.github Repository

This is a special base template repo that contains default community health files, templates, workflows, and other files to be shared with derived repositories. For more information on how this special repo works, see this article on freeCodeCamp.

---
title: Personal GitHub Repo Structure
---

flowchart TB

  subgraph row1 [" "]
    github(<b>.github</b>
    repo)

    githubNote[Contains core files
    to be included in all repos.]
  end

  subgraph row2 [" "]
    templateA(<b>.template-a</b>
    repo)

    repo1(repo-1)

    templateB(<b>.template-b</b>
    repo)

    templateNote[Templates contain
    additional default files
    for specific project types.]
  end

  subgraph row3 [" "]
    repo2(repo-2)
    repo3(repo-3)
    repo4(repo-4)

    templateC(<b>.template-c</b>
    repo)
  end

  subgraph row4 [" "]
    repo5(repo-5)
  end

  classDef row opacity:0
  class row1,row2,row3,row4 row

  classDef current fill:#E68A39,color:#000000
  class github current

  classDef note fill:#FFFFDD,color:#000000
  class githubNote,templateNote note

  classDef repo fill:#34C3EB,color:#000000
  class repo1,repo2,repo3,repo4,repo5 repo

  github --> templateA
  github --> repo1
  github --> templateB

  templateA --> repo2
  templateA --> repo3
  templateB --> repo4
  templateB --> templateC

  templateC --> repo5

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For how a change travels between these repos, and who owns which file when a sync conflicts, see Template Chain.

Table of Contents

• Description of Files in This Template Repo
  • Community Health
  • GitHub Configuration
  • GitHub Workflows
  • Other Files

Description of Files in This Template Repo

GitHub allows some community health and GitHub configuration files to only reside in the .github repo and automatically appear in all other repos. However, we can't take full advantage of that feature because most files need repo-specific customization.

Community Health

File	Exists only in .github repo	Overridden in template repo	Notes
📁.github/
├─📄CODEOWNERS	N/A	✅
└─📄FUNDING.yml	✅
📄CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md		✅	Linked to by other files
📄CONTRIBUTING.md		✅	Links to other files
📄GOVERNANCE.md	—	—	Not implemented
📄LICENSE	N/A	✅
📄SECURITY.md		✅	Links to GitHub repo
📄SUPPORT.md		✅	Links to other files

GitHub Configuration

Template	Exists only in .github repo	Overridden in template repo	Description
📁.github/
├─📁actions/	N/A	✅	Shared composite actions
├─📁DISCUSSION_TEMPLATE/	—	—	Not implemented
├─📁instructions/	N/A	➕	Path-scoped AI instructions
├─📁ISSUE_TEMPLATE/		✅	Contains GitHub Issue forms
│    └─📄config.yml	✅		GitHub Issue template chooser
├─📄codecov.yml	N/A	➕	Coverage thresholds
├─📄copilot-instructions.md	N/A	✅	Copilot configuration
├─📄dependabot.yml	N/A	✅	Dependabot configuration
├─📄pull_request_template.md		✅	GitHub Pull Request template
└─📄settings.yml	N/A	✅	Repo configuration

GitHub Workflows

Workflow	Description
📁.github/
└─📁workflows/
├─📄Create Release	Entry point for cutting a release. Replaced per layer
├─📄Release	Drafts the release. Shared by every layer
├─📄Template Sync	Synchronizes files from a template repo to a derived repo
└─📄Validate Codecov	Checks codecov.yml against Codecov's validator

Other Files

File	Description
📁.claude/	AI agents and skills
📁.github/agents/	Copilot mirrors of those agents
📁.vscode/	Contains VSCode settings
📁docs/	Contains documentation
📁scripts/	Repo scaffolding scripts
📄.editorconfig	Styleguide rule definitions
📄.gitattributes	Built using scaffolding
📄.gitignore	Built using scaffolding
📄.gitmessage	Commit message template
📄AGENTS.md	AI agent instructions
📄CLAUDE.md	Imports AGENTS.md for Claude Code
📄GitVersion.yml	How the version is calculated