Skillshub generating-helm-charts

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/ComeOnOliver/skillshub

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/ComeOnOliver/skillshub "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills/generating-helm-charts" ~/.claude/skills/comeonoliver-skillshub-generating-helm-charts && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: skills/jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills/generating-helm-charts/SKILL.md

Generating Helm Charts

Overview

Generate production-ready Helm 3 charts for Kubernetes applications with Chart.yaml, values.yaml, Go templates, and helper functions. Support multi-environment deployments with values overrides, dependency management, security contexts, health probes, and resource limits following Helm best practices.

Prerequisites

Helm 3.x installed (
```
helm version
```
)
```
kubectl
```
configured with cluster access for testing chart installation
Container images available in a registry accessible from the cluster
Understanding of application resource requirements (CPU, memory, ports, volumes)
Chart repository access if publishing (ChartMuseum, OCI registry, or GitHub Pages)

Instructions

Analyze the application: identify container images, ports, environment variables, volumes, and dependencies

Scaffold the chart structure:

Chart.yaml

values.yaml

templates/

charts/

.helmignore

Create
```
Chart.yaml
```
with
```
apiVersion: v2
```
, name, version, appVersion, and dependency declarations
Define
```
values.yaml
```
with sensible production defaults: replica count, image config, resource limits, ingress settings
Build templates using Go template syntax with proper
```
.Values
```
references and
```
_helpers.tpl
```
for reusable named templates
Add health checks:
```
livenessProbe
```
and
```
readinessProbe
```
in the deployment template with configurable paths and thresholds
Configure security context:
```
runAsNonRoot: true
```
,
```
readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
```
, and drop all capabilities

Create environment-specific values files:

values-dev.yaml

values-staging.yaml

values-prod.yaml

Add
```
NOTES.txt
```
with post-install instructions showing how to access the application

Validate with

helm lint .

and test rendering with

helm template . --values values-prod.yaml

Output

Complete Helm chart directory structure
```
Chart.yaml
```
with metadata and dependencies
```
values.yaml
```
with documented, configurable defaults

Template files:

deployment.yaml

service.yaml

ingress.yaml

configmap.yaml

serviceaccount.yaml

hpa.yaml

```
_helpers.tpl
```
with name, label, and selector helper templates
```
NOTES.txt
```
with post-install access instructions
Environment-specific values override files

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
`Chart.yaml: version is required`	Missing or malformed `version` field	Add a valid SemVer version string to Chart.yaml
`parse error in template`	Go template syntax error (missing `end` , wrong function)	Run `helm template .` to pinpoint the error; check bracket matching and function names
`dependency not found`	Chart dependency not downloaded	Run `helm dependency update` to fetch dependencies into `charts/`
`release failed: timed out waiting for condition`	Pods not reaching ready state during install	Check pod logs; verify image exists, resource limits are sufficient, and probes are correct
`values override not applied`	Wrong values file path or key mismatch	Verify `--values` file path and that keys match the structure in `values.yaml` exactly

Examples

"Generate a Helm chart for a Node.js API with 3 replicas, an Nginx ingress, PostgreSQL subchart dependency, and environment-specific values for dev and prod."
"Create a Helm chart for a stateful application with PersistentVolumeClaim, headless service, and configurable storage class."
"Package an existing set of Kubernetes manifests into a Helm chart with parameterized image tag, replica count, and resource limits."

Resources

Helm documentation: https://helm.sh/docs/
Chart best practices: https://helm.sh/docs/chart_best_practices/
Template function reference: https://helm.sh/docs/chart_template_guide/function_list/
Artifact Hub (chart discovery): https://artifacthub.io/