Helm Chart Generator

Overview

Generate production-ready Helm charts with best practices built-in. Create complete charts or individual resources with standard helpers, proper templating, and automatic validation.

Official Documentation:

Helm Docs - Main documentation
Chart Best Practices - Official best practices guide
Template Functions - Built-in functions
Sprig Functions - Extended function library

When to Use This Skill

Use helm-generator	Use OTHER skill
Create new Helm charts	devops-skills:helm-validator: Validate/lint existing charts
Generate Helm templates	k8s-generator: Raw K8s YAML (no Helm)
Convert K8s manifests to Helm	k8s-debug: Debug deployed resources
Implement CRDs in Helm	k8s-yaml-validator: Validate K8s manifests

Trigger phrases: "create", "generate", "build", "scaffold" Helm charts/templates

Chart Generation Workflow

Stage 1: Understand Requirements

Gather information about:

Scope: Full chart, specific resources, or manifest conversion
Application: Name, image, ports, env vars, resources, scaling, storage
CRDs/Operators: cert-manager, Prometheus Operator, Istio, etc.
Security: RBAC, security contexts, network policies

REQUIRED: Use
AskUserQuestion
if any of these are missing or ambiguous:

Missing Information	Question to Ask
Image repository/tag	"What container image should be used? (e.g., nginx:1.25)"
Service port	"What port does the application listen on?"
Resource limits	"What CPU/memory limits should be set? (e.g., 500m CPU, 512Mi memory)"
Probe endpoints	"What health check endpoints does the app expose? (e.g., /health, /ready)"
Scaling requirements	"Should autoscaling be enabled? If yes, min/max replicas and target CPU%?"
Workload type	"What workload type: Deployment, StatefulSet, or DaemonSet?"
Storage requirements	"Does the application need persistent storage? Size and access mode?"

Do NOT assume values for critical settings. Ask first, then proceed.

Stage 2: CRD Documentation Lookup

If custom resources are needed:

Try context7 MCP first:

mcp__context7__resolve-library-id with operator name
mcp__context7__get-library-docs with topic for CRD kind

Fallback to WebSearch:

"<operator>" "<CRD-kind>" "<version>" kubernetes documentation spec

See

references/crd_patterns.md

for common CRD examples.

Stage 3: Create Chart Structure

Use the scaffolding script:

bash

bash scripts/generate_chart_structure.sh <chart-name> <output-directory> [options]

Script options:

```
--image <repo>
```
- Image repository (default: nginx). Note: Pass only the repository name without tag (e.g.,
```
redis
```
not
```
redis:7-alpine
```
)
```
--port <number>
```
- Service port (default: 80)
```
--type <type>
```
- Workload type: deployment, statefulset, daemonset (default: deployment)
```
--with-templates
```
- Generate resource templates (deployment.yaml, service.yaml, etc.)
```
--with-ingress
```
- Include ingress template
```
--with-hpa
```
- Include HPA template
```
--force
```
- Overwrite existing chart without prompting

Important customization notes:

The script uses
```
http
```
as the default port name in templates. Customize port names for non-HTTP services (e.g.,
```
redis
```
,
```
mysql
```
,
```
grpc
```
)
Templates include checksum annotations for ConfigMap/Secret changes (conditionally enabled via
```
.Values.configMap.enabled
```
and
```
.Values.secret.enabled
```
)

Standard structure:

mychart/
  Chart.yaml           # Chart metadata (apiVersion: v2)
  values.yaml          # Default configuration
  values.schema.json   # Optional: JSON Schema validation
  templates/
    _helpers.tpl       # Standard helpers (ALWAYS create)
    NOTES.txt          # Post-install notes
    deployment.yaml    # Workloads
    service.yaml       # Services
    ingress.yaml       # Ingress (conditional)
    configmap.yaml     # ConfigMaps
    serviceaccount.yaml # RBAC
  .helmignore          # Ignore patterns

Stage 4: Generate Standard Helpers

Use the helpers script or

assets/_helpers-template.tpl

bash

bash scripts/generate_standard_helpers.sh <chart-name> <chart-directory>

Required helpers:

name

fullname

chart

labels

selectorLabels

serviceAccountName

Stage 5: Generate Templates

⚠️ CRITICAL REQUIREMENT: Read Reference Files NOW
You MUST use the
Read
tool to load these reference files at this stage, even if you read them earlier in the conversation:
1. Read references/resource_templates.md - for the specific resource type patterns
2. Read references/helm_template_functions.md - for template function usage
3. Read references/crd_patterns.md - if generating CRD resources (ServiceMonitor, Certificate, etc.)
Why: Prior context may be incomplete or summarized. Reading reference files at generation time guarantees all patterns, functions, and examples are available for accurate template creation.

Do NOT skip this step. Template quality depends on having current reference patterns loaded.

