Kubernetes with Helm

Rounds includes a first-party Helm chart in this repository at helm/rounds.

Basic install

helm upgrade --install rounds oci://ghcr.io/syntropize/charts/rounds \
  --namespace observability \
  --create-namespace

This installs a private ClusterIP service, which is reachable from inside the cluster. For local evaluation, use kubectl port-forward; for shared access, configure Ingress or a load balancer.

Accessing Rounds

Local cluster / private ClusterIP

The default service type is ClusterIP. This is intentionally private to the cluster, so a local kind/minikube install needs a tunnel:

kubectl -n observability port-forward svc/rounds 3000:80

Then open http://127.0.0.1:3000.

This is the same pattern many Helm charts use for quick local verification: install privately by default, then port-forward from your workstation. For shared access, use one of the options below instead.

LoadBalancer

Use this when your Kubernetes environment can provision external load balancers:

helm upgrade --install rounds oci://ghcr.io/syntropize/charts/rounds \
  --namespace observability \
  --create-namespace \
  --set service.type=LoadBalancer

Wait for an external address:

kubectl -n observability get svc rounds --watch

Ingress

Use this when your cluster already has an Ingress controller such as nginx, Traefik, or a cloud provider ingress controller:

helm upgrade --install rounds oci://ghcr.io/syntropize/charts/rounds \
  --namespace observability \
  --create-namespace \
  --set ingress.enabled=true \
  --set ingress.className=nginx \
  --set ingress.hosts[0].host=rounds.example.com \
  --set env.CORS_ORIGINS=https://rounds.example.com

Point DNS for rounds.example.com at your Ingress controller.

Storage

The Helm chart can run with either local SQLite or external Postgres.

SQLite is the default for evaluation and small single-pod installs. The database file lives at /var/lib/syntropize/rounds.db inside the container and is stored on the chart's persistent volume claim when persistence.enabled=true. Do not run multiple Rounds replicas against the SQLite PVC.

For production Kubernetes and any multi-replica deployment, use Postgres. Set secretEnv.DATABASE_URL before the first Rounds pod starts:

helm install rounds oci://ghcr.io/syntropize/charts/rounds \
  --namespace observability --create-namespace \
  --set secretEnv.DATABASE_URL='postgresql://rounds:password@postgres.example.com:5432/rounds' \
  --set env.DATABASE_SSL=true

When DATABASE_URL starts with postgres:// or postgresql://, Rounds uses Postgres for the full repository layer: auth, RBAC, settings, datasources, dashboards, investigations, alerts, notifications, chat, and feed data. Choose the backend at install time. The setup wizard stores application settings such as the LLM provider, but it cannot switch the database because the database must exist before the app can boot.

SQLite and Postgres are the supported backends today. The repository layer is abstracted so more SQL databases can be added later without changing the setup flow.

Common overrides

• secretEnv.JWT_SECRET: explicit JWT secret
• secretEnv.DATABASE_URL: Postgres connection string; enables the full Postgres repository backend
• secretEnv.REDIS_URL: enable Redis-backed features
• persistence.enabled: keep local state on a PVC
• ingress.enabled: expose the app through an Ingress controller
• service.type: set to LoadBalancer or NodePort when your cluster supports it

LLM credentials are configured in the web setup flow after first login.