Helm Docs

Reusable workflow that generates Markdown documentation for Helm charts using helm-docs. It reads Chart.yaml and values files and can update each chart’s README (or another file) with metadata and a values table.

Caller permissions

If you use git_push: true (the default), the calling workflow must set:

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write

You must pass the GitHub App secrets (same as Helm Releaser and other workflows that push); they are used for checkout and push when git_push is true.

Secrets

Secret	Description	Required
GITHUB_APP_ID	GitHub App ID.	Yes
GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY	GitHub App private key.	Yes

The workflow uses the app token for checkout and push so commits are attributed to the app bot.

Inputs

Input	Description	Required	Default
chart_search_root	Root directory to search recursively for charts.	No	.
values_file	Values file name for each chart (e.g. values.yaml).	No	values.yaml
output_file	Generated markdown filename (e.g. README.md).	No	README.md
git_push	Whether to commit and push generated docs to the current branch.	No	true
git_commit_message	Commit message for docs updates.	No	docs: update helm-docs

Usage

Typical use: run on pull requests so docs are updated and pushed back to the PR branch.

name: Helm Docs

on:
  pull_request:
    paths:
      - 'charts/**/Chart.yaml'
      - 'charts/**/values.yaml'

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  helm-docs:
    uses: AutomationDojo/reusable-cicd/.github/workflows/helm-docs.yml@main
    secrets:
      GITHUB_APP_ID: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_APP_ID }}
      GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY }}

Check-only (no push)

To only verify that docs are up to date (e.g. in CI), set git_push: false and add a step that fails on diff:

jobs:
  helm-docs-check:
    uses: AutomationDojo/reusable-cicd/.github/workflows/helm-docs.yml@main
    with:
      chart_search_root: "charts"
      git_push: false
    # Then add a step that runs 'git diff --exit-code' or similar

For a check-only flow you can avoid contents: write by running helm-docs in a separate job and comparing output; the reusable workflow does not provide a built-in “check only” mode.

Custom paths

jobs:
  helm-docs:
    uses: AutomationDojo/reusable-cicd/.github/workflows/helm-docs.yml@main
    with:
      chart_search_root: "charts"
      values_file: "values.yaml"
      output_file: "README.md"
      git_commit_message: "docs: sync helm-docs"
    secrets:
      GITHUB_APP_ID: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_APP_ID }}
      GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY }}

How it works

• helm-docs discovers charts under chart_search_root, reads Chart.yaml and the chosen values file, and writes documentation (by default to README.md) using its default template or a custom README.md.gotmpl.
• If git_push is true, the workflow uses the GitHub App token for checkout and push, then commits and pushes to the current branch (the PR branch when triggered by pull_request). Commits are attributed to the app bot.