Map out total dependency count and depth across a Helm chart's subcharts.
Helm resolves and downloads every chart listed under `dependencies` in Chart.yaml into the `charts/` directory, and those subcharts can themselves declare further dependencies. The effective dependency count a `helm dependency update` pulls is the sum of direct and transitive charts, and the total bandwidth/storage cost of that pull is that count multiplied by the average packaged chart size.
totalDownloadSize = (directDeps + transitiveDeps) × avgChartSize
No — by default each parent chart vendors its own copy of a dependency into its `charts/` directory, so the same subchart can be downloaded and stored multiple times across a dependency tree unless aliased and managed carefully.
In the chart's local `charts/` directory as `.tgz` archives (or unpacked directories), which are then bundled into the parent chart's own package when it's built.
Use `condition` and `tags` in Chart.yaml to make optional subcharts skippable, pin to minimal versions, and consider extracting rarely-changing shared logic into a library chart instead of a full subchart.