Readme Generator for Helm (Go)

Go port of bitnami/readme-generator-for-helm

Drop‑in replacement that keeps the same CLI and metadata syntax, but ships as a single statically‑linked Go binary.

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• Autogenerates a Parameters table in your chart’s README.md from the metadata found in values.yaml.
• Optionally emits an OpenAPI v3 JSON schema that describes the structure of values.yaml.

Both features behave exactly like the original Bitnami tool, so you can switch by merely replacing the binary in your pipeline.

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How it works

The generator looks for Javadoc‑style comments inside values.yaml. It validates that every real key has corresponding metadata (and vice‑versa); if everything lines up it rewrites the ## Parameters section of README.md and/or writes an OpenAPI schema file. If mismatches are detected it prints a detailed error list and exits with a non‑zero status, making it CI‑friendly.

The table it injects has the familiar structure

## Parameters

### Section 1 title

| Name      | Description             | Default        |
|:----------|:------------------------|:---------------|
| `value_1` | Description for value 1 | `defaultValue` |
| `value_2` | Description for value 2 | `defaultValue` |

### Section 2 title

| Name      | Description             | Default        |
|:----------|:------------------------|:---------------|
| `value_a` | Description for value a | `defaultValue` |

The top‑level heading (## Parameters, ### Parameters, …) is detected dynamically; its text can be customised via the configuration file.

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Requirements

• Go 1.22+ (any platform supported by Go)

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Installation

Using go install (recommended)

go install github.com/cozystack/readme-generator-for-helm@latest

The binary lands in $(go env GOPATH)/bin (usually ~/go/bin). Make sure that directory is on your $PATH.

Download a pre‑built release binary

Head over to https://github.com/cozystack/readme-generator-for-helm/releases, grab the archive for your OS/arch, unpack it somewhere on your $PATH.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/cozystack/readme-generator-for-helm
cd readme-generator-for-helm
go build -o readme-generator-for-helm

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Basic usage

readme-generator-for-helm [options]

Options:
  -v, --values  <file>   Path to the values.yaml file (required)
  -r, --readme  <file>   Path to the README.md file to update
  -c, --config  <file>   Path to config.json (optional; built‑in defaults if omitted)
  -s, --schema  <file>   Path for the generated OpenAPI Schema
      --version          Print program version and exit
  -h, --help             Show help

At least one of --readme or --schema must be provided.

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values.yaml metadata

The comment syntax, tags and modifiers are preserved from the original project:

• Parameter: ## @param full.key.path [modifier1,modifier2] Description
• Section: ## @section Section Title
• Skip subtree: ## @skip full.key.path
• Intermediate object description: ## @extra full.key.path Description

Supported modifiers (customisable via the config file):

Modifier	Effect
array	Treat parameter as array, default []
object	Treat parameter as object, default {}
string	Force empty string default ""
nullable	Parameter may be null; default stays as‑is
default:VALUE	Override default with given literal VALUE

Important: Ordering of tags in the YAML file does not matter, except for @section, which groups all subsequent @params until the next @section.

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Configuration file

If you need to change comment delimiters, tag names, or add custom modifiers, provide a JSON file via --config:

{
  "comments": { "format": "##" },
  "tags": {
    "param": "@param",
    "section": "@section",
    "descriptionStart": "@descriptionStart",
    "descriptionEnd": "@descriptionEnd",
    "skip": "@skip",
    "extra": "@extra"
  },
  "modifiers": {
    "array": "array",
    "object": "object",
    "string": "string",
    "nullable": "nullable",
    "default": "default"
  },
  "regexp": { "paramsSectionTitle": "Parameters" }
}

Omit the flag entirely to use the built‑in defaults (same as above).

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License

Apache License 2.0 © 2025 Cozystack. Portions of the code are adapted from the original Bitnami implementation.