Nifty Helm & Kustomize

Helm .Values IntelliSense (completion, hover, go to definition, missing values) and Kustomize navigation, checks with quick fixes, an overlay tree, patch target hovers, build previews and diffs.

Maintained. No sign-in. No telemetry. Works in VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium and other editors that use Open VSX.

Features

.Values completion in a chart template, from the keys in values.yaml

A mistyped .Values.service.prot flagged before helm install

The helm template output beside the template

Helm

.Values completion. Type .Values. in any chart template and pick from the keys in the chart's values.yaml, level by level (.Values.image. → repository, tag, pullPolicy).
See the value. Hover a .Values path to see its default, or the keys under it.
Go to Definition jumps to the line in values.yaml, and from include "app.fullname" to its define in _helpers.tpl.
Typos caught before helm install. .Values.service.prot is flagged when values.yaml only has service.port. Uses guarded with default, if, with, hasKey or required are left alone.
Preview the rendered template (or the whole chart) with helm template, beside the source.

Kustomize

Hovering a patch target shows the resource it patches, from the bases

Deprecated bases, commonLabels and patchesStrategicMerge flagged, with a quick fix that moves bases to resources

The Kustomize Overlays view: each overlay with the bases and components it builds on

Diff Overlay against Base: the staging build next to the base build

Go to Definition and clickable paths in kustomization.yaml: resources, bases, components, patches (and patchesStrategicMerge, patchesJson6902), configMapGenerator/secretGenerator files and envs, helmCharts values files, replacements, crds and more. Folders open their kustomization.yaml.
Problems before kubectl apply -k tells you: missing files, folders without a kustomization.yaml, and resources listed twice (with a quick fix to remove the copy).
Deprecated fields (bases, patchesStrategicMerge, patchesJson6902, commonLabels, vars) are marked, with quick fixes that move bases into resources, patches into patches, and commonLabels into labels (keeping includeSelectors: true, so the build doesn't change).
See what a patch patches. Hover a patch (its target, or a patch file) to see the matching resources from the kustomization and its bases, with namespaces and name prefixes applied; Go to Definition on it opens the resource.
Kustomize Overlays view in the Explorer: every overlay with the bases and components it builds on.
Preview the build with kubectl kustomize or kustomize build; build errors show in Problems, on the line they're about.
Diff Overlay against Base builds both and opens them side by side.
Works in the browser on vscode.dev and github.dev: navigation, problems, hovers and the overlay view. The helm template and kustomize build previews need the desktop app.

Works in any chart folder (one with a Chart.yaml) whether your templates are opened as YAML or as Helm.

Commands

Command	What it does
`Nifty Helm & Kustomize: Preview Rendered Template (helm template)`	Render the current template or chart
`Nifty Helm & Kustomize: Preview Kustomize Build`	Build the current kustomization
`Nifty Helm & Kustomize: Diff Overlay against Base`	Build an overlay and the base it builds on, and show them side by side
`Nifty Helm & Kustomize: Refresh Kustomize Overlays`	Reload the Kustomize Overlays view

Settings

Setting	Default	What it does
`nifty.helm.warnMissingValues`	`true`	Flag `.Values` paths missing from values.yaml
`nifty.helm.helmPath`	`helm`	helm executable for previews
`nifty.helm.kustomizeCommand`	`kubectl`	`kubectl kustomize` or `kustomize build`
`nifty.helm.kubectlPath`	`kubectl`	kubectl executable for Kustomize builds
`nifty.helm.kustomizePath`	`kustomize`	kustomize executable, when builds use the standalone kustomize

Install

VS Code: search for "Nifty Helm & Kustomize" in the Extensions view, or install from the Visual Studio Marketplace.
Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium, Kiro, Antigravity: install from Open VSX.

Privacy

This extension collects no telemetry and needs no account.

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Nifty Helm & Kustomize: Values IntelliSense

Nifty