This is part of my guide on how I manage multiple GitHub repositories. This post focuses on streamlining shared content, such as workflows and configuration files. Back to main guide.

File Sets

I define sets of reusable files that can be applied across multiple repositories:

  • standardContent: Generic files like .gitignore
  • standardDotnetNuget: Shared .NET workflows and Directory.Build.props
  • standardDocker: Docker-related workflows and .dockerignore

These sets are declared in repos.json:

{
  "content": {
    "standardContent": {
      ".gitignore": "standard_content/.gitignore"
    },
    "standardDocker": {
      ".github/workflows/docker-dev.yml": "standard_content/docker-dev.yml"
    }
  },
  "repositories": {
    "LordMike/MBW.BlueRiiot2MQTT": {
      "standardContent": true,
      "standardDocker": true
    }
  }
}

Each repository opts into content sets by enabling the respective boolean key.

Applying Content with gh-standard-content

I created a tool that syncs content into repositories and manages pull requests for changes:

MBW.Tools.GhStandardContent

Installation

Install the tool locally using a tool manifest:

dotnet new tool-manifest

dotnet tool install MBW.Tools.GhStandardContent

Usage

Run it using a script:

# DoStandardContent.ps1

dotnet tool restore

dotnet tool run gh-standard-content -t MY_GH_TOKEN repos.json

This scans the repositories, detects content drift, and creates PRs where updates are needed.

Simple, powerful, and version-controlled content management for your GitHub repos.