helm-chart-scaffolding
wshobson/agents
Design, organize, and manage Helm charts for templating and packaging Kubernetes applications.
What is helm-chart-scaffolding?
This skill provides step-by-step instructions for building production-ready Helm charts, including chart structure, templating patterns, values management, and validation strategies. Use it when creating Helm charts, packaging Kubernetes applications, or implementing templated deployments.
- Create new Helm charts from scratch with proper structure and conventions
- Package Kubernetes applications for distribution and reuse
- Manage multi-environment deployments with templated values
- Implement template helpers for repeated logic and consistency
- Validate charts before packaging and deployment
- Set up Helm chart repositories and manage dependencies
How to install helm-chart-scaffolding
npx skills add https://github.com/wshobson/agents --skill helm-chart-scaffoldingHow to use helm-chart-scaffolding
- 1.Define your chart structure following Helm conventions with Chart.yaml, values.yaml, and templates/ directory
- 2.Document all values in values.yaml with clear comments explaining each configuration option
- 3.Create template files in the templates/ directory using Go templating syntax for Kubernetes manifests
- 4.Implement template helpers in _helpers.tpl for repeated logic like labels and naming conventions
- 5.Use helm template to render and debug your charts locally before installation
- 6.Run helm dependency update if your chart depends on other charts
- 7.Validate your chart with helm lint to check for errors and best practices
- 8.Test installation with helm install --dry-run --debug to preview the rendered manifests
Use cases
- Creating a new Helm chart for a microservice application with environment-specific configurations
- Packaging an existing Kubernetes application for distribution across teams
- Setting up templated deployments for multi-environment rollouts (dev, staging, production)
- Implementing reusable Helm chart templates with conditional resources and helper functions
- Managing Helm chart dependencies and validating charts before release
- Kubernetes platform engineers
- DevOps engineers managing application deployments
- SREs implementing infrastructure-as-code
- Developers packaging applications for Kubernetes distribution
helm-chart-scaffolding FAQ
Use `helm template my-app ./my-app --debug` to render templates and see the output. This helps identify syntax errors and variable issues before installation.
Use `helm dependency update` to fetch dependencies listed in Chart.yaml, and `helm dependency list` to verify them. Pin dependency versions explicitly in Chart.yaml.
Include semantic versioning, documented values, template helpers, consistent labels, NOTES.txt with usage instructions, validation via helm lint, and testing across all target environments.
Use `helm install my-app ./my-app --dry-run --debug` to preview rendered manifests without actually creating resources. Check kubectl events with `kubectl get events --sort-by='.lastTimestamp'` for any issues.
Use values.yaml with environment-specific overrides, template conditionals for optional resources, and separate values files for each environment (values-dev.yaml, values-prod.yaml) that can be passed with -f flag.
Full instructions (SKILL.md)
Source of truth, from wshobson/agents.
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.
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
Detailed patterns and worked examples
Detailed pattern documentation lives in references/details.md. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient.
Best Practices
- Use semantic versioning for chart and app versions
- Document all values in values.yaml with comments
- Use template helpers for repeated logic
- Validate charts before packaging
- Pin dependency versions explicitly
- Use conditions for optional resources
- Follow naming conventions (lowercase, hyphens)
- Include NOTES.txt with usage instructions
- Add labels consistently using helpers
- Test installations in all environments
Troubleshooting
Template rendering errors:
helm template my-app ./my-app --debug
Dependency issues:
helm dependency update
helm dependency list
Installation failures:
helm install my-app ./my-app --dry-run --debug
kubectl get events --sort-by='.lastTimestamp'
Related Skills
k8s-manifest-generator- For creating base Kubernetes manifestsgitops-workflow- For automated Helm chart deployments
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