> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.postqueen.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Helm

> Install PostQueen on Kubernetes with the official Helm chart

<Snippet file="earlydoc.mdx" />

Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes. It is to a cluster roughly what Docker Compose is to
a single machine: one command installs the app and the things it needs.

This page is for people who already operate a Kubernetes cluster. If you do not, you almost
certainly want [Docker Compose](/installation/docker-compose) instead, which is the supported
path and considerably less work.

<Snippet file="installation-recommended-options.mdx" />

## Before you start

* A Kubernetes cluster and `kubectl` pointed at it
* Helm 3
* An ingress controller, if you want her reachable from outside the cluster
* A Temporal server, which the chart does not provide

<Warning>
  **The chart does not bundle Temporal.** PostgreSQL and Redis come with it, Temporal does not,
  and Temporal is what actually fires your scheduled posts. Without a reachable one the interface
  loads, you can write posts, and nothing is ever published. Install
  [Temporal on your cluster](https://github.com/temporalio/helm-charts) or use Temporal Cloud,
  then point `TEMPORAL_ADDRESS` at it.
</Warning>

## Install

The chart is published as an OCI artifact, so there is no `helm repo add` step:

```bash theme={"system"}
helm install postqueen \
  oci://ghcr.io/gkhankinay/postqueen-helmchart/charts/postqueen-app \
  --version 1.1.0 \
  --values values.yaml
```

<Note>
  **The chart is called `postqueen-app`, not `postqueen`.** The directory in the repository is
  `charts/postqueen`, but the name inside `Chart.yaml`, which is what the registry uses, is
  `postqueen-app`. The directory name will not resolve as an OCI reference.
</Note>

If you use Flux or Argo CD, point them at the same reference in OCI mode.

## A minimal `values.yaml`

Nothing derives the connection strings for you, not even for the bundled databases, so they
have to be written out. The hostnames below assume a release named `postqueen`, which is what
the command above creates.

```yaml theme={"system"}
image:
  repository: ghcr.io/gkhankinay/postqueen-app
  tag: "v3.0.4"

secrets:
  JWT_SECRET: "generate-one-with-openssl-rand-hex-32"
  DATABASE_URL: "postgresql://postqueen:postqueen-password@postqueen-postgresql:5432/postqueen"
  REDIS_URL: "redis://:postqueen-redis-password@postqueen-redis-master:6379"

env:
  MAIN_URL: "https://postqueen.example.com"
  FRONTEND_URL: "https://postqueen.example.com"
  NEXT_PUBLIC_BACKEND_URL: "https://postqueen.example.com/api"
  BACKEND_INTERNAL_URL: "http://localhost:3000"
  TEMPORAL_ADDRESS: "temporal-frontend.temporal.svc.cluster.local:7233"
  TEMPORAL_NAMESPACE: "default"
  IS_GENERAL: "true"
  STORAGE_PROVIDER: "local"
  UPLOAD_DIRECTORY: "/uploads"
  NEXT_PUBLIC_UPLOAD_STATIC_DIRECTORY: "uploads"

ingress:
  enabled: true
  className: nginx
  hosts:
    - host: postqueen.example.com
      paths:
        - path: /
          pathType: Prefix
          port: 80
  tls:
    - secretName: postqueen-tls
      hosts:
        - postqueen.example.com
```

The credentials inside those two connection strings are the chart's own defaults for the
bundled PostgreSQL and Redis. If you change them under `postgresql.auth` or `redis.auth`,
change them here to match. To use databases you already run, point both strings at those and
set `postgresql.enabled: false` and `redis.enabled: false`.

Every variable is explained in [Configuration Reference](/configuration/reference). Values
under `secrets` become a Kubernetes Secret, values under `env` become a ConfigMap, and both are
handed to the container.

## Traps worth knowing about

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The image tag needs its v prefix">
    Published tags look like `v3.0.4`. When `image.tag` is empty the chart falls back to its
    `appVersion`, which carries no `v`, so it resolves to an image that does not exist and the
    pod sits in `ImagePullBackOff`. Write the tag out, with the `v`.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Uploaded media disappears when the pod restarts">
    With no `extraVolumes` configured, `/uploads` is an `emptyDir`, which lives and dies with
    the pod. For a real install, either mount a persistent volume through `extraVolumes` and
    `extraVolumeMounts`, or use [Cloudflare R2](/configuration/r2). R2 is also the answer for
    more than one replica, since a local disk cannot be shared between pods.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="There are no health probes">
    The deployment defines no liveness or readiness probes, so traffic reaches a pod that is
    still starting, and a wedged pod is never restarted. Add your own against `/` on the
    container port if you want that behaviour.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Empty secrets become empty variables">
    Every key under `secrets` is rendered whether or not you gave it a value, so an unset
    provider key arrives as an empty string rather than being absent. Harmless in practice, and
    useful to know when something looks set but is not.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Resource names look doubled">
    A release named `postqueen` produces objects named `postqueen-postqueen-app`. That is the
    standard Helm naming helper, not a mistake. The bundled databases are unaffected and are
    named `postqueen-postgresql` and `postqueen-redis-master`, which is why the connection
    strings above look the way they do.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Check it worked

```bash theme={"system"}
kubectl get pods
kubectl logs deploy/postqueen-postqueen-app
```

You want `Backend started successfully on port 3000`, and then the lines after it. She reports
configuration problems there and carries on running regardless, so a `Running` pod is not proof
that the settings are right:

```bash theme={"system"}
kubectl logs deploy/postqueen-postqueen-app | grep -i "configuration issue"
```

The chart lives at
[GkhanKINAY/postqueen-helmchart](https://github.com/GkhanKINAY/postqueen-helmchart), and the
full list of values is in
[charts/postqueen/values.yaml](https://github.com/GkhanKINAY/postqueen-helmchart/blob/main/charts/postqueen/values.yaml).

## Next Steps

<Snippet file="next-steps-selfhost.mdx" />