Configuration#

helm-schema.yaml lets a root chart carry its schema-emission policy with the chart. The format is versioned and strict: malformed YAML, unknown fields, unsupported versions, and invalid policy combinations are errors.

version: 1
profile: lean
emission:
  root-anchored-conditionals: off
  local-conditionals: on
  terminal-clauses: off
  kind-partitions: off

All fields except version are optional. profile is full or lean; each emission value is on or off.

Discovery and trust boundary#

Automatic discovery reads only helm-schema.yaml at the root of the input chart. Dependency and subchart config files are never policy inputs. Directory and packaged .tgz/.tar.gz charts use the same root-source boundary.

--config PATH selects an explicit file instead. Relative paths are resolved from the invocation working directory. --no-config disables configuration, including automatic discovery. --print-effective-config prints every policy field and its source, then exits before template analysis or provider/network setup.

Precedence#

priority	source	notes
1	CLI emission override	`--root-anchored-conditionals`, `--local-conditionals`, `--terminal-clauses`, or `--kind-partitions`
2	config `emission` field	Applied only when the CLI did not select a profile explicitly.
3	selected profile preset	From config `profile`, CLI `--profile`, or the built-in default.
4	built-in default	`full`.

An explicit CLI --profile resets all file-level emission deltas. This makes --profile lean mean standard lean even when the chart config customizes lean. CLI emission overrides still apply after that reset.

Retention contract#

profile	root ordinary	local ordinary	terminals	kind partitions
`full`	on	on	on	on
`lean`	off	on	off	off

Every policy retains Mandatory facts. These include unconditional base and provider constraints, presence/not-null facts, default preservation, scalar spelling behavior, host preparation, and completion/canonicalization behavior. The four configurable controls are W-class: switching one off only removes refinements and can only widen schema acceptance.

Kind partitions also require their anchor lane. Enabling kind partitions while both root and local conditional lanes are off is invalid and fails before chart analysis.

Diagnostics and output identity#

When an automatically discovered file weakens the invocation relative to the same command without that file, one diagnostic lists all disabled controls. CLI-only weakening is not attributed to chart configuration.

Final schemas include x-helm-schema-policy, recording the requested profile, fully resolved controls, narrowing/output modifiers, and a deterministic policy fingerprint. Explicit library policies record a null requested profile.