# databus23/helm-diff

A helm plugin that shows a diff explaining what a helm upgrade would change

Repository: https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/helm-diff
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: helm, kubernetes, charts
Last push: 2026-08-24T14:12:22+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 98/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 95, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3472, "days_push": 9, "days_rel": 32, "gap_med": 20.5, "n_releases_24m": 29}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3484, forks 325 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:06.955823+00:00)

## What it is
A Helm plugin that previews what a `helm upgrade` would change by generating a diff between the deployed release and the newly rendered manifests. It can also compare two revisions of a Helm release.

## Use cases
- preview helm upgrade changes before applying
- diff between deployed release and rendered chart manifests
- compare two revisions of a helm release
- review chart changes in CI before upgrading
- avoid accidental breaking changes during helm upgrades

## When to choose
- you use Helm 3 and want a safe upgrade preview
- you need revision-to-revision comparison of releases
- you want to gate helm upgrades behind a diff review in CI/CD

## When to avoid
- you don't use Helm for Kubernetes deployments
- you need full cluster-state diffing beyond Helm releases (use tools like kubectl diff or Argo CD)
- you're on Helm 2 without plugin support

## Facets
- artifact type: plugin
- maturity: active
- function: developer-tools, cli, deployment
- domain: developer-tools, infrastructure-as-code
- platform: cli, cross-platform, go
- tags: helm-plugin, kubernetes, diff, helm-upgrade, release-preview, devops, containers

## Member repositories
- databus23/helm-diff (main) score 98

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:06.955823+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:36:24.823578+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:06.955823+00:00, sha 85796163c96c)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.