Reference templates for all resource types in

references/resource_templates.md

Workloads: Deployment, StatefulSet, DaemonSet, Job, CronJob
Services: Service, Ingress
Config: ConfigMap, Secret
RBAC: ServiceAccount, Role, RoleBinding, ClusterRole, ClusterRoleBinding
Network: NetworkPolicy
Autoscaling: HPA, PodDisruptionBudget

Key patterns (MUST include in all templates):

yaml

# Use helpers for names and labels
metadata:
  name: {{ include "mychart.fullname" . }}
  labels: {{- include "mychart.labels" . | nindent 4 }}

# Conditional sections with 'with'
{{- with .Values.nodeSelector }}
nodeSelector: {{- toYaml . | nindent 2 }}
{{- end }}

# Config change restart trigger (ALWAYS add to workloads)
annotations:
  checksum/config: {{ include (print $.Template.BasePath "/configmap.yaml") . | sha256sum }}

Checksum annotation is REQUIRED for Deployments/StatefulSets/DaemonSets to trigger pod restarts when ConfigMaps or Secrets change. Add conditionally if ConfigMap is optional:

yaml

{{- if .Values.configMap.enabled }}
checksum/config: {{ include (print $.Template.BasePath "/configmap.yaml") . | sha256sum }}
{{- end }}

Stage 6: Create values.yaml

Structure guidelines:

Group related settings logically
Document every value with
```
# --
```
comments
Provide sensible defaults
Include security contexts, resource limits, probes

See

assets/values-schema-template.json

for JSON Schema validation.

Stage 7: Validate

ALWAYS validate using devops-skills:helm-validator skill:

1. helm lint
2. helm template (render check)
3. YAML/schema validation
4. Dry-run if cluster available

Fix issues and re-validate until all checks pass.

Template Functions Quick Reference

See

references/helm_template_functions.md

for complete guide.

Function	Purpose	Example
`required`	Enforce required values	`{{ required "msg" .Values.x }}`
`default`	Fallback value	`{{ .Values.x \| default 1 }}`
`quote`	Quote strings	`{{ .Values.x \| quote }}`
`include`	Use helpers	`{{ include "name" . \| nindent 4 }}`
`toYaml`	Convert to YAML	`{{ toYaml .Values.x \| nindent 2 }}`
`tpl`	Render as template	`{{ tpl .Values.config . }}`
`nindent`	Newline + indent	`{{- include "x" . \| nindent 4 }}`

Conditional patterns:

yaml

{{- if .Values.enabled }}...{{- end }}
{{- if not .Values.autoscaling.enabled }}replicas: {{ .Values.replicaCount }}{{- end }}

Iteration:

yaml

{{- range .Values.items }}
- {{ . }}
{{- end }}

Working with CRDs

See

references/crd_patterns.md

for complete examples.

Key points:

CRDs you ship →
```
crds/
```
directory (not templated, not deleted on uninstall)
CR instances →
```
templates/
```
directory (fully templated)
Always lookup documentation for CRD spec requirements
Document operator dependencies in Chart.yaml annotations

Converting Manifests to Helm

Parameterize: Names → helpers, values →
```
values.yaml
```
Apply patterns: Labels, conditionals,
```
toYaml
```
for complex objects
Add helpers: Create
```
_helpers.tpl
```
with standard helpers
Validate: Use devops-skills:helm-validator, test with different values

Error Handling

Issue	Solution
Template syntax errors	Check `{{-` / `-}}` matching, use `helm template --debug`
Undefined values	Use `default` or `required` functions
Indentation issues	Use `nindent` consistently
CRD validation fails	Verify apiVersion, check docs for required fields

Resources

Scripts

Script	Usage
`scripts/generate_chart_structure.sh`	`bash <script> <chart-name> <output-dir>`
`scripts/generate_standard_helpers.sh`	`bash <script> <chart-name> <chart-dir>`

References

File	Content
`references/helm_template_functions.md`	Complete template function guide
`references/resource_templates.md`	All K8s resource templates
`references/crd_patterns.md`	CRD patterns (cert-manager, Prometheus, Istio, ArgoCD)

Assets

File	Purpose
`assets/_helpers-template.tpl`	Standard helpers template
`assets/values-schema-template.json`	JSON Schema for values validation

Integration with devops-skills:helm-validator

After generating charts, automatically invoke devops-skills:helm-validator to ensure quality:

Generate chart/templates
Invoke devops-skills:helm-validator skill
Fix identified issues
Re-validate until passing

helm-generator

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Helm Chart Generator

Overview

When to Use This Skill

Chart Generation Workflow

Stage 1: Understand Requirements

Stage 2: CRD Documentation Lookup

Stage 3: Create Chart Structure

Stage 4: Generate Standard Helpers

Stage 5: Generate Templates

Stage 6: Create values.yaml

Stage 7: Validate

Template Functions Quick Reference

Working with CRDs

Converting Manifests to Helm

Error Handling

Resources

Scripts

References

Assets

Integration with devops-skills:helm-validator