contributing in Flux

Introducing --show-history for flux debug helmrelease

• What: A new --show-history flag for flux debug helmrelease that prints the Helm release history inline with your Flux debugging output.
• Why: Faster triage with fewer tool switches. See rollouts, rollbacks, and failure points at a glance.
• How: Upgrade your Flux CLI to a version that includes PR #5505 and run:

  flux debug helmrelease <name> -n <namespace> --show-history
  

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The problem this solves

When a HelmRelease is stuck in a failed or pending state, the answer is rarely in a single log line. You typically want to see:

• The sequence of revisions
• Which upgrades were superseded or rolled back
• When a failure first appeared
• Which chart/app versions were involved

Helm already exposes this via helm history, but in a GitOps workflow, it’s natural to start with flux debug helmrelease. Having history in the same context reduces friction and helps you build a timeline faster.

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Backwards compatible by design

• The flag is opt-in. Running flux debug helmrelease without it behaves as before.
• It only augments your output with history; no changes to reconcile or controller behavior.

Tip: If your CLI doesn’t recognize --show-history, upgrade to a Flux CLI version that includes PR #5505:

flux --version
# then upgrade using your preferred method (brew, curl, package manager)

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Behind the scenes

This addition surfaces the Helm release history in a familiar, tabular format—mirroring what you’d expect from helm history—and integrates it into flux debug helmrelease, so your diagnostic context stays in one place.

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My contribution journey

• Problem framing: Debugging sessions often start with flux debug but history required switching tools.
• Scope selection: Add a single flag that prints the essentials without overwhelming the default debug output.
• Implementation principles:
  • Keep the flag optional and discoverable (--help shows it).
  • Present a concise, readable table users already understand.
  • Avoid changing controller logic—strictly a CLI UX improvement.
• Collaboration: Incorporated reviewer feedback to align with Flux CLI patterns and messaging consistency.
• Outcome: Merged in fluxcd/flux2#5505.

Useful links:

• Flux repository: fluxcd/flux2
• Contribution guide: CONTRIBUTING.md
• The PR for this feature: #5505 – Add —show-history flag to debug helmrelease

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Final thoughts

So i was really fascinated by GitOps toolkit and surfing through helm while learning more about Kubernetes for GKE hackathon. Flux really caught attention and was really grateful to have fixed a issue.