How to Use Helm List to View Kubernetes Releases

Use the helm list command to see all Helm releases installed in your Kubernetes cluster. You can add options like --all-namespaces to list releases across all namespaces or --output to format the output.

Syntax

The basic syntax of the helm list command is:

• helm list [flags] - Lists Helm releases in the current or specified namespace.
• --all-namespaces - Lists releases across all namespaces.
• --namespace <name> - Specifies the namespace to list releases from.
• --output <format> - Formats the output as table (default), json, or yaml.

bash

helm list [flags]

# Common flags:
# --all-namespaces
# --namespace <name>
# --output <table|json|yaml>

Example

This example shows how to list all Helm releases in all namespaces with JSON output format.

bash

helm list --all-namespaces --output json

Output

[
  {
    "name": "my-release",
    "namespace": "default",
    "revision": 1,
    "updated": "2024-06-01 12:00:00",
    "status": "deployed",
    "chart": "nginx-1.2.3",
    "app_version": "1.19.0"
  },
  {
    "name": "test-release",
    "namespace": "kube-system",
    "revision": 2,
    "updated": "2024-06-02 09:30:00",
    "status": "deployed",
    "chart": "metrics-server-3.8.0",
    "app_version": "0.4.1"
  }
]

Common Pitfalls

Common mistakes when using helm list include:

• Not specifying the correct namespace, so no releases appear.
• Expecting output without specifying --all-namespaces when releases are in multiple namespaces.
• Using deprecated flags or older Helm versions that behave differently.

bash

## Wrong: No releases shown because namespace is not specified
helm list

## Right: Specify namespace or use all namespaces
helm list --namespace default
helm list --all-namespaces

Quick Reference

Option	Description
--all-namespaces	List releases across all namespaces
--namespace	List releases in the specified namespace
--output	Format output as table (default), json, or yaml
--filter	Filter releases by name using regex
--uninstalled	Show uninstalled releases
--deployed	Show only deployed releases (default)

Key Takeaways

Use helm list to view Helm releases in your Kubernetes cluster.

Add --all-namespaces to see releases from all namespaces.

Specify --namespace to limit the list to one namespace.

Use --output to format the list as JSON or YAML for automation.

Always check your Helm version and flags to avoid deprecated usage.