Mintplex Labs Helm Charts

This is the central repository for Mintplex Labs Helm Charts, providing production-ready Kubernetes deployments for various applications.

📋 Table of Contents

• Usage
• Available Charts
• Repository Architecture
• Development Workflow
• GitHub Pages Integration
• Contributing
• Troubleshooting

🚀 Usage

Prerequisites

Helm must be installed to use the charts. Please refer to Helm's documentation to get started.

Adding the Repository

Once Helm is set up properly, add the repo as follows:

helm repo add mintplex-labs https://mintplex-labs.github.io/helm-charts

If you had already added this repo earlier, run helm repo update to retrieve the latest versions of the packages:

helm repo update

Searching and Installing Charts

You can then run helm search repo mintplex-labs to see the charts:

helm search repo mintplex-labs

Install a chart with:

helm install my-release mintplex-labs/<chart-name>

Alternative Installation Methods

OCI Registry (GitHub Container Registry)

Charts are also available via OCI registry:

# Install directly from OCI registry
helm install my-release oci://ghcr.io/mintplex-labs/helm-charts/<chart-name> --version <version>

Direct from GitHub Releases

Download chart packages directly from GitHub Releases:

# Download and install from release assets
wget https://github.com/mintplex-labs/helm-charts/releases/download/<chart-name>-<version>/<chart-name>-<version>.tgz
helm install my-release ./<chart-name>-<version>.tgz

🏗️ Repository Architecture

This repository follows a structured approach to manage and distribute Helm charts:

Directory Structure

├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       └── helm.yml              # CI/CD pipeline for chart releases
├── charts/
│   └── <chart-name>/
│       ├── Chart.yaml            # Chart metadata
│       ├── values.yaml           # Default configuration values
│       ├── README.md             # Chart-specific documentation
│       └── templates/            # Kubernetes manifest templates
├── index.html                    # GitHub Pages landing page
└── README.md                     # This file

Branching Strategy

• main: Primary development branch containing chart sources
• gh-pages: Auto-generated branch serving the Helm repository via GitHub Pages

🔄 Development Workflow

How the Repository Works

This repository uses a sophisticated CI/CD pipeline that automatically:

1. Builds and validates charts when changes are pushed to main
2. Publishes charts to multiple distribution channels
3. Updates the repository index for seamless chart discovery

Automated Release Process

When you push changes to the charts/ directory on the main branch, the following happens automatically:

1. Chart Validation

# The CI pipeline performs:
- helm dependency build # Downloads chart dependencies
- helm lint # Validates chart syntax and best practices
- helm package # Creates distributable .tgz files

2. Multi-Channel Publishing

a) OCI Registry (GitHub Container Registry)

• Charts are pushed to ghcr.io/mintplex-labs/helm-charts/<chart-name>
• Enables modern helm install oci:// installation method
• Provides container-native distribution

b) GitHub Releases

• Creates individual releases tagged as <chart-name>-<version>
• Attaches chart .tgz files as release assets
• Generates rich release notes with installation instructions

c) Traditional Helm Repository (GitHub Pages)

• Updates the gh-pages branch with chart packages
• Generates/updates index.yaml for Helm repository discovery
• Serves charts via https://mintplex-labs.github.io/helm-charts

3. Repository Index Updates

The pipeline automatically:

• Downloads all chart packages from GitHub Releases
• Generates a new index.yaml with all available charts and versions
• Updates the GitHub Pages site with the latest repository index
• Copies the main index.html landing page to the gh-pages branch

🌐 GitHub Pages Integration

How GitHub Pages Serves the Helm Repository

The repository leverages GitHub Pages to provide a traditional Helm repository endpoint:

Repository Structure (gh-pages branch)

gh-pages/
├── README.md               # README (copied from main branch)
├── index.html              # Landing page (copied from main branch)
├── index.yaml              # Helm repository index (auto-generated)

Access Points

1. Helm Repository: https://mintplex-labs.github.io/helm-charts

   • Accessed via helm repo add commands
   • Serves index.yaml for chart discovery

2. Landing Page: https://mintplex-labs.github.io/helm-charts

   • User-friendly web interface
   • Installation instructions and chart documentation

3. Direct Package Access: https://mintplex-labs.github.io/helm-charts/packages/<chart-name>-<version>.tgz

   • Direct download links for chart packages

Repository Index (index.yaml)

