feat: add defaultInherit for automatic release template inheritance by yxxhero · Pull Request #2600 · helmfile/helmfile

yxxhero · 2026-05-19T23:43:38Z

Summary

Add a top-level defaultInherit field to helmfile.yaml that automatically applies template inheritance to all releases without requiring explicit inherit on each release.

Fixes #2599

Changes

pkg/state/state.go: Add DefaultInherit field (DefaultInherits type with custom YAML unmarshaler supporting single string or list)
pkg/state/state_exec_tmpl.go: Add applyDefaultInherit() method that prepends default templates to each release's inherit list, with deduplication
pkg/state/state_exec_tmpl_test.go: Unit tests for applyDefaultInherit and ExecuteTemplates with default inherit
pkg/app/app_template_test.go: Integration tests for single/multiple default inherit and non-existent template error
test/integration/test-cases/issue-2599-default-inherit/: End-to-end integration test
docs/writing-helmfile.md: Document default template inheritance with examples
docs/configuration.md: Add defaultInherit to quick reference table

Usage

templates:
  default:
    namespace: default-ns
    labels:
      managed: "true"
    values:
    - common.yaml

# Single template
defaultInherit: default

# Or multiple templates
# defaultInherit:
#   - ns-template
#   - defaults

releases:
- name: app1
  chart: my-chart
  # automatically inherits from "default"
- name: app2
  chart: my-chart
  inherit:
  - template: default
    except: [labels]
  # explicit inherit with except - not duplicated

Test plan

Unit tests: TestApplyDefaultInherit, TestDefaultInherits_UnmarshalYAML, TestHelmState_executeTemplatesWithDefaultTemplates
App integration tests: TestTemplate_DefaultInherit, TestTemplate_DefaultInherit_Multiple, TestTemplate_DefaultInherit_NonExistent
E2E integration test: test/integration/test-cases/issue-2599-default-inherit.sh
make check passes
All existing tests pass

yxxhero · 2026-05-20T00:44:34Z

@copilot resolve the merge conflicts in this pull request

Copilot · 2026-05-20T00:47:22Z

@copilot resolve the merge conflicts in this pull request

Resolved and pushed in commit 2e352d2. I merged origin/main, fixed the conflict in test/integration/run.sh, and kept both the upstream test-case entries and the issue-2599-default-inherit test case.

Add a top-level defaultInherit field to helmfile.yaml that automatically applies template inheritance to all releases without requiring explicit inherit on each release. The field accepts a single template name as a string or a list of template names. Releases that already explicitly inherit from the same template are not duplicated. Fixes #2599 Signed-off-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

Signed-off-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

yxxhero · 2026-05-20T01:42:08Z

@copilot fix ci issues.

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/helmfile/helmfile/sessions/d0884e8e-8b1b-456d-8250-dec1566b8a37 Co-authored-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2026-05-20T01:51:07Z

@copilot fix ci issues.

Fixed in commit 9d01a93. I investigated the failing CI run (Go → integration_tests) and updated test/integration/test-cases/issue-2599-default-inherit.sh to use stable helmfile build assertions for default inheritance, including per-release checks and except behavior.

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR adds a top-level defaultInherit field to helmfile.yaml so all releases automatically inherit one or more named release templates, reducing per-release boilerplate and addressing #2599.

Changes:

