that need to be tracked and validated against implementation.

163 31
Explore
majiayu000/claude-skill-registry

agent-ops-state

Maintain .agent state files. Use at session start, after meaningful steps, and before concluding: read/update constitution/memory/focus/issues/baseline consistently.

163 31
Explore
majiayu000/claude-skill-registry

agent-ops-spec

Manage specification documents in .agent/specs/. Use when user provides requirements, acceptance criteria, or feature descriptions that need to be tracked and validated against implementation.

163 31
Explore
majiayu000/claude-skill-registry

agent-ops-testing

Test strategy, execution, and coverage analysis. Use when designing tests, running test suites, or analyzing test results beyond baseline checks.

163 31
Explore
majiayu000/claude-skill-registry

agent-ops-testing

Test strategy, execution, and coverage analysis. Use when designing tests, running test suites, or analyzing test results beyond baseline checks.

163 31
Explore
majiayu000/claude-skill-registry

agent-ops-state

Maintain .agent state files. Use at session start, after meaningful steps, and before concluding: read/update constitution/memory/focus/issues/baseline consistently.

163 31
Explore

Didn't find tool you were looking for?

Be as detailed as possible for better results