Flux Helm IntelliSense

Flux Helm IntelliSense is a VS Code extension that provides Helm values IntelliSense inside Flux HelmRelease.spec.values blocks.

It resolves the HelmRepository or OCIRepository referenced by each HelmRelease, pulls the chart locally with helm, and reads either values.schema.json or values.yaml to provide:

• key completions inside spec.values
• hover descriptions and examples
• unknown-key diagnostics from strict schemas, with optional best-effort values.yaml fallback checks including bundled subchart defaults
• per-block CodeLens actions for resolved chart details, bundled subchart values, schema, values, and Helm pull commands
• a status bar indicator for the active HelmRelease

Requirements

• VS Code ^1.90.0
• local helm installed and available on PATH, or configured through fluxHelmValues.helmPath
• a workspace containing Flux HelmRelease resources and matching HelmRepository or OCIRepository resources

How It Works

For each YAML document, the extension:

1. detects Flux HelmRelease resources
2. scopes IntelliSense to the matching spec.values block
3. resolves either spec.chart.spec.sourceRef to a HelmRepository or spec.chartRef to an OCIRepository
4. pulls the chart with helm pull
5. reads values.schema.json when available, otherwise values.yaml
6. caches resolved chart metadata under the VS Code global storage directory

Repository lookup supports:

• same-file HelmRepository and OCIRepository resources
• sibling YAML files in the same directory
• full workspace lookup when needed
• configured extra source search paths for local repos outside the current workspace
• namespace-less HelmRepository manifests that rely on external namespace injection

For OCI charts, the extension supports OCIRepository.spec.ref.tag, semver, semverFilter, and digest, using Flux's digest → semver → tag precedence. Explicit tags are pulled as exact OCI :tag references. When spec.ref is omitted, Flux defaults to the literal latest tag, but Helm OCI charts normally use SemVer tags; the extension therefore falls back to Helm's latest compatible stable version (--version '*'). For semverFilter, the extension asks Helm for candidates from newest to oldest, applies the filter to each OCI tag, and pulls the first match (up to 25 candidates).

Commands

• Flux Helm IntelliSense: Refresh Chart Cache
• Flux Helm IntelliSense: Clear Chart Cache
• Flux Helm IntelliSense: Show Resolved Chart
• Flux Helm IntelliSense: Copy Helm Pull Command
• Flux Helm IntelliSense: Show Logs

Settings

• fluxHelmValues.helmPath: path to the Helm executable, default helm
• fluxHelmValues.cacheTtlHours: successful chart cache TTL, default 24
• fluxHelmValues.linting.enabled: master linting switch, default true
• fluxHelmValues.linting.schema.enabled: warn only where a schema forbids unknown keys, default true
• fluxHelmValues.linting.values.enabled: opt into advisory values.yaml-backed warnings, default false
• fluxHelmValues.repositorySearchPaths: extra files, folders, or glob patterns to scan for HelmRepository and OCIRepository manifests after same-file, sibling, and workspace lookup fails

Example:

{
  "fluxHelmValues.linting.enabled": true,
  "fluxHelmValues.linting.schema.enabled": true,
  "fluxHelmValues.linting.values.enabled": false,
  "fluxHelmValues.repositorySearchPaths": [
    "/Users/me/projects/**/*.yaml",
    "C:\\Users\\me\\projects\\**\\*.yaml",
    "../shared-flux-sources"
  ]
}

Linting

Schema-backed unknown-key warnings are enabled by default when a chart explicitly forbids additional properties. The extension does not warn from values.yaml defaults by default: charts often use those defaults as incomplete examples or pass dynamic configuration through to subcharts and applications.

Set fluxHelmValues.linting.values.enabled to true to opt into these advisory fallback warnings. When enabled, fallback checks include defaults from bundled subcharts such as Grafana and kube-state-metrics.

Private OCI Registries

Flux Helm IntelliSense uses your configured helm executable and does not store registry credentials. For private OCI registries, authenticate Helm first:

helm registry login <registry-host>

For Azure Container Registry, you can also use:

az acr login --name <registry-name>

If helm pull fails, the extension output includes the Helm exit code, signal when available, stderr, stdout, and an OCI registry login hint for authorization failures.

Use Flux Helm IntelliSense: Copy Helm Pull Command or the Copy helm pull CodeLens above a values: block to copy the exact helm pull command the extension uses. Running that command in a terminal is the fastest way to debug registry authentication and verify that helm registry login or az acr login fixed access.

Development

Install dependencies:

npm install

Compile:

npm run compile

Run tests:

npm test

Launch the extension in an Extension Development Host:

1. open this repository in VS Code
2. run the Run Extension debug configuration with F5
3. open a Flux repository in the Extension Development Host

Manual Testing

This repository includes MANUAL_SMOKE_TEST.md with a step-by-step smoke-test flow against a Flux repo.

Publishing

This repository includes PUBLISHING.md with Marketplace publishing steps and a pre-publish checklist.