skill-seekers-reference/docs/reference/GIT_CONFIG_SOURCES.md

Git-Based Config Sources - Complete Guide

Version: v2.2.0 Feature: A1.9 - Multi-Source Git Repository Support Last Updated: December 21, 2025

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Table of Contents

• Overview
• Quick Start
• Architecture
• MCP Tools Reference
• Authentication
• Use Cases
• Best Practices
• Troubleshooting
• Advanced Topics

---

Overview

What is this feature?

Git-based config sources allow you to fetch config files from private/team git repositories in addition to the public API. This unlocks:

• 🔐 Private configs - Company/internal documentation
• 👥 Team collaboration - Share configs across 3-5 person teams
• 🏢 Enterprise scale - Support 500+ developers
• 📦 Custom collections - Curated config repositories
• 🌐 Decentralized - Like npm (public + private registries)

How it works

User → fetch_config(source="team", config_name="react-custom")
    ↓
SourceManager (~/.skill-seekers/sources.json)
    ↓
GitConfigRepo (clone/pull with GitPython)
    ↓
Local cache (~/.skill-seekers/cache/team/)
    ↓
Config JSON returned

Three modes

1. API Mode (existing, unchanged)

   • fetch_config(config_name="react")
   • Fetches from api.skillseekersweb.com

2. Source Mode (NEW - recommended)

   • fetch_config(source="team", config_name="react-custom")
   • Uses registered git source

3. Git URL Mode (NEW - one-time)

   • fetch_config(git_url="https://...", config_name="react-custom")
   • Direct clone without registration

---

Quick Start

1. Set up authentication

# GitHub
export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_your_token_here

# GitLab
export GITLAB_TOKEN=glpat_your_token_here

# Bitbucket
export BITBUCKET_TOKEN=your_token_here

2. Register a source

Using MCP tools (recommended):

add_config_source(
    name="team",
    git_url="https://github.com/mycompany/skill-configs.git",
    source_type="github",  # Optional, auto-detected
    token_env="GITHUB_TOKEN",  # Optional, auto-detected
    branch="main",  # Optional, default: "main"
    priority=100  # Optional, lower = higher priority
)

3. Fetch configs

# From registered source
fetch_config(source="team", config_name="react-custom")

# List available sources
list_config_sources()

# Remove when done
remove_config_source(name="team")

4. Quick test with example repository

cd /path/to/Skill_Seekers

# Run E2E test
python3 configs/example-team/test_e2e.py

# Or test manually
add_config_source(
    name="example",
    git_url="file://$(pwd)/configs/example-team",
    branch="master"
)

fetch_config(source="example", config_name="react-custom")

---

Architecture

Storage Locations

Sources Registry:

~/.skill-seekers/sources.json

Example content:

{
  "version": "1.0",
  "sources": [
    {
      "name": "team",
      "git_url": "https://github.com/myorg/configs.git",
      "type": "github",
      "token_env": "GITHUB_TOKEN",
      "branch": "main",
      "enabled": true,
      "priority": 1,
      "added_at": "2025-12-21T10:00:00Z",
      "updated_at": "2025-12-21T10:00:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

Cache Directory:

$SKILL_SEEKERS_CACHE_DIR  (default: ~/.skill-seekers/cache/)

Structure:

~/.skill-seekers/
├── sources.json       # Source registry
└── cache/             # Git clones
    ├── team/          # One directory per source
    │   ├── .git/
    │   ├── react-custom.json
    │   └── vue-internal.json
    └── company/
        ├── .git/
        └── internal-api.json

Git Strategy

• Shallow clone: git clone --depth 1 --single-branch

  • 10-50x faster
  • Minimal disk space
  • No history, just latest commit

• Auto-pull: Updates cache automatically

  • Checks for changes on each fetch
  • Use refresh=true to force re-clone

• Config discovery: Recursively scans for *.json files

  • No hardcoded paths
  • Flexible repository structure
  • Excludes .git directory

---

MCP Tools Reference

add_config_source

Register a git repository as a config source.

Parameters:

• name (required): Source identifier (lowercase, alphanumeric, hyphens/underscores)
• git_url (required): Git repository URL (HTTPS or SSH)
• source_type (optional): "github", "gitlab", "gitea", "bitbucket", "custom" (auto-detected from URL)
• token_env (optional): Environment variable name for token (auto-detected from type)
• branch (optional): Git branch (default: "main")
• priority (optional): Priority number (default: 100, lower = higher priority)
• enabled (optional): Whether source is active (default: true)

Returns:

• Source details including registration timestamp

Examples:

# Minimal (auto-detects everything)
add_config_source(
    name="team",
    git_url="https://github.com/myorg/configs.git"
)

# Full parameters
add_config_source(
    name="company",
    git_url="https://gitlab.company.com/platform/configs.git",
    source_type="gitlab",
    token_env="GITLAB_COMPANY_TOKEN",
    branch="develop",
    priority=1,
    enabled=true
)

# SSH URL (auto-converts to HTTPS with token)
add_config_source(
    name="team",
    git_url="git@github.com:myorg/configs.git",
    token_env="GITHUB_TOKEN"
)

list_config_sources

List all registered config sources.

