Quickstart: render a chart

This quickstart renders a local Helm chart from a .NET console application. It does not require a cluster or the Helm CLI.

Create the project

dotnet new console --name RenderChart
cd RenderChart
dotnet add package HelmSharp.Chart --version 1.3.2
dotnet add package HelmSharp.Engine --version 1.3.2

Render a chart directory

Replace Program.cs with the following code. Run it with the path to a directory containing Chart.yaml.

using HelmSharp.Chart;
using HelmSharp.Engine;

var chartPath = args.Length == 1
    ? args[0]
    : throw new ArgumentException("Pass the path to a Helm chart.");

var chart = await HelmChartLoader.LoadAsync(chartPath, CancellationToken.None);
var values = await HelmValues.BuildAsync(
    chart,
    valuesFiles: null,
    valuesContent: null,
    setValues: null,
    setFileValues: null,
    setStringValues: null,
    setJsonValues: null,
    cancellationToken: CancellationToken.None);

var renderer = new HelmTemplateRenderer(chart, "demo", "default", values);

Console.WriteLine(renderer.Render());

dotnet run -- ../charts/my-chart

The manifest is written to standard output. Redirect it to a file, return it from an HTTP endpoint, send it to a policy engine, or commit it to a GitOps repository. renderer.RenderNotes() is available when the chart has NOTES.txt and your application needs to show it separately.

Where to go from here

You want to…	Read
Supply values.yaml, --set, JSON, or string-preserving overrides	Values and overrides
Render conditional templates for a known Kubernetes version	Render for a target cluster
Build a real preview endpoint	Render-preview endpoint
Apply a chart and save release history	Install and upgrade releases
Choose another package	Choose a package

Before relying on a chart feature in production, see the compatibility contract and template-function matrix for supported behavior and known limits.