helm test: Command Reference for CI/CD

Run a release embedded tests to verify the deploy works.

helm test runs the test hooks a chart ships (pods annotated helm.sh/hook: test) against an installed release, turning "it deployed" into "it works". This reference covers the flags and a post-deploy CI smoke-test pattern.

Common flags and usage

• test <release>: run the chart test hooks against the release
• --logs: stream the test pod logs (always use in CI)
• --timeout 5m: bound how long tests may run
• --filter name=<test>: run a specific test
• Exits non-zero if any test pod fails

Example

helm upgrade --install web ./charts/web \
  --set image.tag=${IMAGE_TAG} --wait --atomic --timeout 5m
helm test web --logs --timeout 5m

In CI

Run helm test right after a successful upgrade --install as a smoke test against the live release. Always pass --logs so a failing test prints why in the job output instead of just exiting non-zero. A non-zero exit fails the pipeline, which is what you want.

Key takeaways

• helm test verifies the deploy works, not just that it applied.
• Always pass --logs so failures are diagnosable in CI output.
• Run it after upgrade --install --wait as a post-deploy smoke test.

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