helmfile

Declarative Helm chart deployment for Kubernetes

TLDR

Apply the desired state from helmfile.yaml

$ helmfile apply

Sync releases to match the spec (install missing, upgrade changed)

$ helmfile sync

Diff pending changes before applying

$ helmfile diff

Destroy all releases defined in the helmfile

$ helmfile destroy

Lint the helmfile and referenced charts

$ helmfile lint

Generate a new project scaffold

$ helmfile create [my-project]

SYNOPSIS

helmfile is a declarative spec for deploying Helm charts to Kubernetes. You describe repositories, releases, values, and hooks in YAML (typically helmfile.yaml), version-control that file, and run helmfile apply or helmfile sync to converge the cluster to the declared state.The executable delegates chart operations to helm and expects the helm-diff plugin for the diff subcommand. Run helmfile init once after installation to install required plugins.Helmfile supports modular helmfiles (importing shared fragments from Git or S3), environment-specific value layers, JSON and strategic-merge patches on rendered manifests before install, and mixing Helm charts with raw Kubernetes manifests and Kustomize bases. Releases can declare dependencies so Helmfile installs them in the correct order.Common workflows: helmfile diff to preview changes, helmfile apply to install and upgrade in one step, helmfile template or helmfile build to render manifests for GitOps tools such as Argo CD, and helmfile destroy to tear down every release managed by the file.

PARAMETERS

-f, --file path

Path to the helmfile (default: helmfile.yaml). Repeatable.

-e, --environment name

Environment name for layered values (for example staging, production).

--selector label=value

Limit operations to releases matching the label selector.

-l, --selector label=value

Alias for --selector.

-n, --namespace namespace

Kubernetes namespace override.

--kube-context context

Kubernetes context to use.

--debug

Enable verbose debug output.

--quiet

Suppress non-essential output.

--no-color

Disable ANSI colour codes.

CONFIGURATION

helmfile.yaml

Main declarative spec. Defines repositories, releases, optional environments, helmDefaults, and templates.

helmfile.d/

Directory of additional fragment YAML files merged into the main spec.

.helmfile/

Optional local state and cache directory created during operation.

helmfile init

Installs the helm-diff plugin and other dependencies expected by Helmfile.

INSTALL

sudo pacman -S helmfile

sudo zypper install helmfile

brew install helmfile

nix profile install nixpkgs#helmfile

CAVEATS

Helmfile v1.x introduced breaking changes from v0.x; review the v1 migration guide before upgrading legacy projects. helm and helm-diff must be installed separately and kept compatible with the Helmfile version in use. The diff subcommand requires a working helm-diff plugin.