generating-helm-charts

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description: Use when generating Helm charts for Kubernetes applications. Trigger with phrases like "create Helm chart", "generate chart for app", "package Kubernetes deployment", or "helm template". Produces production-ready charts with Chart.yaml, values.yaml, templates, and best practices for multi-environment deployments. allowed-tools:

• Read
• Write
• Edit
• Grep
• Glob
• Bash(helm:*)
• Bash(kubectl:*) name: generating-helm-charts license: MIT version: 1.0.0

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Prerequisites

Before using this skill, ensure:

• Helm 3+ is installed on the system
• Kubernetes cluster access is configured
• Application container images are available
• Understanding of application resource requirements
• Chart repository access (if publishing)

Instructions

1. Gather Requirements: Identify application type, dependencies, configuration needs
2. Create Chart Structure: Generate Chart.yaml with metadata and version info
3. Define Values: Create values.yaml with configurable parameters and defaults
4. Build Templates: Generate deployment, service, ingress, and configmap templates
5. Add Helpers: Create _helpers.tpl for reusable template functions
6. Configure Resources: Set resource limits, security contexts, and health checks
7. Test Chart: Validate with helm lint and helm template commands
8. Document Usage: Add README with installation instructions and configuration options

Output

Generates complete Helm chart structure:

{baseDir}/helm-charts/app-name/
├── Chart.yaml          # Chart metadata
├── values.yaml         # Default configuration
├── templates/
│   ├── deployment.yaml
│   ├── service.yaml
│   ├── ingress.yaml
│   ├── configmap.yaml
│   ├── _helpers.tpl    # Template helpers
│   └── NOTES.txt       # Post-install notes
├── charts/             # Dependencies
└── README.md

Example Chart.yaml:

apiVersion: v2
name: my-app
description: Production-ready application chart
type: application
version: 1.0.0
appVersion: "1.0.0"

Example values.yaml:

replicaCount: 3
image:
  repository: registry/app
  tag: "1.0.0"
  pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
resources:
  limits:
    cpu: 500m
    memory: 512Mi
  requests:
    cpu: 250m
    memory: 256Mi

Error Handling

Common issues and solutions:

Chart Validation Errors

• Error: "Chart.yaml: version is required"
• Solution: Ensure Chart.yaml contains valid apiVersion, name, and version fields

Template Rendering Failures

• Error: "parse error in deployment.yaml"
• Solution: Validate template syntax with helm template and check Go template formatting

Missing Dependencies

• Error: "dependency not found"
• Solution: Run helm dependency update in chart directory

Values Override Issues

• Error: "failed to render values"
• Solution: Check values.yaml syntax and ensure proper YAML indentation

Installation Failures

• Error: "release failed: timed out waiting for condition"
• Solution: Increase timeout or check pod logs for application startup issues

Resources

• Helm documentation: https://helm.sh/docs/
• Chart best practices guide: https://helm.sh/docs/chart_best_practices/
• Template function reference: https://helm.sh/docs/chart_template_guide/
• Example charts repository: https://github.com/helm/charts
• Chart testing guide in {baseDir}/docs/helm-testing.md