helmx

A k9s-style terminal UI for Helm. Manage releases, explore and install charts, handle rollbacks, and inspect deployments — all from the keyboard without memorizing flags.

Alpha — This project is in active development. Features may change, break, or be removed. Bug reports are welcome via GitHub Issues.

Built with Go 1.24, Bubble Tea, Lipgloss, and the Helm SDK v3 — entirely through AI pair programming with Claude Code.

Why

Helm's CLI is powerful but verbose. Commands like helm upgrade --install my-release bitnami/postgresql --namespace prod --create-namespace --set auth.password=secret are hard to get right without copy-pasting from docs. Common tasks — checking what's deployed, diffing values before an upgrade, rolling back a bad revision — require multiple commands with flags that are easy to forget.

helmx wraps the Helm SDK directly (no shelling out) in a keyboard-driven TUI so those workflows become a few keystrokes.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ⎈ helmx  [1]RELEASES  [2]EXPLORE  [3]REPOS  [4]SETTINGS  [5]RBAC       │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  ⎈ Releases (default)                                                   │
│                                                                         │
│  ▸ nginx          default    nginx-15.0.2      ● deployed               │
│    postgresql     prod       postgresql-12.1   ● deployed               │
│    redis          cache      redis-17.3.1      ● deployed               │
│    my-app         staging    my-app-0.1.0      ✗ failed                 │
│                                                                         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ ⏎ details │ ␣ select │ U bulk upgrade │ d delete │ n namespace │ r refresh │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Features

Releases View

The home screen. Shows all releases across namespaces with live status.

Filter by namespace with n — cycles All → namespace1 → namespace2 → All
Filter by name with / (fuzzy search)
Multi-select releases with Space, then U to bulk upgrade all selected to latest
c clears the selection
Delete a release with d (confirmation required)
r refreshes the list

Release Details

4-pane view: Info | History | Values | Resources. Tab cycles between panes.

Info pane: chart version, namespace, last deployed, status
History pane: full revision history; navigate with j/k, press r to rollback to the selected revision, press c to compare a selected revision's values against the current one
Values pane: current user-supplied values in YAML tree format
Resources pane: all K8s objects created by the release, plus live pod status (Running/Pending/CrashLoopBackOff/ImagePullBackOff with restart counts); press p to refresh

From any pane:

u — upgrade: opens $EDITOR (falls back to vim), shows a diff preview of both values and rendered manifests before confirming
d — open standalone diff preview without upgrading
l — pod log viewer: select a pod, view streaming logs
x — exec into a pod: select pod, select shell (/bin/bash, /bin/sh, etc.)
f — port-forward manager: select pod/port, manages active forwards
R — view the chart's README

Explore View

Chart discovery and installation. Searches local repos and Artifact Hub simultaneously.

Search: type a chart name (or repo/chart, oci://registry/chart, or a local ./path) and press Enter. Results from local repos and Artifact Hub appear in the list pane.

Once a chart is loaded:

v — version selector: pick any published version
r — README viewer with search (/), next/prev match (n/N), scroll (j/k), jump to top/bottom (g/G)
s — Trivy security scan (requires Trivy installed)
D — dependency tree
S — values schema browser
t — template to file: render the chart to a YAML manifest for GitOps (ArgoCD, Flux)
i — install dialog
a — add to multi-chart install queue; M opens the queue dialog

Install dialog:

Fill release name, namespace, create-namespace toggle
e — edit values in $EDITOR (kubectl-edit style)
f — import values from an existing file
d — dry-run preview: shows the full rendered manifest before installing
T — save current values as a reusable install template
j/k — select from saved install templates
Enter on the Install button to deploy

Multi-chart install (stacks):

Add multiple charts to a queue with a
Reorder with J/K, remove with d, edit per-chart values with e
Toggle "wait for ready" per chart with w
Install all in order with Enter

Repos View

List all configured Helm repositories
a — add a new repository (name + URL, with optional auth)
d — delete repository
u — update selected repo's index
U — update all repos

Supports standard HTTP repos and OCI registries (oci://). Authentication uses ~/.docker/config.json or helm registry login.

Settings

t — cycle through 6 built-in themes: default, dracula, nord, catppuccin, gruvbox, tokyo-night
c — context switcher: list all kubeconfig contexts, switch without leaving the TUI; triggers automatic release list refresh
s — toggle security scanning (Trivy integration)
a / d — add or remove additional Artifact Hub registry endpoints
T — manage saved install templates
e — edit raw config file
r — reset settings to defaults

Config is saved to ~/.config/helmx/config.yaml.

RBAC Management

Simplified Kubernetes access control with a user-centric model. helmx manages its own resources prefixed with helmx- so it never touches roles/bindings created by other tools.

a — add a new service account or user
e / Enter — edit selected user's access
+ — grant namespace access to a user (read-only, developer, or namespace-admin presets)
d — delete user and all associated bindings
K — export a kubeconfig for the selected service account
r — refresh user list

Permission presets:

Preset	Access
`read-only`	get, list, watch on pods/services/deployments/configmaps
`developer`	create/update/delete deployments and services, exec into pods, view logs
`namespace-admin`	full control within namespace

Installation

From Source

git clone https://github.com/yasharora2020/helmx.git
cd helmx
make build        # builds to bin/helmx
./bin/helmx

Go Install

go install github.com/yasharora2020/helmx/cmd/helmx@latest

Pre-built Binaries

Download from GitHub Releases:

# Linux AMD64
curl -LO https://github.com/yasharora2020/helmx/releases/latest/download/helmx_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz
tar xzf helmx_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz
sudo mv helmx /usr/local/bin/