Parameters:

• enabled_only (optional): Only show enabled sources (default: false)

Returns:

• List of sources sorted by priority

Example:

# List all sources
list_config_sources()

# List only enabled sources
list_config_sources(enabled_only=true)

Output:

📋 Config Sources (2 total)

✓ **team**
  📁 https://github.com/myorg/configs.git
  🔖 Type: github | 🌿 Branch: main
  🔑 Token: GITHUB_TOKEN | ⚡ Priority: 1
  🕒 Added: 2025-12-21 10:00:00

✓ **company**
  📁 https://gitlab.company.com/configs.git
  🔖 Type: gitlab | 🌿 Branch: develop
  🔑 Token: GITLAB_TOKEN | ⚡ Priority: 2
  🕒 Added: 2025-12-21 11:00:00

remove_config_source

Remove a registered config source.

Parameters:

• name (required): Source identifier

Returns:

• Success/failure message

Note: Does NOT delete cached git repository data. To free disk space, manually delete ~/.skill-seekers/cache/{source_name}/

Example:

remove_config_source(name="team")

fetch_config

Fetch config from API, git URL, or named source.

Mode 1: Named Source (highest priority)

fetch_config(
    source="team",  # Use registered source
    config_name="react-custom",
    destination="configs/",  # Optional
    branch="main",  # Optional, overrides source default
    refresh=false  # Optional, force re-clone
)

Mode 2: Direct Git URL

fetch_config(
    git_url="https://github.com/myorg/configs.git",
    config_name="react-custom",
    branch="main",  # Optional
    token="ghp_token",  # Optional, prefer env vars
    destination="configs/",  # Optional
    refresh=false  # Optional
)

Mode 3: API (existing, unchanged)

fetch_config(
    config_name="react",
    destination="configs/"  # Optional
)

# Or list available
fetch_config(list_available=true)

---

Authentication

Environment Variables Only

Tokens are ONLY stored in environment variables. This is:

• ✅ Secure - Not in files, not in git
• ✅ Standard - Same as GitHub CLI, Docker, etc.
• ✅ Temporary - Cleared on logout
• ✅ Flexible - Different tokens for different services

Creating Tokens

GitHub:

1. Go to https://github.com/settings/tokens
2. Generate new token (classic)
3. Select scopes: repo (for private repos)
4. Copy token: ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxx
5. Export: export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxx

GitLab:

1. Go to https://gitlab.com/-/profile/personal_access_tokens
2. Create token with read_repository scope
3. Copy token: glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxxx
4. Export: export GITLAB_TOKEN=glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bitbucket:

1. Go to https://bitbucket.org/account/settings/app-passwords/
2. Create app password with Repositories: Read permission
3. Copy password
4. Export: export BITBUCKET_TOKEN=your_password

Persistent Tokens

Add to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, etc.):

# GitHub token
export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxx

# GitLab token
export GITLAB_TOKEN=glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxxx

# Company GitLab (separate token)
export GITLAB_COMPANY_TOKEN=glpat-yyyyyyyyyyyyy

Then: source ~/.bashrc

Token Injection

GitConfigRepo automatically:

1. Converts SSH URLs to HTTPS
2. Injects token into URL
3. Uses token for authentication

Example:

• Input: git@github.com:myorg/repo.git + token ghp_xxx
• Output: https://ghp_xxx@github.com/myorg/repo.git

---

Use Cases

Small Team (3-5 people)

Scenario: Frontend team needs custom React configs for internal docs.

Setup:

# 1. Team lead creates repo
gh repo create myteam/skill-configs --private

# 2. Add configs
cd myteam-skill-configs
cp ../Skill_Seekers/configs/react.json ./react-internal.json

# Edit for internal docs:
# - Change base_url to internal docs site
# - Adjust selectors for company theme
# - Customize categories

git add . && git commit -m "Add internal React config" && git push

# 3. Team members register (one-time)
export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_their_token
add_config_source(
    name="team",
    git_url="https://github.com/myteam/skill-configs.git"
)

# 4. Daily usage
fetch_config(source="team", config_name="react-internal")

Benefits:

• ✅ Shared configs across team
• ✅ Version controlled
• ✅ Private to company
• ✅ Easy updates (git push)

Enterprise (500+ developers)

Scenario: Large company with multiple teams, internal docs, and priority-based config resolution.

