Introduction

Helm keeps a local cache of chart repository indexes, and that cache is what the CLI searches when you ask for available charts. In practice, listing everything under a repo means adding the repo, refreshing the cache, and using helm search repo with the repo alias.

Add the Repository and Refresh the Cache

If the repo is not already configured, add it first:

helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
helm repo update

helm repo add saves the repository under a local alias. helm repo update downloads the latest index metadata so your search results reflect the current set of charts.

You can verify the configured repositories with:

helm repo list

Typical output looks like this:

NAME      URL
bitnami   https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami

List All Charts from a Repository

Once the repo is present, use the alias with helm search repo:

helm search repo bitnami

Because chart names are stored in repo/chart form, searching for the repo alias effectively lists the charts that belong to that repository.

Example output:

1NAME                    CHART VERSION   APP VERSION   DESCRIPTION
2bitnami/nginx           18.1.7          1.29.1        NGINX Open Source web server
3bitnami/postgresql      16.7.9          17.4.0        PostgreSQL database
4bitnami/redis           21.2.3          8.2.1         Redis in-memory data store

If you want to narrow the results to a specific chart, search using the full chart name:

helm search repo bitnami/nginx

Show Historical Versions

By default, Helm shows the latest chart version in the repo index. To see all published versions that the index exposes, add --versions:

helm search repo bitnami/nginx --versions

That is useful when you need to pin an older chart for compatibility or compare upgrade paths.

You can also request machine-readable output:

helm search repo bitnami -o json

JSON or YAML output is easier to consume in documentation tooling, validation checks, or CI logs.

Understand What Helm Is Searching

A common point of confusion is that helm search repo reads Helm’s local repository cache. It does not query the remote repo live on every command. That means stale results usually come from stale cache data, not from a broken search command.

If a chart appears to be missing, run:

helm repo update

and search again before assuming the chart was removed.

You can inspect Helm’s environment values with:

helm env

That can help you find the local repository cache path when debugging unusual behavior.

Helm Repositories and OCI Registries Are Different

helm search repo works for classic Helm repositories that you add with helm repo add. OCI registries follow a different model. If your chart source is an OCI registry, you typically authenticate and pull charts directly instead of listing them with helm search repo.

helm registry login registry.example.com
helm pull oci://registry.example.com/platform/mychart --version 1.2.3

So if search returns nothing, verify that the source is really a Helm repo and not an OCI registry.

Common Pitfalls

The most common issue is forgetting helm repo update. Without refreshing the index, Helm may still be searching an older local snapshot.

Another mistake is searching for the wrong alias. If you added a repo as internal, then helm search repo company will not list anything from that repo. Use the alias shown by helm repo list.

Users also mix up chart version and app version. Helm shows both values, and they describe different things. When pinning installs, use the chart version intentionally.

Finally, do not expect helm search repo to enumerate OCI registries. The command is correct for standard Helm repositories only.

Summary

• Add the repository with helm repo add and refresh it with helm repo update.
• Use helm search repo repo-alias to list charts under that repository.
• Add --versions when you need historical chart versions.
• Use -o json or -o yaml for machine-readable output.
• Check whether the source is an OCI registry if the repo search appears empty.