Helm "no repository definition for" dependency in CI

By Kaveh Alemi·Latchkey

A chart dependency in Chart.yaml points at a repository URL that has not been added to Helm. helm dependency update/build cannot resolve it and tells you to add the missing repo.

What this error means

helm dependency update/build fails with "Error: no repository definition for https://.../. Please add the missing repos via 'helm repo add'".

Error: no repository definition for https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami.
Please add the missing repos via 'helm repo add'

Common causes

The dependency repo was never added

A dependencies[].repository URL in Chart.yaml has no matching helm repo add on this runner, so Helm cannot map it to an index.

A fresh runner without repo registrations

Repo registrations live in the runner's Helm config, which is empty at the start of each CI job.

How to fix it

Add every dependency repo, then update

1. Read the dependency repository URLs from Chart.yaml.
2. Add each with helm repo add.
3. Run helm dependency update to fetch them.

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

Reference dependencies by an added repo alias

Use repository: "@bitnami" in Chart.yaml so the dependency resolves through an added repo name instead of a raw URL.

dependencies:
  - name: redis
    version: "19.x.x"
    repository: "@bitnami"

How to prevent it

• Add all dependency repos in a setup step before helm dependency update.
• Use @alias repository references that match your helm repo add names.
• Commit Chart.lock so dependency versions are reproducible.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

References

• Kubernetes documentation
• GitHub Actions documentation