Helm charts are structured with specific directories: templates/ for template files, values.yaml for default values overridable during helm install or helm upgrade, Chart.yaml for descriptions accessible in templates, and charts/ for subcharts. Helm sends all templates/ files through a rendering engine, collecting results to send to Kubernetes. When authoring production-grade charts, retain starter files like NOTES.txt (help text displayed during installation), deployment.yaml, service.yaml, and _helpers.tpl (for reusable helpers). Template names need not follow rigid patterns, though using .yaml for YAML files and .tpl for helpers is recommended. Plain YAML files placed in the templates/ directory are sent to Kubernetes as-is. ConfigMaps serve as basic resources for storing configuration data accessible by other objects like pods. Scope: Helm. Reviewed October 4, 2026.
Templates and built-in objects
Document v1 · published by Koskamo editorial · updated 2026-10-04
Source and provenance
- Original source
- helm.sh
- Published on Koskamo by
- Koskamo editorial
- Citation version
- Document v1
- Reuse
- Original summaries; linked sources retain their own terms.