The index.yaml file is the heart of a Helm repository, containing:

• Chart metadata (name, version, description)
• Download URLs for chart packages
• Checksums for package integrity
• Dependencies and requirements

Example structure:

apiVersion: v1
entries:
  chart-name:
    - name: chart-name
      version: 1.0.0
      appVersion: "1.0"
      description: Chart description
      urls:
        - https://mintplex-labs.github.io/helm-charts/packages/chart-name-1.0.0.tgz
      digest: sha256:...
      created: "2025-10-12T10:00:00Z"

🛠️ Contributing

For Chart Developers

Adding a New Chart

1. Create Chart Structure:

   mkdir -p charts/my-new-chart
   cd charts/my-new-chart
   helm create .  # Or create manually

2. Update Chart.yaml:

   apiVersion: v2
   name: my-new-chart
   description: A Helm chart for my application
   version: 0.1.0
   appVersion: "1.0"

3. Configure values.yaml:

   • Set sensible defaults
   • Document all configuration options
   • Follow consistent naming conventions

4. Create README.md:

   • Installation instructions
   • Configuration options table
   • Usage examples

Updating Existing Charts

1. Bump Version: Update version in Chart.yaml
2. Update App Version: Update appVersion if the underlying application version changed
3. Document Changes: Update the chart's README.md with changes
4. Test Locally:

   helm lint charts/my-chart
   helm template test charts/my-chart

Version Conventions

Follow Semantic Versioning:

• MAJOR: Incompatible API changes
• MINOR: Backwards-compatible functionality additions
• PATCH: Backwards-compatible bug fixes

Workflow Integration Points

CI/CD Pipeline (.github/workflows/helm.yml)

The workflow is triggered by:

• Path Filter: Only runs when files in charts/** are modified
• Branch Filter: Only runs on pushes to main branch

Key workflow steps:

1. Setup: Configures Helm, Git, and required tools
2. Validation: Lints and validates all charts
3. Packaging: Creates distributable chart packages
4. Publishing: Pushes to OCI registry and creates GitHub releases
5. Repository Update: Updates GitHub Pages with new chart index

Environment Variables

The workflow uses these environment variables:

• REGISTRY: OCI registry URL (ghcr.io/mintplex-labs/helm-charts)
• GITHUB_TOKEN: Automatically provided for authentication
• GITHUB_ACTOR: GitHub username for Git configuration

Permissions Required

The workflow requires these permissions:

permissions:
  contents: write # For creating releases and updating gh-pages
  packages: write # For pushing to GitHub Container Registry
  pull-requests: write # For PR automation (future use)

🔍 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Chart Not Appearing in Repository

1. Check Workflow Status: Verify the GitHub Actions workflow completed successfully
2. Verify Chart Structure: Ensure Chart.yaml is valid and properly formatted
3. Check Version: Ensure you bumped the chart version in Chart.yaml
4. Repository Cache: Run helm repo update to refresh your local cache

OCI Registry Issues

1. Authentication: Verify GitHub Container Registry permissions
2. Package Visibility: Check if packages are public in GitHub settings
3. Version Conflicts: Ensure you're not trying to overwrite an existing version

GitHub Pages Not Updating

1. Workflow Permissions: Verify the workflow has contents: write permission
2. Branch Protection: Check if gh-pages branch has protection rules
3. Pages Settings: Ensure GitHub Pages is enabled and pointing to gh-pages branch

Development Tips

Local Testing

# Lint charts
helm lint charts/*

# Test template rendering
helm template test-release charts/my-chart

# Test installation (with dry-run)
helm install test-release charts/my-chart --dry-run --debug

# Package locally
helm package charts/my-chart

Debugging Workflow

1. Check Workflow Logs: Navigate to Actions tab in GitHub
2. Validate YAML: Use yamllint to check chart YAML files
3. Test Locally: Reproduce the workflow steps locally before pushing

Getting Help

• Issues: Create an issue in this repository for bugs or feature requests
• Discussions: Use GitHub Discussions for questions and community support
• Documentation: Refer to Helm's official documentation

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📚 Additional Resources

• Helm Documentation
• Helm Best Practices
• GitHub Pages Documentation
• GitHub Container Registry

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Maintainer: Mintplex Labs Team Repository: https://github.com/mintplex-labs/helm-charts Website: https://mintplexlabs.com

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Credit: Sam Culley for the original repository structure and foundation.