Introduces defaultInherit in state parsing (supports single string or list via custom YAML unmarshaler).
Applies default template inheritance during HelmState.ExecuteTemplates() with de-duplication against explicitly-declared release inherit.
Adds unit/app/integration tests plus documentation updates describing the new configuration.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 10 out of 10 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
`pkg/state/state.go`	Adds `DefaultInherit` to `ReleaseSetSpec` and a `DefaultInherits` YAML unmarshaler to support string-or-list syntax.
`pkg/state/state_exec_tmpl.go`	Applies `defaultInherit` to each release prior to resolving inherited templates.
`pkg/state/state_exec_tmpl_test.go`	Adds unit tests for default inheritance application and YAML unmarshalling behavior.
`pkg/app/app_template_test.go`	Adds app-level tests validating default inherit behavior and error handling.
`test/integration/test-cases/issue-2599-default-inherit/input/helmfile.yaml`	Adds e2e fixture helmfile demonstrating default + explicit inherit interaction.
`test/integration/test-cases/issue-2599-default-inherit/input/common.yaml`	Adds a shared values file used by the template fixture.
`test/integration/test-cases/issue-2599-default-inherit.sh`	Adds an end-to-end integration test for `defaultInherit`.
`test/integration/run.sh`	Registers the new integration test case in the suite runner.
`docs/writing-helmfile.md`	Documents `defaultInherit` with examples and behavior notes.
`docs/configuration.md`	Adds `defaultInherit` to the top-level configuration reference table.

+	var single string
+	if err := unmarshal(&single); err == nil {
+		*r = []string{single}
+		return nil
+	}
+	var list []string
+	if err := unmarshal(&list); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	*r = list


+		if !existing[name] {
+			result = append(result, Inherit{Template: name})
+		}


yxxhero · 2026-05-20T03:16:10Z

@copilot fix commnets.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 10 out of 10 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

+func (st *HelmState) applyDefaultInherit(releaseInherit Inherits) Inherits {
+	if len(st.DefaultInherit) == 0 {
+		return releaseInherit
+	}
+
+	existing := make(map[string]bool, len(releaseInherit))
+	for _, inh := range releaseInherit {
+		existing[inh.Template] = true
+	}
+


+test_start "issue 2599 default inherit"
+
+# Test 1: defaultInherit applies template to all releases
+info "Running helmfile build with defaultInherit"
+${helmfile} -f ${issue_2599_input_dir}/helmfile.yaml build \
+    > ${issue_2599_tmp}/output.log 2>&1 \
+    || { cat ${issue_2599_tmp}/output.log; fail "helmfile build with defaultInherit shouldn't fail"; }
+
+# Verify namespace from template is applied to both releases
+grep -q "namespace: default-ns" ${issue_2599_tmp}/output.log \
+    || fail "namespace from default template should be applied"
+
+# Verify both releases are processed
+grep -q "app1" ${issue_2599_tmp}/output.log \
+    || fail "release app1 should be in output"
+
+grep -q "app2" ${issue_2599_tmp}/output.log \
+    || fail "release app2 should be in output"
+grep -q "^templates:" ${issue_2599_tmp}/output.log \
+    || fail "templates section should be in build output"
+
+# Verify inherited values and labels per release
+sed -n '/name: app1/,/name: app2/p' ${issue_2599_tmp}/output.log > ${issue_2599_tmp}/app1.log
+sed -n '/name: app2/,/^templates:/{/^templates:/!p}' ${issue_2599_tmp}/output.log > ${issue_2599_tmp}/app2.log
+[ -s ${issue_2599_tmp}/app1.log ] || fail "failed to extract release app1 section from build output"
+[ -s ${issue_2599_tmp}/app2.log ] || fail "failed to extract release app2 section from build output"
+
+grep -Eq 'managed:[[:space:]]*"?true"?([[:space:]]|$)' ${issue_2599_tmp}/app1.log \
+    || fail "release app1 should inherit managed label from default template"
+grep -q "common.yaml" ${issue_2599_tmp}/app1.log \
+    || fail "release app1 should inherit values from common.yaml"
+grep -q "common.yaml" ${issue_2599_tmp}/app2.log \
+    || fail "release app2 should inherit values from common.yaml"
+if grep -Eq 'managed:[[:space:]]*"?true"?([[:space:]]|$)' ${issue_2599_tmp}/app2.log; then
+    fail "release app2 should not inherit managed label due to except"
+fi
+
+# Test 2: non-existent template in defaultInherit should fail
+info "Running helmfile build with non-existent defaultInherit template"
+cat > ${issue_2599_tmp}/bad-helmfile.yaml <<EOF
+defaultInherit: nonexistent
+releases:
+- name: app1
+  chart: ${dir}/charts/raw
+EOF
+
+${helmfile} -f ${issue_2599_tmp}/bad-helmfile.yaml build \
+    > ${issue_2599_tmp}/error.log 2>&1 \
+    && fail "helmfile build with non-existent defaultInherit template should fail"
+
+grep -q "inexistent release template" ${issue_2599_tmp}/error.log \
+    || fail "error message should mention inexistent release template"
+
+rm -rf ${issue_2599_tmp}
+


yxxhero · 2026-05-20T03:35:01Z

@copilot fix comments.

