Last checked and updated on 04 May 2026
What Is New in Helm 3.6?
| Category | Highlights |
|---|---|
| New Features | Apple Silicon (darwin/arm64) binaries; OCI registry support refined; networking.k8s.io/v1 ingress template; --kube-version flag for template rendering. |
| Improvements | Enhanced shell auto‑completion; uninstall can target multiple releases; ReadyChecker decoupled from --wait; better validation and name rules. |
| Bug Fixes | Fixed capability leakage in tests; corrected Windows test failures; fixed helm get whitespace handling; various dependency updates. |
| Security | Release signed with GPG key 672C 657B E06B 4B30 969C 4A57 4614 49C2 5E36 B98E. |
| Deprecations | None announced for this release. |
What platform and architecture support was added in Helm 3.6?
Helm now ships native binaries for Apple Silicon (darwin/arm64). This means Mac users with M1/M2 chips can run Helm without Rosetta translation, reducing overhead and improving reliability.
All other platforms from previous releases remain unchanged.
How did OCI support evolve in Helm 3.6?
The OCI experiment has been refined: Helm now better handles OCI‑based chart registries and initializes the registry client earlier in the workflow.
In practice, this reduces unexpected authentication errors when pulling charts from OCI registries.
What CLI usability improvements are included?
Auto‑completion for Bash, Zsh, and Fish has been expanded, showing flag descriptions and supporting new commands.
- New
--kube-versionflag lets you render templates against a specific Kubernetes version. helm uninstallnow accepts a list of release names, simplifying batch clean‑ups.- ReadyChecker logic was extracted from
--wait, making the wait behavior more modular.
What changes were made to the ingress template?
The default ingress template now targets networking.k8s.io/v1, aligning with Kubernetes 1.19+ APIs.
Running helm create will generate an updated ingress manifest that includes the new API version and related fields.
What other notable enhancements are in Helm 3.6?
- Added name validation rules for object kinds, catching illegal characters early.
- Improved error wrapping for validation failures, preserving original context.
- Enhanced documentation for version flag and output format options.
- Various dependency upgrades (e.g.,
k8s.io/klog/v2,containerd).
FAQ
Can I use Helm 3.6 on an M1 Mac without Rosetta?
Yes, the darwin/arm64 binary runs natively on Apple Silicon.
How do I enable the new --kube-version flag?
Include it in any helm template or helm install command, e.g., helm install mychart ./mychart --kube-version 1.20.0.
Is the OCI support stable for production use?
The experiment has been refined, but it is still labeled as experimental; monitor the release notes for future stability guarantees.
Do I need to update my existing ingress manifests?
Only if you rely on the old extensions/v1beta1 API; Helm 3.6’s template now emits networking.k8s.io/v1 which is the recommended version.
Can I uninstall multiple releases with a single command?
Yes, pass a space‑separated list to helm uninstall, e.g., helm uninstall rev1 rev2 rev3.