# helm/helm

The Kubernetes Package Manager

Repository: https://github.com/helm/helm
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/helm
Homepage: https://helm.sh
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: cncf, chart, kubernetes, helm, charts
Last push: 2026-08-25T19:49:51+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 99/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 98, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3985, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 19, "gap_med": 13.0, "n_releases_24m": 45}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 30178, forks 7765 (observed 2026-08-28T04:11:54.302104+00:00)

## What it is
Helm is the de facto package manager for Kubernetes, packaging pre-configured Kubernetes resources into versioned units called charts that can be installed, upgraded, and rolled back as single releases. It is a mature CNCF-graduated project written in Go, with a CLI client, a Go SDK, a plugin system (including WebAssembly-based plugins in v4), and support for distributing charts via traditional repositories and OCI registries.

## Use cases
- install applications on kubernetes from packaged charts
- package my own kubernetes app as a reusable chart
- upgrade and roll back kubernetes releases safely
- deploy the same app to dev staging and prod with different values
- manage kubernetes yaml manifests without copy-paste
- share helm charts with my team or the community
- install charts from an oci container registry

## When to choose
- you deploy or operate applications on Kubernetes and want repeatable, versioned installs
- you need per-environment configuration of Kubernetes manifests via values files
- you want to distribute your Kubernetes application as an installable package
- you need safe in-place upgrades and rollbacks of cluster releases
- you want to consume off-the-shelf software (databases, ingress controllers, monitoring stacks) from Artifact Hub or OCI registries

## When to avoid
- you are not using Kubernetes - Helm charts only describe Kubernetes resources
- you prefer plain manifests with tools like kustomize for simple overlay-style customization
- you need a fully GitOps-declarative workflow without a CLI-driven release model (consider Flux or Argo CD, which can still use Helm charts)
- you depend on Helm v2 - it is long end-of-life and unsupported

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: stable
- function: package-manager, deployment, cli, templating, configuration-management, ci-cd
- domain: cloud-computing, developer-tools, self-hosted
- platform: windows, cli, cloud, cross-platform
- tags: kubernetes, helm-charts, package-manager, cncf, go, oci-registry, release-management, rollbacks, containers, devops, linux, macos, docker

## Member repositories
- helm/helm (main) score 99

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:54.302104+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 2026-08-29T16:52:47.755340+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/helm/helm (fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:54.302104+00:00, sha 9f0e055e384f)
  - homepage: https://helm.sh (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:56.282731+00:00, sha 3015608ac0c2)
  - site_page: https://helm.sh/docs/overview (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:56.291797+00:00, sha 189c54b91e15)
  - site_page: https://helm.sh/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:56.293721+00:00, sha 151b8b0b772c)
  - site_page: https://helm.sh/docs/v3 (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:56.295183+00:00, sha 59fae39f9dbc)
  - site_page: https://helm.sh/docs/v2 (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:56.296733+00:00, sha 89e52bf83bc4)
  - site_page: https://helm.sh/docs/topics/architecture (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:56.298263+00:00, sha 1e798b10499c)
  - site_page: https://helm.sh/docs/intro/quickstart (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:56.299963+00:00, sha 42d5bf6fe41d)
  - site_page: https://helm.sh/docs/intro/install (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:56.301751+00:00, sha 09eed50c47ed)
  - site_page: https://helm.sh/docs/intro/using_helm (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:56.303611+00:00, sha 07ce49efee0a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.