refactor: replace NoColor with ColorMode for improved color output control

Signed-off-by: Mohammadreza Asadollahifard <mazafard@gmail.com>

pkg/cli/environment.go

@@ -89,8 +89,8 @@ type EnvSettings struct {
 	BurstLimit int
 	// QPS is queries per second which may be used to avoid throttling.
 	QPS float32
-	// NoColor disables colorized output
-	NoColor bool
+	// ColorMode controls colorized output (never, auto, always)
+	ColorMode string
 }
 
 func New() *EnvSettings {
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ func New() *EnvSettings {
 		RepositoryCache:           envOr("HELM_REPOSITORY_CACHE", helmpath.CachePath("repository")),
 		BurstLimit:                envIntOr("HELM_BURST_LIMIT", defaultBurstLimit),
 		QPS:                       envFloat32Or("HELM_QPS", defaultQPS),
-		NoColor:                   envBoolOr("NO_COLOR", false),
+		ColorMode:                 envColorMode(),
 	}
 	env.Debug, _ = strconv.ParseBool(os.Getenv("HELM_DEBUG"))
 
@@ -163,7 +163,8 @@ func (s *EnvSettings) AddFlags(fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
 	fs.StringVar(&s.RepositoryCache, "repository-cache", s.RepositoryCache, "path to the directory containing cached repository indexes")
 	fs.IntVar(&s.BurstLimit, "burst-limit", s.BurstLimit, "client-side default throttling limit")
 	fs.Float32Var(&s.QPS, "qps", s.QPS, "queries per second used when communicating with the Kubernetes API, not including bursting")
-	fs.BoolVar(&s.NoColor, "no-color", s.NoColor, "disable colorized output")
+	fs.StringVar(&s.ColorMode, "color", s.ColorMode, "use colored output (never, auto, always)")
+	fs.StringVar(&s.ColorMode, "colour", s.ColorMode, "use colored output (never, auto, always)")
 }
 
 func envOr(name, def string) string {
@@ -217,6 +218,23 @@ func envCSV(name string) (ls []string) {
 	return
 }
 
+func envColorMode() string {
+	// Check NO_COLOR environment variable first (standard)
+	if v, ok := os.LookupEnv("NO_COLOR"); ok && v != "" {
+		return "never"
+	}
+	// Check HELM_COLOR environment variable
+	if v, ok := os.LookupEnv("HELM_COLOR"); ok {
+		v = strings.ToLower(v)
+		switch v {
+		case "never", "auto", "always":
+			return v
+		}
+	}
+	// Default to auto
+	return "auto"
+}
+
 func (s *EnvSettings) EnvVars() map[string]string {
 	envvars := map[string]string{
 		"HELM_BIN":               os.Args[0],
@@ -269,3 +287,25 @@ func (s *EnvSettings) SetNamespace(namespace string) {
 func (s *EnvSettings) RESTClientGetter() genericclioptions.RESTClientGetter {
 	return s.config
 }
+
+// ColorEnabled returns true if color output should be enabled based on the ColorMode setting
+func (s *EnvSettings) ColorEnabled() bool {
+	switch s.ColorMode {
+	case "never":
+		return false
+	case "always":
+		return true
+	case "auto":
+		// Auto mode is handled by fatih/color's built-in terminal detection
+		// We just need to not override it
+		return true
+	default:
+		return true
+	}
+}
+
+// ShouldDisableColor returns true if color output should be disabled
+// This is the inverse of ColorEnabled for backward compatibility with noColor parameters
+func (s *EnvSettings) ShouldDisableColor() bool {
+	return s.ColorMode == "never"
+}

pkg/cmd/get_all.go

@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func newGetAllCmd(cfg *action.Configuration, out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 				debug:        true,
 				showMetadata: true,
 				hideNotes:    false,
-				noColor:      settings.NoColor,
+				noColor:      settings.ShouldDisableColor(),
 			})
 		},
 	}

pkg/cmd/install.go

@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ func newInstallCmd(cfg *action.Configuration, out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 				debug:        settings.Debug,
 				showMetadata: false,
 				hideNotes:    client.HideNotes,
-				noColor:      settings.NoColor,
+				noColor:      settings.ShouldDisableColor(),
 			})
 		},
 	}

pkg/cmd/list.go

@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ func newListCmd(cfg *action.Configuration, out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 				}
 			}
 