…nup trap and quote vars in integration test Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/helmfile/helmfile/sessions/1fbf62d5-7ce2-42e5-898b-30151c0c1ef9 Co-authored-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

…d double TrimSpace; clarify test comment Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/helmfile/helmfile/sessions/1fbf62d5-7ce2-42e5-898b-30151c0c1ef9 Co-authored-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2026-05-20T03:54:47Z

@copilot fix comments.

Fixed in commits 2021619 and f32be3a:

pkg/state/state_exec_tmpl.go — applyDefaultInherit now trims releaseInherit template names when building the deduplication map and filters blank entries in a single pass (avoiding a redundant TrimSpace). Whitespace-variant names like " default " correctly deduplicate against defaultInherit: "default", and truly blank entries are dropped before they can cause early returns in releaseWithInheritedTemplate.

test/integration/test-cases/issue-2599-default-inherit.sh — Added cleanup_issue_2599() + trap cleanup_issue_2599 EXIT pattern (matching the reference in issue-2596), initialized issue_2599_tmp="" before the trap, quoted all ${helmfile}, ${issue_2599_input_dir}, and ${issue_2599_tmp} usages, and removed the manual rm -rf (cleanup now handled by the trap).

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 10 out of 10 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"

 	"github.com/helmfile/helmfile/pkg/environment"
 	"github.com/helmfile/helmfile/pkg/filesystem"


+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			var got DefaultInherits


+templates:
+  ns:
+    namespace: from-ns-template
+  ctx:
+    kubeContext: from-ctx-template
+defaultInherit:
+  - ns
+  - ctx
+releases:


yxxhero · 2026-05-20T04:07:44Z

@copilot fix commoents.

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/helmfile/helmfile/sessions/3ea9b8e4-633f-43c4-899f-e063ec576486 Co-authored-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2026-05-20T04:16:52Z

@copilot fix commoents.

Addressed in commit 01cfc7a. I updated the tests to use pkg/yaml.Unmarshal across both runtime.GoYamlV3 modes and fixed the multiple-default-inherit app template test so it validates ordered inheritance with matching fixture/assertions.

yxxhero · 2026-05-20T05:54:27Z

@copilot fix ci issues.

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/helmfile/helmfile/sessions/9452bb65-7086-459f-b5ae-0b00c1e021eb Co-authored-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2026-05-20T06:00:32Z

@copilot fix ci issues.

Fixed in commit de600fa. I investigated the failing CI run (Go workflow, integration_tests job), identified the failure in issue-2599-default-inherit.sh, and corrected the helmfile invocation so ${helmfile} expands to command + flags instead of a single quoted path.

yxxhero requested review from aditmeno, itscaro, mumoshu, xiaomudk and zhaque44 as code owners May 19, 2026 23:43

Copilot started work on behalf of yxxhero May 20, 2026 00:44 View session

Copilot finished work on behalf of yxxhero May 20, 2026 00:47

yxxhero added 6 commits May 20, 2026 09:13

style: fix gci formatting in app_template_test.go

a0e852a

Signed-off-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

fix: correct relative chart path in integration test

c6359e0

Signed-off-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

fix: use absolute chart path in bad-helmfile test

fb9bb92

Signed-off-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

fix: use clean chart path in bad-helmfile test

5afcb91

Signed-off-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

fix: use dir variable for chart path

d0e9b7e

Signed-off-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

yxxhero force-pushed the feat/default-inherit branch from 2e352d2 to d0e9b7e Compare May 20, 2026 01:13

