Agent-Skills.md

Agent Skills: Helm Chart Expert Skill

Production-ready Helm chart creation and review guide. Covers chart structure, ArgoCD/GitOps integration, secrets management, testing strategies, deployment patterns (blue-green, canary), monitoring, and troubleshooting. Use when creating charts, reviewing for security/quality, integrating with ArgoCD, or debugging chart issues.

UncategorizedID: meriley/claude-code-skills/helm-chart-expert
31

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pnpm dlx add-skill https://github.com/meriley/claude-code-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/helm-chart-expert

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skills/helm-chart-expert/SKILL.md

Skill Metadata

Name
helm-chart-expert
Description
Production-ready Helm chart creation and review guide. Covers chart structure, ArgoCD/GitOps integration, secrets management, testing strategies, deployment patterns (blue-green, canary), monitoring, and troubleshooting. Use when creating charts, reviewing for security/quality, integrating with ArgoCD, or debugging chart issues.

Helm Chart Expert Skill

Purpose

Guide for creating production-ready Helm charts and conducting comprehensive chart reviews. Core workflow covers essential patterns with references to detailed examples for complex scenarios.

Quick Start Checklist

New Chart Creation

# 1. Create chart structure
helm create mychart

# 2. Validate structure
helm lint ./mychart

# 3. Test rendering
helm template ./mychart --debug

# 4. Dry run
helm install test ./mychart --dry-run --debug

Quick Template Check

# Render without installing
helm template myrelease ./mychart -f values-dev.yaml

# Debug with values
helm install myrelease ./mychart --dry-run --debug

# Diff before upgrade (requires helm-diff plugin)
helm diff upgrade myrelease ./mychart

When to Load Additional References

The quick reference above covers essential chart creation patterns. Load detailed references when:

For detailed chart templates and examples:

Read `~/.claude/skills/helm-chart-expert/references/TEMPLATES.md`

Use when: Creating new charts, need Chart.yaml/values.yaml/deployment examples, implementing all Kubernetes resources

For ArgoCD integration patterns:

Read `~/.claude/skills/helm-chart-expert/references/ARGOCD-PATTERNS.md`

Use when: Integrating with ArgoCD, multi-environment deployments, ApplicationSets, sync waves, GitOps workflows

For production deployment patterns:

Read `~/.claude/skills/helm-chart-expert/references/PRODUCTION-PATTERNS.md`

Use when: Secrets management, testing strategies, blue-green/canary deployments, monitoring setup, upgrade strategies

For troubleshooting and advanced techniques:

Read `~/.claude/skills/helm-chart-expert/references/TROUBLESHOOTING.md`

Use when: Debugging chart issues, nil pointer errors, advanced templating, dynamic resource generation, performance optimization

Chart Review Checklist

Security Review

  • [ ] No hardcoded secrets in values.yaml or templates
  • [ ] Image tags are specific (no latest)
  • [ ] Security contexts are defined and restrictive
  • [ ] RBAC is properly configured with least privilege
  • [ ] Network policies are defined where applicable
  • [ ] Pod Security Standards are enforced
  • [ ] Resource limits are set for all containers

Structure Review

  • [ ] Chart.yaml has all required fields
  • [ ] Version follows SemVer2 format
  • [ ] Dependencies use version ranges (~)
  • [ ] One resource per file in templates/
  • [ ] Template helpers are properly namespaced
  • [ ] File naming follows conventions (lowercase, dashes)

Values Review

  • [ ] All values are documented with clear comments
  • [ ] Naming is consistent (camelCase)
  • [ ] Types are explicit (strings are quoted)
  • [ ] Flat structure preferred where possible
  • [ ] Defaults are secure and production-ready
  • [ ] Environment-specific values are separated

Template Review

  • [ ] Labels are consistent and follow k8s recommendations
  • [ ] Nil checks for nested values
  • [ ] Whitespace is properly managed ({{- and -}})
  • [ ] Helper functions are used for repeated logic
  • [ ] Conditionals are properly structured
  • [ ] Resources can be disabled via values

Testing Review

  • [ ] helm lint passes without errors
  • [ ] helm template renders correctly
  • [ ] Dry run succeeds
  • [ ] Unit tests exist and pass
  • [ ] Integration tests for critical paths
  • [ ] Helm test hooks are defined

Documentation Review

  • [ ] README.md exists with usage examples
  • [ ] CHANGELOG.md tracks versions
  • [ ] values.yaml is fully documented
  • [ ] Examples for common scenarios
  • [ ] Upgrade notes for breaking changes
  • [ ] Dependencies are documented

Final Review Checklist

Before Release

  • [ ] All tests pass (lint, unit, integration)
  • [ ] Security scanning completed
  • [ ] Documentation updated
  • [ ] CHANGELOG updated
  • [ ] Version bumped appropriately
  • [ ] Tested in staging environment
  • [ ] Rollback procedure documented
  • [ ] Resource quotas validated
  • [ ] Network policies tested
  • [ ] Monitoring/alerting configured

After Release

  • [ ] Smoke tests pass
  • [ ] Metrics flowing
  • [ ] Logs accessible
  • [ ] Alerts configured
  • [ ] Documentation published
  • [ ] Team notified

Integration with Other Skills

Works With:

  • security-scan - Scan rendered Helm templates for hardcoded secrets
  • quality-check - Lint YAML files for formatting issues
  • Manual invocation for Helm-specific work

Invokes:

  • None (standalone reference skill)

Invoked By:

  • User (manual invocation when working with Helm)

Example Usage

# Manual invocation
/skill helm-chart-expert

# User requests
User: "Help me create a production-ready Helm chart"
User: "Review this Helm chart for security issues"
User: "Show me how to integrate with ArgoCD"
User: "How do I handle secrets in Helm?"

References

Maintained by: DevOps team Review Schedule: Quarterly Last Updated: 2025-01-12

Related Agent

For comprehensive Helm/Kubernetes guidance that coordinates this and other Helm skills, use the helm-kubernetes-expert agent.