feat: add kustomize unified 'patches' field support

chartify.go

@@ -69,6 +69,14 @@ type ChartifyOpts struct {
 	JsonPatches           []string
 	StrategicMergePatches []string
 
+	// Patches is the list of YAML files each defining one or more kustomize "patches" entries.
+	// Each file may contain either a single patch document or a list of patch documents.
+	// This leverages kustomize's unified "patches" field which auto-detects whether each
+	// patch is a Strategic Merge Patch or a JSON Patch, and supports both inline patch
+	// content (via the "patch:" field) and external file references (via the "path:" field).
+	// See https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/blob/master/examples/inlinePatch.md
+	Patches []string
+
 	// Transformers is the list of YAML files each defines a Kustomize transformer
 	// See https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/blob/master/examples/configureBuiltinPlugin.md#configuring-the-builtin-plugins-instead for more information.
 	Transformers []string
@@ -465,7 +473,7 @@ func (r *Runner) Chartify(release, dirOrChart string, opts ...ChartifyOption) (s
 
 	var (
 		needsNamespaceOverride = overrideNamespace != ""
-		needsKustomizeBuild    = len(u.JsonPatches) > 0 || len(u.StrategicMergePatches) > 0 || len(u.Transformers) > 0
+		needsKustomizeBuild    = len(u.JsonPatches) > 0 || len(u.StrategicMergePatches) > 0 || len(u.Patches) > 0 || len(u.Transformers) > 0
 		needsInjections        = len(u.Injectors) > 0 || len(u.Injects) > 0
 	)
 
@@ -498,6 +506,7 @@ func (r *Runner) Chartify(release, dirOrChart string, opts ...ChartifyOption) (s
 		patchOpts := &PatchOpts{
 			JsonPatches:           u.JsonPatches,
 			StrategicMergePatches: u.StrategicMergePatches,
+			Patches:               u.Patches,
 			Transformers:          u.Transformers,
 			EnableAlphaPlugins:    u.EnableKustomizeAlphaPlugins,
 			SortOptions:           u.SortOptions,

cmd/chartify/main.go

@@ -39,19 +39,22 @@ func main() {
 		AdhocChartDependencies:      nil,
 		JsonPatches:                 nil,
 		StrategicMergePatches:       nil,
+		Patches:                     nil,
 		WorkaroundOutputDirIssue:    false,
 		IncludeCRDs:                 false,
 	}
 
 	deps := stringSlice{}
 	kustomizeBuildArgs := stringSlice{}
+	patches := stringSlice{}
 
 	flag.StringVar(&file, "f", "-", "The path to the input file or stdout(-)")
 	flag.StringVar(&outDir, "o", "", "The path to the output directory")
 	flag.Var(&deps, "d", "one or more \"alias=chart:version\" to add adhoc chart dependencies")
 	flag.BoolVar(&opts.IncludeCRDs, "include-crds", false, "Whether to render CRDs contained in the chart and include the results into the output")
 	flag.StringVar(&strategicMergePatch, "strategic-merge-patch", "", "Path to a kustomize strategic merge patch file")
 	flag.Var(&kustomizeBuildArgs, "kustomize-build-arg", "Extra arguments to pass to 'kustomize build' command (e.g. --enable-exec). Can be specified multiple times.")
+	flag.Var(&patches, "patch", "Path to a kustomize unified \"patches:\" entry file. Each file may contain a single patch document or a list of patch documents (inline \"patch:\" content or external \"path:\" reference). See https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/blob/master/examples/inlinePatch.md. Can be specified multiple times.")
 
 	flag.Parse()
 
@@ -65,6 +68,7 @@ func main() {
 
 	opts.DeprecatedAdhocChartDependencies = deps
 	opts.KustomizeBuildArgs = kustomizeBuildArgs
+	opts.Patches = patches
 
 	c := chartify.New(chartify.HelmBin("helm"))
 

integration_test.go

@@ -332,6 +332,80 @@ func TestIntegration(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	})
 
+	// SAVE_SNAPSHOT=1 go1.25 test -run ^TestIntegration/kube_manifest_yml_with_patches_inline$ ./
+	// Verifies kustomize unified "patches:" field with inline strategic merge patch content.
+	// See https://github.com/helmfile/chartify/issues/94
+	runTest(t, integrationTestCase{
+		description: "kube_manifest_yml_with_patches_inline",
+		release:     "myapp",
+		chart:       "./testdata/kube_manifest_yml",
+		opts: ChartifyOpts{
+			AdhocChartDependencies: []ChartDependency{
+				{
+					Alias:   "log",
+					Chart:   repo + chartSuffix,
+					Version: "0.1.0",
+				},
+			},
+			Patches: []string{
+				"./testdata/kube_manifest_patches/inline.yaml",
+			},
+			SetFlags: []string{
+				"--set", "log.enabled=true",
+			},
+		},
+	})
+
+	// SAVE_SNAPSHOT=1 go1.25 test -run ^TestIntegration/kube_manifest_yml_with_patches_list$ ./
+	// Verifies kustomize unified "patches:" field with a list of patch documents (both
+	// strategic merge and JSON6902) in a single file.
+	// See https://github.com/helmfile/chartify/issues/94
+	runTest(t, integrationTestCase{
+		description: "kube_manifest_yml_with_patches_list",
+		release:     "myapp",
+		chart:       "./testdata/kube_manifest_yml",
+		opts: ChartifyOpts{
+			AdhocChartDependencies: []ChartDependency{
+				{
+					Alias:   "log",
+					Chart:   repo + chartSuffix,
+					Version: "0.1.0",
+				},
+			},
+			Patches: []string{
+				"./testdata/kube_manifest_patches/list.yaml",
+			},
+			SetFlags: []string{
+				"--set", "log.enabled=true",
+			},
+		},
+	})
+
+	// SAVE_SNAPSHOT=1 go1.25 test -run ^TestIntegration/kube_manifest_yml_with_patches_path$ ./
+	// Verifies kustomize unified "patches:" field with an external file reference ("path:").
+	// The referenced file is copied into the chartify temp dir so kustomize can access it.
+	// See https://github.com/helmfile/chartify/issues/94
+	runTest(t, integrationTestCase{
+		description: "kube_manifest_yml_with_patches_path",
+		release:     "myapp",
+		chart:       "./testdata/kube_manifest_yml",
+		opts: ChartifyOpts{
+			AdhocChartDependencies: []ChartDependency{
+				{
+					Alias:   "log",
+					Chart:   repo + chartSuffix,
+					Version: "0.1.0",
+				},
+			},
+			Patches: []string{
+				"./testdata/kube_manifest_patches/with-path.yaml",
+			},
+			SetFlags: []string{
+				"--set", "log.enabled=true",
+			},
+		},
+	})
+
 	// SAVE_SNAPSHOT=1 go1.25 test -run ^TestIntegration/kube_manifest_transformer_alpha_plugin$ ./
 	runTest(t, integrationTestCase{
 		description: "kube_manifest_transformer_alpha_plugin",

