Diff failing when diffing helm hook jobs with --take-ownership flag

[blaskoa]

Problem description

When a helm chart contains helm hooks defined as Jobs, then helm diff is not behaving as expected when used with --take-ownership flag:

1. When no changes are made on the chart, the chart is marked as having changes anyway

Correct behavior without --take-ownership flag (empty)

helm diff upgrade helm-diff-repro . --install --debug

Executing helm version
Executing helm get manifest helm-diff-repro --namespace default
Executing helm get values helm-diff-repro --output yaml --all
Executing helm version
Executing helm template helm-diff-repro . --namespace default --values /var/folders/w2/1243kx491313m323bfpyn50w0000gn/T/existing-values2739512397 --validate --is-upgrade --dry-run=client
Executing helm get hooks helm-diff-repro --namespace default

Incorrect behavior with --take-ownership flag

helm diff upgrade helm-diff-repro . --install --take-ownership --debug

Executing helm version
Executing helm get manifest helm-diff-repro --namespace default
Executing helm get values helm-diff-repro --output yaml --all
Executing helm version
Executing helm template helm-diff-repro . --namespace default --values /var/folders/w2/1243kx491313m323bfpyn50w0000gn/T/existing-values3415737044 --take-ownership --validate --is-upgrade --dry-run=client
default, helm-diff-repro-hook, Job (batch) changed ownership:
- 
+ default/helm-diff-repro

We are using helmfile, and the problem causes creation of new release for all helm charts which contain any helm hooks, even when they did not change

2. When the helm hook contains any changes, then helm diff command fails

Correct behavior without --take-ownership flag

helm diff upgrade helm-diff-repro . --install --debug

Executing helm version
Executing helm get manifest helm-diff-repro --namespace default
Executing helm get values helm-diff-repro --output yaml --all
Executing helm version
Executing helm template helm-diff-repro . --namespace default --values /var/folders/w2/1243kx491313m323bfpyn50w0000gn/T/existing-values3415473100 --validate --is-upgrade --dry-run=client
Executing helm get hooks helm-diff-repro --namespace default
default, helm-diff-repro-hook, Job (batch) has changed:
 # Source: test-chart/templates/deployment.yaml
 kind: Job
 apiVersion: batch/v1
 metadata:
 name: helm-diff-repro-hook
 annotations:
 "helm.sh/hook": pre-install,pre-upgrade
 spec:
 template:
 spec:
 containers:
 - name: helm-diff-repro-hook
 image: nginx
- command: ["/bin/sh", "-c", "echo 'Hello, World!'"]
+ command: ["/bin/sh", "-c", "echo 'Hello, World! 1'"]
 restartPolicy: Never