Setup:

# IT pre-configures sources for all developers
# (via company setup script or documentation)

# 1. Platform team configs (highest priority)
add_config_source(
    name="platform",
    git_url="https://gitlab.company.com/platform/skill-configs.git",
    source_type="gitlab",
    token_env="GITLAB_COMPANY_TOKEN",
    priority=1
)

# 2. Mobile team configs
add_config_source(
    name="mobile",
    git_url="https://gitlab.company.com/mobile/skill-configs.git",
    source_type="gitlab",
    token_env="GITLAB_COMPANY_TOKEN",
    priority=2
)

# 3. Public/official configs (fallback)
# (API mode, no registration needed, lowest priority)

Developer usage:

# Automatically finds config with highest priority
fetch_config(config_name="platform-api")  # Found in platform source
fetch_config(config_name="react-native")  # Found in mobile source
fetch_config(config_name="react")  # Falls back to public API

Benefits:

• ✅ Centralized config management
• ✅ Team-specific overrides
• ✅ Fallback to public configs
• ✅ Priority-based resolution
• ✅ Scales to hundreds of developers

Open Source Project

Scenario: Open source project wants curated configs for contributors.

Setup:

# 1. Create public repo
gh repo create myproject/skill-configs --public

# 2. Add configs for project stack
- react.json (frontend)
- django.json (backend)
- postgres.json (database)
- nginx.json (deployment)

# 3. Contributors use directly (no token needed for public repos)
add_config_source(
    name="myproject",
    git_url="https://github.com/myproject/skill-configs.git"
)

fetch_config(source="myproject", config_name="react")

Benefits:

• ✅ Curated configs for project
• ✅ No API dependency
• ✅ Community contributions via PR
• ✅ Version controlled

---

Best Practices

Config Naming

Good:

• react-internal.json - Clear purpose
• api-v2.json - Version included
• platform-auth.json - Specific topic

Bad:

• config1.json - Generic
• react.json - Conflicts with official
• test.json - Not descriptive

Repository Structure

Flat (recommended for small repos):

skill-configs/
├── README.md
├── react-internal.json
├── vue-internal.json
└── api-v2.json

Organized (recommended for large repos):

skill-configs/
├── README.md
├── frontend/
│   ├── react-internal.json
│   └── vue-internal.json
├── backend/
│   ├── django-api.json
│   └── fastapi-platform.json
└── mobile/
    ├── react-native.json
    └── flutter.json

Note: Config discovery works recursively, so both structures work!

Source Priorities

Lower number = higher priority. Use sensible defaults:

• 1-10: Critical/override configs
• 50-100: Team configs (default: 100)
• 1000+: Fallback/experimental

Example:

# Override official React config with internal version
add_config_source(name="team", ..., priority=1)  # Checked first
# Official API is checked last (priority: infinity)

Security

✅ DO:

• Use environment variables for tokens
• Use private repos for sensitive configs
• Rotate tokens regularly
• Use fine-grained tokens (read-only if possible)

❌ DON'T:

• Commit tokens to git
• Share tokens between people
• Use personal tokens for teams (use service accounts)
• Store tokens in config files

Maintenance

Regular tasks:

# Update configs in repo
cd myteam-skill-configs
# Edit configs...
git commit -m "Update React config" && git push

# Developers get updates automatically on next fetch
fetch_config(source="team", config_name="react-internal")
# ^--- Auto-pulls latest changes

Force refresh:

# Delete cache and re-clone
fetch_config(source="team", config_name="react-internal", refresh=true)

Clean up old sources:

# Remove unused sources
remove_config_source(name="old-team")

# Free disk space
rm -rf ~/.skill-seekers/cache/old-team/

---

Troubleshooting

Authentication Failures

Error: "Authentication failed for https://github.com/org/repo.git"

Solutions:

1. Check token is set:

   echo $GITHUB_TOKEN  # Should show token
   

2. Verify token has correct permissions:

   • GitHub: repo scope for private repos
   • GitLab: read_repository scope

3. Check token isn't expired:

   • Regenerate if needed

4. Try direct access:

   git clone https://$GITHUB_TOKEN@github.com/org/repo.git test-clone
   

Config Not Found

Error: "Config 'react' not found in repository. Available configs: django, vue"

Solutions:

1. List available configs:

   # Shows what's actually in the repo
   list_config_sources()
   

2. Check config file exists in repo:

   # Clone locally and inspect
   git clone <git_url> temp-inspect
   find temp-inspect -name "*.json"
   

3. Verify config name (case-insensitive):

   • react matches React.json or react.json

Slow Cloning

Issue: Repository takes minutes to clone.

Solutions:

1. Shallow clone is already enabled (depth=1)

2. Check repository size:

   # See repo size
   gh repo view owner/repo --json diskUsage
   

3. If very large (>100MB), consider:

   • Splitting configs into separate repos
   • Using sparse checkout
   • Contacting IT to optimize repo

Cache Issues

Issue: Getting old configs even after updating repo.

