Helm "no cached repo found (try helm repo update)" in CI

Helm resolves chart references from a locally cached repository index. On a clean CI runner that cache does not exist, so referencing a repo chart fails with "no cached repo found" and the hint to run helm repo update.

What this error means

helm install/dependency fails with "Error: no cached repo found. (try 'helm repo update')" on a fresh runner, even though the chart and repo are correct.

helm

Error: no cached repo found. (try 'helm repo update'): open
/home/runner/.cache/helm/repository/bitnami-index.yaml: no such file or directory

Common causes

The repo was added but never updated

helm repo add registers the repo, but the index is only fetched by helm repo update. Without it the cache is empty.

A fresh runner with no Helm cache

Each CI job starts without the ~/.cache/helm index, so any repo reference needs an update first.

How to fix it

Add and update the repo before use

Always run helm repo update after adding a repo so the index cache exists.

Terminal

helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
helm repo update
helm install my-redis bitnami/redis -n cache

Cache the Helm repository index across runs

Persist ~/.cache/helm so the index does not have to be re-fetched on every job.

.github/workflows/ci.yml

- uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: ~/.cache/helm
    key: helm-repo-${{ hashFiles('**/Chart.lock') }}

How to prevent it

Run helm repo update after every helm repo add in CI.
Cache ~/.cache/helm between runs to speed up and stabilize.
Prefer OCI charts or vendored dependencies where repo indexes are flaky.