-			return outfmt.Write(out, newReleaseListWriter(results, client.TimeFormat, client.NoHeaders, settings.NoColor))
+			return outfmt.Write(out, newReleaseListWriter(results, client.TimeFormat, client.NoHeaders, settings.ShouldDisableColor()))
 		},
 	}
 

pkg/cmd/release_testing.go

@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ func newReleaseTestCmd(cfg *action.Configuration, out io.Writer) *cobra.Command
 				debug:        settings.Debug,
 				showMetadata: false,
 				hideNotes:    client.HideNotes,
-				noColor:      settings.NoColor,
+				noColor:      settings.ShouldDisableColor(),
 			}); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}

pkg/cmd/root.go

@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/fatih/color"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
 
@@ -80,6 +81,8 @@ Environment variables:
 | $HELM_KUBETLS_SERVER_NAME          | set the server name used to validate the Kubernetes API server certificate                                 |
 | $HELM_BURST_LIMIT                  | set the default burst limit in the case the server contains many CRDs (default 100, -1 to disable)         |
 | $HELM_QPS                          | set the Queries Per Second in cases where a high number of calls exceed the option for higher burst values |
+| $HELM_COLOR                        | set color output mode. Allowed values: never, always, auto (default: auto)                                 |
+| $NO_COLOR                          | set to any non-empty value to disable all colored output (overrides $HELM_COLOR)                           |
 
 Helm stores cache, configuration, and data based on the following configuration order:
 
@@ -129,6 +132,20 @@ func SetupLogging(debug bool) {
 	slog.SetDefault(logger)
 }
 
+// configureColorOutput configures the color output based on the ColorMode setting
+func configureColorOutput(settings *cli.EnvSettings) {
+	switch settings.ColorMode {
+	case "never":
+		color.NoColor = true
+	case "always":
+		color.NoColor = false
+	case "auto":
+		// Let fatih/color handle automatic detection
+		// It will check if output is a terminal and NO_COLOR env var
+		// We don't need to do anything here
+	}
+}
+
 func newRootCmdWithConfig(actionConfig *action.Configuration, out io.Writer, args []string, logSetup func(bool)) (*cobra.Command, error) {
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:          "helm",
@@ -160,6 +177,27 @@ func newRootCmdWithConfig(actionConfig *action.Configuration, out io.Writer, arg
 	flags.Parse(args)
 
 	logSetup(settings.Debug)
+	
+	// Validate color mode setting
+	switch settings.ColorMode {
+	case "never", "auto", "always":
+		// Valid color mode
+	default:
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid color mode %q: must be one of: never, auto, always", settings.ColorMode)
+	}
+	
+	// Configure color output based on ColorMode setting
+	configureColorOutput(settings)
+
+	// Setup shell completion for the color flag
+	_ = cmd.RegisterFlagCompletionFunc("color", func(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string, _ string) ([]string, cobra.ShellCompDirective) {
+		return []string{"never", "auto", "always"}, cobra.ShellCompDirectiveNoFileComp
+	})
+	
+	// Setup shell completion for the colour flag
+	_ = cmd.RegisterFlagCompletionFunc("colour", func(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string, _ string) ([]string, cobra.ShellCompDirective) {
+		return []string{"never", "auto", "always"}, cobra.ShellCompDirectiveNoFileComp
+	})
 
 	// Setup shell completion for the namespace flag
 	err := cmd.RegisterFlagCompletionFunc("namespace", func(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string, _ string) ([]string, cobra.ShellCompDirective) {

pkg/cmd/status.go

@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ func newStatusCmd(cfg *action.Configuration, out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 				debug:        false,
 				showMetadata: false,
 				hideNotes:    false,
-				noColor:      settings.NoColor,
+				noColor:      settings.ShouldDisableColor(),
 			})
 		},
 	}

pkg/cmd/upgrade.go

@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ func newUpgradeCmd(cfg *action.Configuration, out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 						debug:        settings.Debug,
 						showMetadata: false,
 						hideNotes:    instClient.HideNotes,
-						noColor:      settings.NoColor,
+						noColor:      settings.ShouldDisableColor(),
 					})
 				} else if err != nil {
 					return err
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ func newUpgradeCmd(cfg *action.Configuration, out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 				debug:        settings.Debug,
 				showMetadata: false,
 				hideNotes:    client.HideNotes,
-				noColor:      settings.NoColor,
+				noColor:      settings.ShouldDisableColor(),
 			})
 		},
 	}