Incorrect behavior (crash) with --take-ownership flag

helm diff upgrade helm-diff-repro . --install --take-ownership --debug

Executing helm version
Executing helm get manifest helm-diff-repro --namespace default
Executing helm get values helm-diff-repro --output yaml --all
Executing helm version
Executing helm template helm-diff-repro . --namespace default --values /var/folders/w2/1243kx491313m323bfpyn50w0000gn/T/existing-values854516463 --take-ownership --validate --is-upgrade --dry-run=client
Error: unable to generate manifests: cannot patch "helm-diff-repro-hook" with kind Job: Job.batch "helm-diff-repro-hook" is invalid: spec.template: Invalid value: core.PodTemplateSpec{ObjectMeta:v1.ObjectMeta{Name:"", GenerateName:"", Namespace:"", SelfLink:"", UID:"", ResourceVersion:"", Generation:0, CreationTimestamp:time.Date(1, time.January, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC), DeletionTimestamp:<nil>, DeletionGracePeriodSeconds:(*int64)(nil), Labels:map[string]string{"batch.kubernetes.io/controller-uid":"eb0265ed-b7eb-4e12-b09f-7896f25fbec4", "batch.kubernetes.io/job-name":"helm-diff-repro-hook", "controller-uid":"eb0265ed-b7eb-4e12-b09f-7896f25fbec4", "job-name":"helm-diff-repro-hook"}, Annotations:map[string]string(nil), OwnerReferences:[]v1.OwnerReference(nil), Finalizers:[]string(nil), ManagedFields:[]v1.ManagedFieldsEntry(nil)}, Spec:core.PodSpec{Volumes:[]core.Volume(nil), InitContainers:[]core.Container(nil), Containers:[]core.Container{core.Container{Name:"helm-diff-repro-hook", Image:"nginx", Command:[]string{"/bin/sh", "-c", "echo 'Hello, World! 1'"}, Args:[]string(nil), WorkingDir:"", Ports:[]core.ContainerPort(nil), EnvFrom:[]core.EnvFromSource(nil), Env:[]core.EnvVar(nil), Resources:core.ResourceRequirements{Limits:core.ResourceList(nil), Requests:core.ResourceList(nil), Claims:[]core.ResourceClaim(nil)}, ResizePolicy:[]core.ContainerResizePolicy(nil), RestartPolicy:(*core.ContainerRestartPolicy)(nil), VolumeMounts:[]core.VolumeMount(nil), VolumeDevices:[]core.VolumeDevice(nil), LivenessProbe:(*core.Probe)(nil), ReadinessProbe:(*core.Probe)(nil), StartupProbe:(*core.Probe)(nil), Lifecycle:(*core.Lifecycle)(nil), TerminationMessagePath:"/dev/termination-log", TerminationMessagePolicy:"File", ImagePullPolicy:"Always", SecurityContext:(*core.SecurityContext)(nil), Stdin:false, StdinOnce:false, TTY:false}}, EphemeralContainers:[]core.EphemeralContainer(nil), RestartPolicy:"Never", TerminationGracePeriodSeconds:(*int64)(0x400ccecc50), ActiveDeadlineSeconds:(*int64)(nil), DNSPolicy:"ClusterFirst", NodeSelector:map[string]string(nil), ServiceAccountName:"", AutomountServiceAccountToken:(*bool)(nil), NodeName:"", SecurityContext:(*core.PodSecurityContext)(0x4014d12cf0), ImagePullSecrets:[]core.LocalObjectReference(nil), Hostname:"", Subdomain:"", SetHostnameAsFQDN:(*bool)(nil), Affinity:(*core.Affinity)(nil), SchedulerName:"default-scheduler", Tolerations:[]core.Toleration(nil), HostAliases:[]core.HostAlias(nil), PriorityClassName:"", Priority:(*int32)(nil), PreemptionPolicy:(*core.PreemptionPolicy)(nil), DNSConfig:(*core.PodDNSConfig)(nil), ReadinessGates:[]core.PodReadinessGate(nil), RuntimeClassName:(*string)(nil), Overhead:core.ResourceList(nil), EnableServiceLinks:(*bool)(nil), TopologySpreadConstraints:[]core.TopologySpreadConstraint(nil), OS:(*core.PodOS)(nil), SchedulingGates:[]core.PodSchedulingGate(nil), ResourceClaims:[]core.PodResourceClaim(nil)}}: field is immutable
Error: plugin "diff" exited with error
helm.go:86: 2025-05-19 11:25:53.904139 +0200 CEST m=+0.367769876 [debug] plugin "diff" exited with error

Workaround

Currently we implemented a workaround by using --no-hooks flag. Using this flag has its own implications, but it works for our use case

Repro steps

To reproduce the issue I used a simple helm chart containing only one yaml file:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
 name: helm-diff-repro
spec:
 selector:
 matchLabels:
 app: helm-diff-repro
 template:
 metadata:
 labels:
 app: helm-diff-repro
 spec:
 containers:
 - name: helm-diff-repro
 image: nginx
---
kind: Job
apiVersion: batch/v1
metadata:
 name: helm-diff-repro-hook
 annotations:
 "helm.sh/hook": pre-install,pre-upgrade
spec:
 template:
 spec:
 containers:
 - name: helm-diff-repro-hook
 image: nginx
 command: ["/bin/sh", "-c", "echo 'Hello, World!'"]
 restartPolicy: Never

Then simply install this chart to a kubernetes cluster.
After that the Problem 1. will be reproducible.
To reproduce Problem 2. make any changes in the helm hook manifest - I modified the helm hook job command

Tested versions

helm version
version.BuildInfo{Version:"v3.17.3", GitCommit:"e4da49785aa6e6ee2b86efd5dd9e43400318262b", GitTreeState:"clean", GoVersion:"go1.24.2"}

helm diff version
3.11.0