Configuration model

Precedence

Hermes merges partial chart configuration with its built-in version-specific defaults. The effective precedence is CLI > config.yaml > environment > built-in defaults. The chart therefore does not attempt to reproduce the complete upstream configuration.

Why configuration is seeded

The chart seeds config.yaml into $HERMES_HOME with an init container. It is not mounted read-only: Hermes writes runtime state in its home directory. The default bootstrap.overwrite: false seeds only when the file is absent, preserving runtime edits across upgrades. Set it to true to replace the file with chart values on every rollout. After seeding or preserving the file, the init container runs Hermes' non-interactive config migration and backs up config.yaml and .env before changing them. Configs with no explicit version are migrated; configs that explicitly declare a version below Hermes' support floor are left untouched and require the operator recovery documented in the chart README.

Controller choice

Use a Deployment for the normal single-agent case. Use a StatefulSet when stable pod identity matters to your workload. Neither mode creates a Namespace; choose it through Helm's --namespace flag.