How does ArgoCD integrate with Helm for GitOps deployment patterns?

ArgoCD supports Helm natively as a configuration management tool, enabling GitOps workflows where cluster state is declared in Git and automatically synchronized.

ArgoCD Helm configuration in Application spec: apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1 kind: Application metadata: name: myapp namespace: argocd spec: source: repoURL: https://github.com/myorg/myrepo targetRevision: main path: helm/myapp helm: valueFiles: - values.yaml - values-{{ .Values.spec.destination.namespace }}.yaml parameters: - name: image.tag value: v1.2.3 - name: replicaCount value: "3" releaseName: myapp-helm-release values: | ingress: enabled: true hosts: - myapp.example.com destination: server: https://kubernetes.default.svc namespace: production syncPolicy: automated: prune: true selfHeal: true allowEmpty: false syncOptions: - Validate=true - CreateNamespace=true - PrunePropagationPolicy=foreground

Helm value handling in ArgoCD:

• valueFiles - List of value files to merge (relative to chart path)
• parameters - Individual parameter overrides (equivalent to --set)
• values - Inline YAML values (highest precedence)
• fileParameters - Read parameters from file

Multiple sources configuration (helm + kustomize): spec: source: repoURL: https://github.com/myorg/myrepo path: base/helm helm: valueFiles: - $values/environments/prod/values.yaml sources: - repoURL: https://github.com/myorg/env-configs targetRevision: main ref: values

ArgoCD Helm specific features:

• Auto-helm version detection (v2 or v3)
• Helm hooks support with sync-wave annotations
• Values from ConfigMap plugins for external sources
• Parameter overrides without modifying Git

Best practices: Store environment-specific values in separate directories, use ApplicationSets for multi-environment deployment, enable selfHeal for configuration drift correction, and use syncPolicy automated with prune to remove orphaned resources.