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Enhance .helmignore documentation with command details #2087

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Enhance .helmignore documentation with command details
ringerc Apr 23, 2026
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Merge branch 'main' into patch-2
ringerc Apr 30, 2026
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17 changes: 12 additions & 5 deletions docs/chart_template_guide/helm_ignore_file.md
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The `.helmignore` file is used to specify files you don't want to include in
your helm chart.

If this file exists, the `helm package` command will ignore all the files that
match the pattern specified in the `.helmignore` file while packaging your
application.
If this file exists, Helm commands will ignore all the files that
match the pattern specified in the `.helmignore` file. The ignore file affects
most Helm commands including `helm package`, `helm template` and `helm install`.

This can help in avoiding unnecessary or sensitive files or directories from
being added in your helm chart.

The `.helmignore` file supports Unix shell glob matching, relative path
matching, and negation (prefixed with !). Only one pattern per line is
considered.
matching. Only one pattern per line is considered.

⚠️ The semantics of `.helmignore` are [significantly different to other common ignore files like `.gitignore`](#differences-from-gitignore).

Here is an example `.helmignore` file:

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temp?
```

## Differences from `.gitignore`

Some notable differences from .gitignore:

- The '**' syntax is not supported.
- **[Negation with `!` is unusable](https://github.com/helm/helm/issues/8688)** - `!file` adds everthing _except_ `file` to the ignore list, rather than removing `file` from the ignore list.
- The globbing library is Go's 'filepath.Match', not fnmatch(3)
- Trailing spaces are always ignored (there is no supported escape sequence)
- There is no support for '\!' as a special leading sequence.
- It does not exclude itself by default, you have to add an explicit entry for `.helmignore`
- evaluation order is reversed vs `.gitignore`

See [HIP 027: Bring .helmignore to parity with .gitignore file targeting syntax](https://github.com/helm/community/blob/main/hips/hip-0027.md) for details.

**We'd love your help** making this document better. To add, correct, or remove
information, [file an issue](https://github.com/helm/helm-www/issues) or send us a
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