Everyday git

Once a remote repository exists and you have a role, daily work is normal git.

Once a remote repository exists and you have a role, daily work is normal git. This page maps common tasks onto Rabun Git.

Assume origin is:

ssh://git@git.example.com:2222/ada/website.git

Clone (get a working copy)

git clone ssh://git@git.example.com:2222/ada/website.git
cd website

You need at least read. The clone includes all branches the server has. Merge-request refs (refs/rabun/requests/…) are in the same repo if you fetch them; you do not need them for ordinary editing.

Browse locally

The forge does not serve a website. On this machine, preview the working copy (or a bare repo you can read) with Zola on loopback. Needs git and Zola 0.23.4+ on PATH. First run fetches the DevLab theme into ~/.cache/rabun-git/themes/.

cd website
rgit view
# or: rgit view --open
# or: rgit view /path/to/clone --ref v0.1.0

On the forge host, rgit view ada/website reads $RABUN_GIT_ROOT/repos/ada/website.git if that directory exists (often from rabun-git shell). It does not clone over SSH.

The preview binds 127.0.0.1:1111 by default. It is not rabun-git serve and not a public git UI.

See remotes and status

git remote -v
git status
git log --oneline -5

origin should point at the forge URL. git status tells you if you have uncommitted files.

Commit locally

Git still stores commits on this machine until you push.

# edit files
git add README.md
git commit -m "docs: explain the setup"

Write a Conventional Commits 1.0.0 subject (feat:, fix:, docs:, …). That is the default. rgit version hook install checks it on this machine; .rabun/version.toml with enforce.commits also checks on push. To allow any message, set commits = false (or omit the file). Details: Versioning.

To cut a release (bump version files, CHANGELOG.md, commit, tag) without pushing:

rgit version release

Update from the server

git pull

If others merged to master/main, this fetches and merges (or rebases, if you configured that). Need read.

Branch, then push

Do not commit straight to master/main unless you are a repo or forge admin. Create a branch:

git checkout master
git pull
git checkout -b feature/contact-form
# edit, commit
git push -u origin feature/contact-form

Need write to push that branch. -u means later git push on this branch goes to origin.

List branches on the server:

git branch -r

Why git push origin master might fail

master and main are protected. Non-admins get a hook error from the forge. That is expected. Push a feature branch and open a merge request.

Admins can push those branches directly (for example the first import of an existing repo).

Fetch without merging

git fetch origin
git log HEAD..origin/master

Useful to see incoming commits before you git pull.

Tags

Prefer rgit version release, which writes an annotated vMAJOR.MINOR.PATCH tag that matches the version files. You can still tag by hand:

git tag v0.1.0
git push origin v0.1.0

Need write. SemVer 2.0 tags (vMAJOR.MINOR.PATCH) are the default when enforce.tags is on. Set tags = false to allow any tag name. Tag pushes can start CI workflows if a workflow file has on: tag:.

SSH management without git

Same port as git. Examples:

ssh -p 2222 git@git.example.com repo list
ssh -p 2222 git@git.example.com repo show ada/website
ssh -p 2222 git@git.example.com request list ada/website
ssh -p 2222 git@git.example.com run list ada/website

A login SSH session (no command) prints a greeting and the repos you can read.

If git asks about the host key

First connection to port 2222 shows a fingerprint for the forge host key ($RABUN_GIT_ROOT/ssh_host_ed25519_key). Compare with what the operator expects, then type yes. This is the same check as the first ssh git@github.com.

Next: Merge requests, or Versioning.