Helm

Helm is a production REPL for your Sails applications. Named after the ship's helm—where you steer and command the vessel.

Think of it as Tinkerwell for Sails — a live console connected to your running app.

What is Helm?

Helm gives you a live REPL connected to your running Sails application:

• Query your database using Waterline models
• Execute Sails helpers
• Inspect configuration
• Debug issues in real-time
• All without SSH or direct database access

Accessing Helm

Via Dashboard

1. Go to your project in Slipway
2. Select an environment and click the app name from the Apps list
3. Click the ellipsis dropdown menu and select Helm
4. Start typing in the REPL interface

Your app must be running for Helm to work — it executes code inside the running container.

How It Works

When you run code in Helm, Slipway:

1. Takes your code and wraps it in a Sails bootstrap script
2. Executes it inside your running container via docker exec
3. Captures the output and returns it to the browser

This means you have full access to your app's Sails environment — models, helpers, config, and everything else.

Execution Timeout

Each Helm execution has a 30-second timeout. Long-running queries will be terminated automatically.

Using Helm

Querying Models

All your Sails models are available globally:

// Find all users
await User.find()

// Find with criteria
await User.find({ role: 'admin' })

// Count records
await User.count()

// Find one
await User.findOne({ email: '[email protected]' })

// With associations
await User.find().populate('posts')

Using Helpers

Call your Sails helpers directly:

// Send an email
await sails.helpers.mail.send({
  to: '[email protected]',
  subject: 'Test from Helm',
  template: 'email-test'
})

// Use any custom helper
await sails.helpers.payments.calculateTotal({ orderId: 123 })

Inspecting Configuration

// View custom config
sails.config.custom

// Check environment
sails.config.environment

// View datastore config
sails.config.datastores

Advanced Queries

// Raw SQL (PostgreSQL)
await sails.sendNativeQuery('SELECT COUNT(*) FROM "user"')

// Complex Waterline queries
await Post.find({
  where: { status: 'published' },
  sort: 'createdAt DESC',
  limit: 10
}).populate('author')

// Aggregations
await Order.sum('total')

Use Cases

Debugging a User Issue

// Find the user
const user = await User.findOne({ email: '[email protected]' })

// Check their orders
await Order.find({ user: user.id }).sort('createdAt DESC')

Quick Data Fixes

// Update a single record
await User.updateOne({ email: '[email protected]' }).set({
  emailVerified: true
})

Testing Helpers

// Test email sending
await sails.helpers.mail.send({
  to: '[email protected]',
  subject: 'Test',
  template: 'email-test'
})

Best Practices

1. Always Use .limit()

// Good
await User.find().limit(10)

// Risky in production — could return millions of rows
await User.find()

2. Never Store Credentials

Don't type passwords or API keys in the Helm — treat it as a shared console.

3. Test Queries Locally First

Test complex queries in development before running in production.

4. Use Transactions for Multiple Updates

await sails.getDatastore().transaction(async (db) => {
  await User.updateOne({ id: 1 }).set({ credits: 100 }).usingConnection(db)
  await Transaction.create({ userId: 1, amount: 100 }).usingConnection(db)
})

Troubleshooting

"App Not Running"

Helm requires your app to be running. Check the app status on your environment page and review deployment logs if the app has crashed.

"Execution Timeout"

The query took too long (>30 seconds).

1. Add .limit() to large queries
2. Add indexes to frequently queried columns
3. Simplify the query

What's Next?

• Learn about Bridge for visual data management
• Set up Database Services for your app
• Configure Environment Variables