Helm Cheat-Sheet

Helm is the package manager for Kubernetes. This sheet uses Helm 3 syntax: there is no Tiller, release names are positional (no --name), and helm delete is helm uninstall.

Documentation: Helm Docs

Repository Management #

COMMAND	DESCRIPTION
`helm repo add <NAME> <URL>`	Add a chart repository
`helm repo list`	List repositories
`helm repo update`	Refresh chart indexes
`helm repo remove <NAME>`	Remove a repository

Finding Charts #

COMMAND	DESCRIPTION
`helm search repo <KEYWORD>`	Search added repositories
`helm search repo <REPO>/<CHART> --versions`	List all versions of a chart
`helm search hub <KEYWORD>`	Search Artifact Hub
`helm show values <REPO>/<CHART>`	Show default values
`helm show values <REPO>/<CHART> > values.yaml`	Save defaults as a starting point
`helm show chart <REPO>/<CHART>`	Show chart metadata
`helm show readme <REPO>/<CHART>`	Show the chart README

Install and Upgrade #

COMMAND	DESCRIPTION
`helm install <RELEASE> <REPO>/<CHART>`	Install a chart
`helm install <RELEASE> <REPO>/<CHART> -n <NS> --create-namespace`	Install into a new namespace
`helm install <RELEASE> <REPO>/<CHART> -f values.yaml`	Install with a values file
`helm install <RELEASE> <REPO>/<CHART> --set key=value`	Override a single value
`helm install <RELEASE> <REPO>/<CHART> --version <VERSION>`	Pin a chart version
`helm upgrade <RELEASE> <REPO>/<CHART> -f values.yaml`	Upgrade a release
`helm upgrade --install <RELEASE> <REPO>/<CHART> -n <NS> --create-namespace -f values.yaml`	Install or upgrade (idempotent, good for CI)
`helm upgrade ... --atomic --timeout 5m`	Roll back automatically if the upgrade fails
`helm upgrade ... --reuse-values`	Keep previous values (prefer explicit `-f`)

Inspect and Roll Back #

COMMAND	DESCRIPTION
`helm list -A`	List releases in all namespaces
`helm list -n <NS>`	List releases in a namespace
`helm status <RELEASE> -n <NS>`	Release status and notes
`helm get values <RELEASE> -n <NS>`	Values supplied by the user
`helm get values <RELEASE> -n <NS> -a`	All computed values
`helm get manifest <RELEASE> -n <NS>`	Rendered manifests as deployed
`helm history <RELEASE> -n <NS>`	Revision history
`helm rollback <RELEASE> <REVISION> -n <NS>`	Roll back to a revision
`helm uninstall <RELEASE> -n <NS>`	Remove a release
`helm uninstall <RELEASE> -n <NS> --keep-history`	Remove but keep history

Testing and Debugging #

COMMAND	DESCRIPTION
`helm template <RELEASE> <REPO>/<CHART> -f values.yaml`	Render manifests locally
`helm install <RELEASE> <REPO>/<CHART> --dry-run --debug`	Simulate an install against the cluster
`helm lint <DIR>`	Lint a chart
`helm diff upgrade <RELEASE> <REPO>/<CHART> -f values.yaml`	Preview changes (needs the `helm-diff` plugin)
`helm test <RELEASE>`	Run chart tests

Creating Charts #

COMMAND	DESCRIPTION
`helm create <NAME>`	Scaffold a chart
`helm dependency update <DIR>`	Fetch dependencies listed in `Chart.yaml`
`helm package <DIR>`	Package into a `.tgz`
`helm push <CHART>.tgz oci://<REGISTRY>/<PATH>`	Push to an OCI registry
`helm install <RELEASE> oci://<REGISTRY>/<PATH>/<CHART> --version <VERSION>`	Install from OCI

Chart Folder Structure #

wordpress/
  Chart.yaml          # Chart metadata, and dependencies (Helm 3)
  Chart.lock          # Locked dependency versions
  LICENSE             # OPTIONAL: license for the chart
  README.md           # OPTIONAL: human-readable README
  values.yaml         # Default configuration values
  values.schema.json  # OPTIONAL: JSON schema to validate values
  charts/             # Chart dependencies
  templates/          # Templates combined with values to render manifests
  templates/NOTES.txt # OPTIONAL: usage notes shown after install

Handy Plugins #

bash

helm plugin install https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff
helm plugin list

See Also #

Updated 7 Nov 2026 Edit this page on GitHub