Helm Values and Overrides#

Every Helm chart has a values.yaml file that defines defaults. When you install or upgrade a release, you override those defaults through values files (-f) and inline flags (--set). Getting the precedence wrong leads to silent misconfigurations where you think you set something but the chart used a different value.

Inspecting Chart Defaults#

Before overriding anything, look at what the chart provides. helm show values dumps the full default values.yaml for any chart:

Kustomize Patterns#

Kustomize lets you customize Kubernetes manifests without templating. You start with plain YAML (bases) and layer modifications (overlays) on top. It is built into kubectl, so there is no extra tool to install.

Base and Overlay Structure#

The standard layout separates shared manifests from per-environment customizations:

k8s/
  base/
    kustomization.yaml
    deployment.yaml
    service.yaml
    configmap.yaml
  overlays/
    dev/
      kustomization.yaml
      replica-patch.yaml
    staging/
      kustomization.yaml
      ingress.yaml
    production/
      kustomization.yaml
      replica-patch.yaml
      hpa.yaml

The base kustomization.yaml lists the resources:

# base/kustomization.yaml
apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Kustomization

resources:
  - deployment.yaml
  - service.yaml
  - configmap.yaml

An overlay references the base and adds modifications:

Sandbox to Production#

An agent that produces infrastructure deliverables works in a sandbox. It does not touch production. It does not reach into someone else’s cluster, database, or cloud account. It works in an isolated environment, tests its work, captures the results, and hands the human a verified deliverable they can execute on their own infrastructure.

This is not a limitation – it is a design choice. The output is always a deliverable, never a direct action on someone else’s systems. This boundary is what makes the approach safe enough for production infrastructure work and trustworthy enough for enterprise change management.

Setting Up Multi-Environment Infrastructure: Dev, Staging, and Production#

Running a single environment is straightforward. Running three that drift apart silently is where teams lose weeks debugging “it works in dev.” This operational sequence walks through setting up dev, staging, and production environments that stay consistent where it matters and diverge only where intended.

Phase 1 – Environment Strategy#

Step 1: Define Environments#

Each environment serves a distinct purpose:

• Dev: Rapid iteration. Developers deploy frequently, break things, and recover quickly. Data is disposable. Resources are minimal.
• Staging: Production mirror. Same Kubernetes version, same network policies, same resource quotas. External services point to staging endpoints. Used for integration testing and pre-release validation.
• Production: Real users, real data. Changes go through approval gates. Monitoring is comprehensive and alerting reaches on-call engineers.

Step 2: Isolation Model#

Decision point: Separate clusters per environment versus namespaces in a shared cluster.