kustomize_test.go

@@ -144,3 +144,119 @@ spec:
 		require.NotContains(t, capturedKustomization, "sortOptions:")
 	})
 }
+
+func TestPatch_Patches(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("inline patch writes patches field with block scalar", func(t *testing.T) {
+		tempDir := t.TempDir()
+
+		templatesDir := filepath.Join(tempDir, "templates")
+		require.NoError(t, os.MkdirAll(templatesDir, 0755))
+
+		manifest := filepath.Join(templatesDir, "deployment.yaml")
+		require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(manifest, []byte(`apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: test-deployment
+spec:
+  replicas: 1
+`), 0644))
+
+		patchContent := `patch: |-
+  apiVersion: apps/v1
+  kind: Deployment
+  metadata:
+    name: test-deployment
+  spec:
+    replicas: 3
+target:
+  kind: Deployment
+`
+		patchFile := filepath.Join(tempDir, "inline-patch.yaml")
+		require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(patchFile, []byte(patchContent), 0644))
+
+		r := New(HelmBin(helm))
+
+		var capturedKustomization string
+		origWriteFile := r.WriteFile
+		r.WriteFile = func(filename string, data []byte, perm os.FileMode) error {
+			if strings.HasSuffix(filename, "kustomization.yaml") {
+				capturedKustomization = string(data)
+			}
+			return origWriteFile(filename, data, perm)
+		}
+
+		patchOpts := &PatchOpts{
+			Patches: []string{patchFile},
+		}
+		err := r.Patch(tempDir, []string{manifest}, patchOpts)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		// Verify the generated kustomization.yaml has the patches: section with correct content.
+		require.Contains(t, capturedKustomization, "patches:")
+		require.Contains(t, capturedKustomization, "- patch: |")
+		require.Contains(t, capturedKustomization, "replicas: 3")
+		require.Contains(t, capturedKustomization, "target:")
+		require.Contains(t, capturedKustomization, "kind: Deployment")
+		// Verify the output file was actually rendered with the patch applied.
+		output, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(tempDir, "templates", "patched_resources.yaml"))
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Contains(t, string(output), "replicas: 3")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("patch with external path copies file into tempDir", func(t *testing.T) {
+		tempDir := t.TempDir()
+
+		templatesDir := filepath.Join(tempDir, "templates")
+		require.NoError(t, os.MkdirAll(templatesDir, 0755))
+
+		manifest := filepath.Join(templatesDir, "deployment.yaml")
+		require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(manifest, []byte(`apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: test-deployment
+spec:
+  replicas: 1
+`), 0644))
+
+		// Create an external patch file outside tempDir.
+		extDir := t.TempDir()
+		extPatch := filepath.Join(extDir, "external-patch.yaml")
+		require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(extPatch, []byte(`apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: test-deployment
+spec:
+  replicas: 5
+`), 0644))
+
+		// Create the patch entry referencing the external file by relative path.
+		patchEntry := "path: external-patch.yaml\ntarget:\n  kind: Deployment\n"
+		patchFile := filepath.Join(extDir, "entry.yaml")
+		require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(patchFile, []byte(patchEntry), 0644))
+
+		r := New(HelmBin(helm))
+
+		var capturedKustomization string
+		origWriteFile := r.WriteFile
+		r.WriteFile = func(filename string, data []byte, perm os.FileMode) error {
+			if strings.HasSuffix(filename, "kustomization.yaml") {
+				capturedKustomization = string(data)
+			}
+			return origWriteFile(filename, data, perm)
+		}
+
+		patchOpts := &PatchOpts{
+			Patches: []string{patchFile},
+		}
+		err := r.Patch(tempDir, []string{manifest}, patchOpts)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		// Verify the path was rewritten to point to the copied location within tempDir.
+		require.Contains(t, capturedKustomization, "patches:")
+		require.Contains(t, capturedKustomization, "path: patch-files/patchfile.0.0.yaml")
+		// Verify the external patch was actually applied (replicas: 5 comes from external-patch.yaml).
+		output, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(tempDir, "templates", "patched_resources.yaml"))
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Contains(t, string(output), "replicas: 5")
+	})
+}