Solutions:

1. Force refresh:

   fetch_config(source="team", config_name="react", refresh=true)
   

2. Manual cache clear:

   rm -rf ~/.skill-seekers/cache/team/
   

3. Check auto-pull worked:

   cd ~/.skill-seekers/cache/team
   git log -1  # Shows latest commit
   

---

Advanced Topics

Multiple Git Accounts

Use different tokens for different repos:

# Personal GitHub
export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_personal_xxx

# Work GitHub
export GITHUB_WORK_TOKEN=ghp_work_yyy

# Company GitLab
export GITLAB_COMPANY_TOKEN=glpat-zzz

Register with specific tokens:

add_config_source(
    name="personal",
    git_url="https://github.com/myuser/configs.git",
    token_env="GITHUB_TOKEN"
)

add_config_source(
    name="work",
    git_url="https://github.com/mycompany/configs.git",
    token_env="GITHUB_WORK_TOKEN"
)

Custom Cache Location

Set custom cache directory:

export SKILL_SEEKERS_CACHE_DIR=/mnt/large-disk/skill-seekers-cache

Or pass to GitConfigRepo:

from skill_seekers.mcp.git_repo import GitConfigRepo

gr = GitConfigRepo(cache_dir="/custom/path/cache")

SSH URLs

SSH URLs are automatically converted to HTTPS + token:

# Input
add_config_source(
    name="team",
    git_url="git@github.com:myorg/configs.git",
    token_env="GITHUB_TOKEN"
)

# Internally becomes
# https://ghp_xxx@github.com/myorg/configs.git

Priority Resolution

When same config exists in multiple sources:

add_config_source(name="team", ..., priority=1)     # Checked first
add_config_source(name="company", ..., priority=2)  # Checked second
# API mode is checked last (priority: infinity)

fetch_config(config_name="react")
# 1. Checks team source
# 2. If not found, checks company source
# 3. If not found, falls back to API

CI/CD Integration

Use in GitHub Actions:

name: Generate Skills

on: push

jobs:
  generate:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Install Skill Seekers
        run: pip install skill-seekers

      - name: Register config source
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        run: |
          python3 << EOF
          from skill_seekers.mcp.source_manager import SourceManager
          sm = SourceManager()
          sm.add_source(
              name="team",
              git_url="https://github.com/myorg/configs.git"
          )
          EOF

      - name: Fetch and use config
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        run: |
          # Use MCP fetch_config or direct Python
          skill-seekers scrape --config <fetched_config>

---

API Reference

GitConfigRepo Class

Location: src/skill_seekers/mcp/git_repo.py

Methods:

def __init__(cache_dir: Optional[str] = None)
    """Initialize with optional cache directory."""

def clone_or_pull(
    source_name: str,
    git_url: str,
    branch: str = "main",
    token: Optional[str] = None,
    force_refresh: bool = False
) -> Path:
    """Clone if not cached, else pull latest changes."""

def find_configs(repo_path: Path) -> list[Path]:
    """Find all *.json files in repository."""

def get_config(repo_path: Path, config_name: str) -> dict:
    """Load specific config by name."""

@staticmethod
def inject_token(git_url: str, token: str) -> str:
    """Inject token into git URL."""

@staticmethod
def validate_git_url(git_url: str) -> bool:
    """Validate git URL format."""

SourceManager Class

Location: src/skill_seekers/mcp/source_manager.py

Methods:

def __init__(config_dir: Optional[str] = None)
    """Initialize with optional config directory."""

def add_source(
    name: str,
    git_url: str,
    source_type: str = "github",
    token_env: Optional[str] = None,
    branch: str = "main",
    priority: int = 100,
    enabled: bool = True
) -> dict:
    """Add or update config source."""

def get_source(name: str) -> dict:
    """Get source by name."""

def list_sources(enabled_only: bool = False) -> list[dict]:
    """List all sources."""

def remove_source(name: str) -> bool:
    """Remove source."""

def update_source(name: str, **kwargs) -> dict:
    """Update specific fields."""

---

See Also

• README.md - Main documentation
• MCP_SETUP.md - MCP server setup
• UNIFIED_SCRAPING.md - Multi-source scraping
• configs/example-team/ - Example repository

---

Changelog

v2.2.0 (2025-12-21)

• Initial release of git-based config sources
• 3 fetch modes: API, Git URL, Named Source
• 4 MCP tools: add/list/remove/fetch
• Support for GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Gitea
• Shallow clone optimization
• Priority-based resolution
• 83 tests (100% passing)

---

Questions? Open an issue at https://github.com/yusufkaraaslan/Skill_Seekers/issues