helm commands cheatsheet.
Install, upgrade, roll back and inspect — the Helm commands you reach for managing charts and releases. Tap to copy.
helm install <name> <chart>Install a chart as a named releasehelm upgrade <name> <chart>Upgrade a release to a new chart or valueshelm upgrade --install <name> <chart>Install if absent, otherwise upgradehelm uninstall <name>Uninstall a release and remove its resourceshelm rollback <name> <revision>Roll a release back to a previous revisionhelm repo add <name> <url>Add a chart repositoryhelm repo updateRefresh the local cache of chart reposhelm repo listList configured chart repositorieshelm search repo <keyword>Search added repos for a charthelm search hub <keyword>Search Artifact Hub for chartshelm listList releases in the current namespacehelm list -AList releases across all namespaceshelm status <name>Show the status of a releasehelm history <name>Show the revision history of a releasehelm get values <name>Show the user-supplied values for a releasehelm create <name>Scaffold a new chart directoryhelm lint <chart>Check a chart for possible issueshelm package <chart>Package a chart into a .tgz archivehelm template <chart>Render chart templates locally as YAMLhelm show values <chart>Print a chart's default valueshelm install <name> <chart> -f values.yamlInstall with values from a filehelm install <name> <chart> --set key=valueOverride a value on the command linehelm install --dry-run --debugRender and preview without installingThe everyday Helm loop
Helm packages Kubernetes manifests into charts and tracks each deployment as a named release. Day to day it comes down to a few verbs. helm install deploys a chart under a release name, helm upgrade applies new values or a new chart version to that release, and helm list shows what's currently deployed. The one command worth burning into muscle memory is helm upgrade --install: it installs the release if it's missing and upgrades it if it exists, so the same line is safe to run from a script or a pipeline every time.
Repos, charts and values
Charts usually live in repositories. helm repo add <name> <url> registers one and helm repo update refreshes the local index so you see the latest versions. Every chart ships defaults you can inspect with helm show values <chart>, then override at install time — either from a file with -f values.yaml or inline with --set key=value. When in doubt about what a chart will actually create, helm template <chart> renders the manifests locally without touching the cluster.
Inspect before you change state
Because Helm keeps a revision history, mistakes are recoverable — but it's still worth looking before you leap. helm history <name> lists every revision of a release and helm rollback <name> <revision> returns it to a known-good one. Add --dry-run --debug to an install or upgrade to render and print exactly what would be applied first. These pair naturally with the kubectl, Docker and cloud CLI commands.