Kubernetes Helm Values Diff

Compare two values.yaml files by leaf path rather than line by line, so a key moved in the file is not reported as a change. A key present in only one side falls back to the chart's own default there, which is a third value neither file states.

The one you are comparing against, usually the base or the production values.

Paste below, or drop a file anywhere on this panel

Or drop a file anywhere on this panel. Nothing is uploaded: the analysis runs in this tab.

The answer appears here

Paste on the left and press Compare. Nothing leaves this tab.

Examples

Real input you can load into the tool above. Each one shows a different thing going wrong, because that is what the tool is for.

What an upgrade changes

The values that differ between two files, including ones removed entirely

replicas: 3
image:
  tag: "2.0"

A nested override

A deep key changed, shown by path rather than as a line diff

replicas: 1
image:
  tag: "1.0"
resources:
  limits:
    memory: 512Mi

Common mistakes

These are the ones that fail silently. The config is accepted, nothing raises an error, and the consequence arrives later.

  1. Reading a values diff as a manifest diff

    Values feed templates. A changed value may produce no manifest change, or change ten resources.

    Instead:Diff the rendered output when it matters.

  2. Assuming an absent key means default

    A key removed from values falls back to the chart default, which may differ from the previous explicit value.

    Instead:Compare against the chart's values.yaml, not only against the previous file.

  3. Editing values without checking types

    A tag written as 1.0 unquoted becomes a number and renders as 1.

    Instead:Quote version-like values.

A missing key is not the same as an equal key

When a path is absent from one side, that side takes the chart's own default. That default is a third value neither file mentions, and it is where an override silently stops applying.

Lists replace, they never merge

Helm merges values by key, and a list is a value. An override that supplies a two-item list where the base had five does not append or patch: it replaces, and the other three are gone. There is no way to append to a list through values, which is why charts that need it take a map keyed by name instead.

A type change is the one to look at first

A path that is a string in one file and a list in the other, or a map in one and a scalar in the other, nearly always means one of the two was written against a different chart version. This page reports those separately from ordinary value changes for that reason.

What this cannot see

The chart's own values.yaml, which supplies every default and is the third input to any real comparison. Whether a value is used at all, since only the templates know. Run `helm template` with each file to see what actually differs in the output, which is the question underneath this one.

More kubernetes tools

Kubernetes YAML Generator Answer a few questions, get a manifest Kubernetes YAML Validator Is this YAML valid, and where is it wrong? Kubernetes Rollout & Probe Timing Restart loops, capacity dips and stuck drains Kubernetes Service Checker Will this Service have any endpoints? Kubernetes Network Policy Viewer What can reach what, and what just broke Kubernetes Manifest Diff What actually changed Kubernetes Resource Calculator What these manifests actually reserve Kubernetes RBAC Viewer Who can actually do what Kubernetes Deployment Generator See the capacity dip before you deploy Kubernetes Service Generator port, targetPort, and which one you meant Kubernetes StatefulSet Generator Stable names, and volumes that outlive you Kubernetes QoS Class Calculator And where you sit in the eviction order Kubernetes Node Capacity Planner Allocatable is not capacity Kubernetes Max Pods per Node Calculator The ENI limit, not the 110 default Kubernetes Label Selector Tester Which key failed, not just that one did Kubernetes Taint & Toleration Tester Tolerations permit, they do not attract Kubernetes Resource Name Validator RFC 1123 subdomain, label, or 1035 Kubernetes Label & Annotation Validator Why your image tag is not a legal label Kubernetes CrashLoopBackOff Guide The status is a timer, not a cause Kubernetes TLS Certificate Decoder When it expires, and what it covers Kubernetes ServiceAccount Token Decoder Bound or legacy, and when it dies Kubernetes imagePullSecret Generator The registry URL nobody gets right Kubernetes cert-manager Certificates Issuer scope, and the rate limit that costs a week Kubernetes Flux HelmRelease Generator With the source it cannot work without Kubernetes Helm Chart Generator Chart.yaml, values, and working templates Kubernetes Argo CD Application Generator The defaults that are off, turned on Kubernetes Ingress Generator pathType, and the TLS secret that fails quietly Kubernetes HPA Generator Why it says unknown and never scales Kubernetes SecurityContext Generator Pod level, container level, and which wins Kubernetes Probe Generator How long it gets to start before liveness kills it Kubernetes PVC Generator Access modes your storage can actually do Kubernetes ResourceQuota Generator And the LimitRange that stops it breaking deploys Kubernetes CronJob Generator The fields that decide whether it runs Kubernetes NetworkPolicy Generator With the DNS rule already in it Kubernetes RBAC Generator And what it actually grants Kubernetes PodDisruptionBudget Generator Can this budget ever be satisfied? Kubernetes API Deprecation Checker What breaks on the next upgrade Kubernetes Kubeconfig Viewer Read it without handing it to anyone Kubernetes Quantity Parser What 512Mi, 100m and 1e3 actually mean Kubernetes Multi-Document YAML Splitter One file per object, in apply order Kubernetes .env to ConfigMap & Secret Split the credentials out on the way Kubernetes Secret Decoder See what is actually in there Kubernetes Ingress to Gateway API Which annotations silently stop working Kubernetes Manifest Visualizer What points at what, and what points at nothing Kubernetes Patch Tester Which --type, and what it deletes Kubernetes kubectl JSONPath Tester kubectl's dialect, not generic JSONPath Kubernetes Node Affinity Tester Required excludes, preferred only scores Kubernetes Pod and Service CIDR Fixed at cluster creation Kubernetes Secret Encoder base64 is not encryption Kubernetes API Version Checker Will this apply on that cluster Kubernetes Go Template Tester Go truthiness is not JavaScript's Kubernetes Cluster Cost Estimator At your rates, not a price table Kubernetes Kustomize Build Transformers run in kustomize's order Kubernetes Helm Chart Validator version is SemVer, appVersion is not

Elsewhere on the site

Terraform Validator & Formatter AWS IAM Policy Validator & Analyzer Docker Container Image Reference Parser VPC Subnet & CIDR Calculator