Helm Cheat Sheet — Charts, Releases, and Common Commands

Add a chart repository.

helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
helm repo add ingress-nginx https://kubernetes.github.io/ingress-nginx
helm repo update   # Fetch latest charts
helm repo list     # Show added repos
helm repo remove bitnami

Search for charts in added repos.

helm search repo nginx
helm search repo bitnami/postgresql --versions  # Show all versions
helm search hub wordpress  # Search Artifact Hub

Install a chart as a named release.

helm install my-app bitnami/nginx
helm install my-app bitnami/nginx -n my-namespace --create-namespace
helm install my-app bitnami/nginx -f values.yaml
helm install my-app bitnami/nginx --set replicaCount=3
helm install my-app ./my-local-chart   # From local directory
helm install my-app bitnami/nginx --dry-run  # Preview without installing

Upgrade an existing release.

helm upgrade my-app bitnami/nginx -f values.yaml
helm upgrade my-app bitnami/nginx --set image.tag=1.25
helm upgrade --install my-app bitnami/nginx  # Install if not exists
helm upgrade my-app bitnami/nginx --reuse-values  # Keep existing values

Roll back to a previous release revision.

helm rollback my-app 1        # Roll back to revision 1
helm history my-app            # See all revisions
helm rollback my-app 0        # Roll back to previous

helm uninstall my-app
helm uninstall my-app -n my-namespace
helm uninstall my-app --keep-history  # Keep release history

helm list                    # All releases in current namespace
helm list -A                 # All namespaces
helm list --failed           # Only failed releases
helm status my-app           # Detailed release status
helm history my-app          # Release history with revisions

# Get info about an installed release
helm get values my-app       # Current values
helm get manifest my-app     # Rendered Kubernetes manifests
helm get all my-app          # Everything

# Show info about a chart (before installing)
helm show values bitnami/nginx   # Default values.yaml
helm show chart bitnami/nginx    # Chart metadata
helm show readme bitnami/nginx   # README

Render templates locally without installing.

helm template my-app bitnami/nginx -f values.yaml
helm template my-app ./my-chart --debug  # Show debug info
helm template my-app ./my-chart -s templates/deployment.yaml  # Single template

Scaffold a new chart.

helm create my-chart
# Creates:
#   my-chart/
#     Chart.yaml        # Chart metadata
#     values.yaml       # Default values
#     templates/        # Kubernetes manifests
#     charts/           # Dependencies

helm lint ./my-chart          # Validate chart
helm package ./my-chart       # Create .tgz archive
helm dependency update ./my-chart  # Download chart dependencies
helm dependency list ./my-chart    # List dependencies