Helm Repo Init

A composite GitHub Action that bootstraps a new Helm chart repository created from the helmchart-repo-template.

It runs helm create, substitutes CHART_NAME/GITHUB_OWNER placeholders across all config files, generates artifacthub-pkg.yml and README.md.gotmpl, removes the init workflow, and commits everything in a single [skip ci] commit.

Prerequisites

• The repository must have been created from the helmchart-repo-template.
• helm must be available in the runner (use azure/setup-helm@v4 before calling this action).
• A token with contents: write permission to push the commit.

Usage

- name: Set up Helm
  uses: azure/setup-helm@v4

- name: Initialise chart
  uses: AutomationDojo/reusable-cicd/helm/repo-init@main
  with:
    commit-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

The full init workflow from the template:

name: Init Repository

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

permissions:
  contents: write

jobs:
  init:
    name: Initialise Helm chart from template
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Check if already initialised
        id: check
        run: |
          if [ -d "charts/${{ github.event.repository.name }}" ]; then
            echo "skip=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
          else
            echo "skip=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
          fi

      - name: Checkout
        if: steps.check.outputs.skip == 'false'
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Set up Helm
        if: steps.check.outputs.skip == 'false'
        uses: azure/setup-helm@v4

      - name: Initialise chart
        if: steps.check.outputs.skip == 'false'
        uses: AutomationDojo/reusable-cicd/helm/repo-init@main
        with:
          commit-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Inputs

Input	Description	Required	Default
chart-name	Name of the Helm chart	No	Repository name
github-owner	GitHub owner / organisation	No	Repository owner
chart-description	Short description of the chart	No	Helm chart for <chart-name>.
commit-token	Token used to push the initialisation commit	Yes	—

What it does

1. Runs helm create charts/<chart-name> to scaffold a fresh chart with the latest Helm defaults.
2. Removes charts/.gitkeep (placeholder used to keep the directory tracked in git).
3. Substitutes CHART_NAME and GITHUB_OWNER placeholders in:
   • .releaserc.yaml
   • .github/configs/cr.yaml
   • .github/workflows/release.yml
   • mkdocs.yml
   • docs/index.md, docs/usage.md, docs/development.md
4. Creates charts/<chart-name>/artifacthub-pkg.yml with base Artifact Hub metadata.
5. Creates charts/<chart-name>/README.md.gotmpl for helm-docs.
6. Deletes .github/workflows/init-repo.yml (self-cleanup).
7. Commits and pushes all changes with [skip ci].

Notes

• The action is idempotent in the sense that the calling workflow checks for the existence of charts/<chart-name>/ before invoking it — so it only runs once.
• The dist/ bundle is pre-built and committed to the repository. No npm install is needed at runtime.