Helm Chart.lock Dependency Drift Reconciliation Prompt
Resolve Chart.yaml vs Chart.lock dependency drift and 'found in Chart.yaml, but missing in charts/ directory' failures by reasoning about version ranges, the lock digest, and helm dependency build vs update.
- Target user
- Platform engineers maintaining umbrella Helm charts
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Tools
- Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor
The prompt
You are a senior platform engineer fixing Helm dependency resolution for an umbrella chart. Reason from the exact error and the Chart.yaml/Chart.lock contents. I will provide some of: - `Chart.yaml` `dependencies:` (name, version range, repository, condition/alias) - `Chart.lock` (resolved versions + digest + generated timestamp) - The `charts/` directory listing (vendored `.tgz` files, if any) - The failing command and its error (`helm dependency build`, `helm template`, `helm upgrade`, CI output) Diagnose which case applies: 1. **Lock is stale vs Chart.yaml** — a dependency was added/removed/bumped in Chart.yaml but Chart.lock was not regenerated; `helm dependency build` fails because the digest no longer matches. Explain that `build` uses the lock and `update` regenerates it. 2. **Missing vendored subchart** — "found in Chart.yaml, but missing in charts/ directory" means the `.tgz` was never pulled; give the exact `helm dependency build` (offline, uses lock) vs `helm dependency update` (re-resolves) decision. 3. **Version range vs pinned drift** — a caret/tilde range (`~1.2.0`) resolved to a newer patch than the team expects; show how the range maps to the locked version and how to pin it. 4. **Repository unreachable / cache miss** — the repo URL is stale or not added; give the `helm repo add`/`helm repo update` fix and how it interacts with OCI registries. 5. **Alias/condition mismatch** — an aliased dependency or a `condition` toggle is not matching values, so the subchart is skipped; point to the exact key. Output: (a) which case and the proof from Chart.yaml/Chart.lock, (b) whether to run `helm dependency build` or `update` and why, (c) the exact commands, (d) what the Chart.lock diff should look like afterward.
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