# macOS ARM64 (Apple Silicon)
curl -LO https://github.com/yasharora2020/helmx/releases/latest/download/helmx_Darwin_arm64.tar.gz
tar xzf helmx_Darwin_arm64.tar.gz
sudo mv helmx /usr/local/bin/

# macOS AMD64 (Intel)
curl -LO https://github.com/yasharora2020/helmx/releases/latest/download/helmx_Darwin_x86_64.tar.gz
tar xzf helmx_Darwin_x86_64.tar.gz
sudo mv helmx /usr/local/bin/

Requirements

Required:

Go 1.24+ (build from source only)
A valid kubeconfig with cluster access
Helm 3 repos configured (or add them via the TUI)

Optional:

Trivy — security scanning in Explore view
metrics-server — CPU/memory display in pod status

Usage

helmx
# Uses current kubeconfig context — same as: kubectl config current-context

Press ? at any time to open the full keyboard shortcut overlay. Press 0 or w to open the welcome/about page.

Configuration

Config file: ~/.config/helmx/config.yaml

theme: dracula                          # default, dracula, nord, catppuccin, gruvbox, tokyo-night
defaultNamespace: ""                    # pre-filter namespace on startup (empty = all)
editor: ""                              # preferred editor ($EDITOR env var is the fallback, then vim)
showWelcomeOnStart: false               # show the welcome page on startup
chartRegistries:                        # additional Artifact Hub endpoints
  - https://artifacthub.io
securityScanEnabled: true               # enable Trivy integration

Key Bindings

Press ? for the full in-app overlay. Quick reference:

Global

Key	Action
`0` / `w`	Welcome / About page
`1`	Releases view
`2`	Explore view
`3`	Repos view
`4`	Settings view
`5`	RBAC view
`?`	Toggle help overlay
`q`	Quit / Back
`Esc`	Back / Cancel

Releases View

Key	Action
`Enter`	Open release details
`Space`	Toggle select (multi-select)
`U`	Bulk upgrade selected releases
`c`	Clear all selections
`d`	Delete release
`n`	Cycle namespaces
`r`	Refresh list
`/`	Filter releases
`j/k`	Navigate

Release Details

Key	Action
`Tab`	Cycle: Info → History → Values → Resources
`u`	Upgrade (opens editor, then diff preview)
`d`	Diff preview (values + manifest)
`r`	Rollback selected revision
`c`	Compare selected revision with current
`R`	View chart README
`l`	View pod logs
`x`	Exec into pod (shell)
`f`	Port-forward manager
`p`	Refresh pod status

Explore View

Key	Action
`Enter`	Search / Load chart
`Tab`	Switch panes
`i`	Install chart
`a`	Add to multi-chart queue
`M`	Open multi-chart install dialog
`v`	Select chart version
`s`	Security scan (Trivy)
`S`	Browse values schema
`D`	View dependency tree
`r`	View README
`t`	Template to file (GitOps)
`/` / `Esc`	Return to search input

Install Dialog

Key	Action
`Tab`	Next field
`e`	Edit values in `$EDITOR`
`f`	Import values from file
`d`	Dry-run preview
`T`	Save values as install template
`j/k`	Select saved template
`Enter`	Confirm / Install

Multi-Chart Install

Key	Action
`j/k`	Navigate queue
`J/K`	Reorder charts
`d`	Remove from queue
`e`	Edit chart values
`w`	Toggle wait-for-ready
`c`	Clear queue

Repos View

Key	Action
`a`	Add repository
`d`	Delete repository
`u`	Update selected repo
`U`	Update all repos

Settings

Key	Action
`t`	Change theme
`c`	Switch kubectl context
`s`	Toggle security scanning
`a` / `d`	Add / delete registry
`T`	Manage install templates
`e`	Edit settings
`r`	Reset to defaults

RBAC View

Key	Action
`a`	Add user
`e` / Enter	Edit selected user
`+`	Add namespace access
`d`	Delete user
`K`	Export kubeconfig (ServiceAccount only)
`r`	Refresh

Development

git clone https://github.com/yasharora2020/helmx.git
cd helmx
make build        # Build to bin/helmx
make test         # Run tests with race detection
make lint         # Run golangci-lint
make check        # fmt + vet + lint + test

Test files cover: Helm client operations, chart loading, Artifact Hub API, context management, RBAC permission logic, diff algorithm, explore view dialogs, and RBAC view rendering.

Built With

Go 1.24 — single static binary, no runtime dependencies
Bubble Tea — TUI framework (Elm architecture)
Helm SDK v3 — direct API calls, no subprocess shelling
Lip Gloss — terminal styling
ORAS — OCI registry support
Claude Code — AI pair programming throughout development

License

Apache-2.0

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 1 Commit
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
charts/helmx-demo		charts/helmx-demo
cmd/helmx		cmd/helmx
docs		docs
internal		internal
scripts		scripts
.gitignore		.gitignore
.golangci.yml		.golangci.yml
.goreleaser.yaml		.goreleaser.yaml
.pre-commit-config.yaml		.pre-commit-config.yaml
CLAUDE.md		CLAUDE.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
Makefile		Makefile
README.md		README.md
go.mod		go.mod
go.sum		go.sum

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helmx

Why

Features

Releases View

Release Details

Explore View

Repos View

Settings

RBAC Management

Installation

From Source

Go Install

Pre-built Binaries

Requirements

Usage

Configuration

Key Bindings

Global

Releases View

Release Details

Explore View

Install Dialog

Multi-Chart Install

Repos View

Settings

RBAC View

Development

Built With

License

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