Copilot started work on behalf of yxxhero May 20, 2026 01:42 View session

Copilot AI and others added 5 commits May 20, 2026 01:47

test: fix flaky defaultInherit integration assertions

5aebd49

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/helmfile/helmfile/sessions/d0884e8e-8b1b-456d-8250-dec1566b8a37 Co-authored-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

test: tighten defaultInherit integration assertions

8b2c200

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/helmfile/helmfile/sessions/d0884e8e-8b1b-456d-8250-dec1566b8a37 Co-authored-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

test: harden release block parsing in issue-2599 case

2fed1cb

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/helmfile/helmfile/sessions/d0884e8e-8b1b-456d-8250-dec1566b8a37 Co-authored-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

test: make issue-2599 assertions format-tolerant

dbc0288

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/helmfile/helmfile/sessions/d0884e8e-8b1b-456d-8250-dec1566b8a37 Co-authored-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

test: fix section extraction and regex matching in issue-2599 case

9d01a93

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/helmfile/helmfile/sessions/d0884e8e-8b1b-456d-8250-dec1566b8a37 Co-authored-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

Copilot finished work on behalf of yxxhero May 20, 2026 01:51

yxxhero requested a review from Copilot May 20, 2026 03:09

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of yxxhero May 20, 2026 03:09 View session

Copilot AI reviewed May 20, 2026

View reviewed changes

Copilot started work on behalf of yxxhero May 20, 2026 03:16 View session

yxxhero requested a review from Copilot May 20, 2026 03:28

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of yxxhero May 20, 2026 03:28 View session

Copilot finished work on behalf of yxxhero May 20, 2026 03:28

Copilot AI reviewed May 20, 2026

View reviewed changes

Copilot started work on behalf of yxxhero May 20, 2026 03:35 View session

yxxhero requested a review from Copilot May 20, 2026 03:52

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of yxxhero May 20, 2026 03:52 View session

Copilot finished work on behalf of yxxhero May 20, 2026 03:55

Copilot AI reviewed May 20, 2026

View reviewed changes

Copilot started work on behalf of yxxhero May 20, 2026 04:07 View session

Copilot AI and others added 2 commits May 20, 2026 04:15

test: align default inherit tests with yaml wrapper and assertions

e1ed607

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/helmfile/helmfile/sessions/3ea9b8e4-633f-43c4-899f-e063ec576486 Co-authored-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

test: address review feedback on defaultInherit tests

01cfc7a

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/helmfile/helmfile/sessions/3ea9b8e4-633f-43c4-899f-e063ec576486 Co-authored-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

Copilot finished work on behalf of yxxhero May 20, 2026 04:17

Copilot started work on behalf of yxxhero May 20, 2026 05:54 View session

test: fix issue-2599 integration script helmfile invocation

de600fa

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/helmfile/helmfile/sessions/9452bb65-7086-459f-b5ae-0b00c1e021eb Co-authored-by: yxxhero <[email protected]>

Copilot finished work on behalf of yxxhero May 20, 2026 06:01

buroa approved these changes May 20, 2026

View reviewed changes

xiaomudk approved these changes May 20, 2026

View reviewed changes

yxxhero merged commit 781d28a into main May 20, 2026
16 checks passed

yxxhero deleted the feat/default-inherit branch May 20, 2026 10:21

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Conversation

yxxhero commented May 19, 2026

Summary

Changes

Usage

Test plan

Uh oh!

yxxhero commented May 20, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI commented May 20, 2026

Uh oh!

yxxhero commented May 20, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI commented May 20, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Pull request overview

Reviewed changes

Uh oh!

yxxhero commented May 20, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Pull request overview

Uh oh!

yxxhero commented May 20, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI commented May 20, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Pull request overview

Uh oh!

yxxhero commented May 20, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI commented May 20, 2026

Uh oh!

yxxhero commented May 20, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI commented May 20, 2026

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

5 participants