# Lens Helm Chart version incompatibility with my helm plugin json file **URL:** \ **Category:** Lens Support & Troubleshooting\ **Created:** [January 16, 2026, 7:48am UTC](https://forums.k8slens.dev/t/lens-helm-chart-version-incompatibility-with-my-helm-plugin-json-file/6768 "2026-01-16T07:48:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![eatai223](https://forums.k8slens.dev/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@eatai223](https://forums.k8slens.dev/u/eatai223)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 7:48am UTC](https://forums.k8slens.dev/t/lens-helm-chart-version-incompatibility-with-my-helm-plugin-json-file/6768/1 "2026-01-16T07:48:41Z")
I have Helm installed before i installed Lens, helm is version version.BuildInfo{Version:“v3.19.4”, GitCommit:“7cfb6e486dac026202556836bb910c37d847793e”, GitTreeState:“clean”, GoVersion:“go1.24.11”} the plugin diff version is : | NAME | VERSION | DESCRIPTION | | --- | --- | --- | | diff | 3.14.1 | Preview helm upgrade changes as a diff | when i installed Lens, it can’t read the plugin diff, it gives this message failed to load plugins: failed to load plugin at “/home/xxxx/.local/share/helm/plugins/helm-diff/plugin.yaml”: error unmarshaling JSON: while decoding JSON: json: unknown field “args” Seems a helm version incompatibility, I tried to set this variable before starting Lens but it didn’t work export HELM\_NO\_PLUGINS=1 Any ideas ? ---
**Author:** ![tkudinov](https://forums.k8slens.dev/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/58f4c7/32.png) [@tkudinov](https://forums.k8slens.dev/u/tkudinov)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 9:16am UTC](https://forums.k8slens.dev/t/lens-helm-chart-version-incompatibility-with-my-helm-plugin-json-file/6768/2 "2026-01-16T09:16:43Z")
Hello @eatai223, Thank you for reaching out to Lens forum! I’ll let the dev team about your issue. Stand by for further updates. Best Regards, Tikhon Kudinov Lens Support Engineer Mirantis, Inc ---
**Author:** ![chris.schaaf](https://forums.k8slens.dev/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@chris.schaaf](https://forums.k8slens.dev/u/chris.schaaf)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 8:32am UTC](https://forums.k8slens.dev/t/lens-helm-chart-version-incompatibility-with-my-helm-plugin-json-file/6768/3 "2026-01-21T08:32:04Z")
Hello! I was seeing a similar issue with a pre-existing helm installation. I think the Lens-bundled helm would need to be updated to at least 3.18 in order to operate with the helm-diff plugin installed: [GitHub - databus23/helm-diff: A helm plugin that shows a diff explaining what a helm upgrade would change](https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff?tab=readme-ov-file#using-helm-plugin-manager--23x) ```auto ❯ /Applications/Lens.app/Contents/Resources/arm64/helm version failed to load plugins: failed to load plugin at "/Users/ChrisSchaaf/Library/helm/plugins/helm-diff/plugin.yaml": error unmarshaling JSON: while decoding JSON: json: unknown field "args" version.BuildInfo{Version:"v3.16.2", GitCommit:"13654a52f7c70a143b1dd51416d633e1071faffb", GitTreeState:"clean", GoVersion:"go1.22.7"} ``` I could confirm that v3.19.5 lets Lens do helm stuff after a refresh. No changes to plugins required. I figure that’s not recommended, but I hope that’s helpful haha. ```auto ❯ /Applications/Lens.app/Contents/Resources/arm64/helm version version.BuildInfo{Version:"v3.19.5", GitCommit:"4a19a5b6fb912c5c28a779e73f2e0880d9e239a4", GitTreeState:"clean", GoVersion:"go1.24.11"} ``` Helm 4 does not work for what it’s worth, but I didn’t expect it to given all its CLI changes. ---
**Author:** ![dielyn](https://forums.k8slens.dev/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/ecd19e/32.png) [@dielyn](https://forums.k8slens.dev/u/dielyn)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 12:19pm UTC](https://forums.k8slens.dev/t/lens-helm-chart-version-incompatibility-with-my-helm-plugin-json-file/6768/4 "2026-01-27T12:19:52Z")
+1 also encountering this issue. Any updates @tkudinov? ---
**Author:** ![tkudinov](https://forums.k8slens.dev/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/58f4c7/32.png) [@tkudinov](https://forums.k8slens.dev/u/tkudinov)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2026, 11:01am UTC](https://forums.k8slens.dev/t/lens-helm-chart-version-incompatibility-with-my-helm-plugin-json-file/6768/5 "2026-02-03T11:01:02Z")
Hello @dielyn, Not yet, unfortunately. Fixing this issue in the roadmap for the dev team, but I can’t tell you any ETA. Best Regards, Tikhon Kudinov Lens Support Engineer Mirantis, Inc ---
**Author:** ![dielyn](https://forums.k8slens.dev/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/ecd19e/32.png) [@dielyn](https://forums.k8slens.dev/u/dielyn)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 8:26am UTC](https://forums.k8slens.dev/t/lens-helm-chart-version-incompatibility-with-my-helm-plugin-json-file/6768/6 "2026-02-06T08:26:24Z")
Sad to hear. I used @chris.schaaf’s suggestion to fix it. Thanks Chris! I downloaded the Helm binary v 3.19.5 and replaced the one in the the /Applications/Lens.app/Contents/Resources/arm64 folder. Works now for me. ---
**Author:** ![crothmann](https://forums.k8slens.dev/user_avatar/forums.k8slens.dev/crothmann/32/1544_2.png) [@crothmann](https://forums.k8slens.dev/u/crothmann)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 6:00am UTC](https://forums.k8slens.dev/t/lens-helm-chart-version-incompatibility-with-my-helm-plugin-json-file/6768/7 "2026-05-19T06:00:35Z")
Hi all, Apologies for the long silence here – and thanks to @chris.schaaf for finding the bundled-helm workaround, and to @dielyn for confirming it. We have improvements queued for an upcoming stable release in how Lens handles non-JSON content (warnings, plugin-load errors) on helm’s stdout. I’ll update this thread once the build is public so anyone still affected can retest. ---
**Author:** ![crothmann](https://forums.k8slens.dev/user_avatar/forums.k8slens.dev/crothmann/32/1544_2.png) [@crothmann](https://forums.k8slens.dev/u/crothmann)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 8:41am UTC](https://forums.k8slens.dev/t/lens-helm-chart-version-incompatibility-with-my-helm-plugin-json-file/6768/8 "2026-05-20T08:41:40Z")
Hi @chris.schaaf and @dielyn, The build is public – Lens 2026.5.181248-latest at [Lens – Download](https://lenshq.io/download). The Helm-stdout handling improvements (and a couple of related Helm-area fixes) are in this release. If you’ve been running with the manually-swapped helm binary, the stock bundled binary should work again now. Let us know how it looks.