Understanding the `.github` Repository

📌 What is a `.github` Repository?

A special repository that centralizes GitHub workflows, templates, and automation for an organization or user account.

🚀 Why Use It?

✅ Standardize Issues & PRs → Issue & PR templates (.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/, .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md)

✅ Reuse GitHub Actions → Store workflows (.github/workflows/) for all repos

✅ Centralize Policies → CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md, SECURITY.md, CONTRIBUTING.md

✅ Funding & Sponsorship → .github/FUNDING.yml to show sponsor links

✅ Repository Overview → Use .github/README.md as a landing page for organization-wide documentation

📊 `.github` Repository vs Directory

Feature	`.github` Repository ✅	`.github` Directory ❌
Applies to all repositories	✅	❌
Contains global actions	✅	❌
Used for single repo config	❌	✅

⚙️ How to Set Up `.github` Repository

1️⃣ Create the Repository

Go to GitHub
Name it .github
Set Public (recommended for open-source projects)

2️⃣ Add Common Files

git clone https://github.com/jdevto/.github.git
cd .github
mkdir -p ISSUE_TEMPLATE workflows

✅ README.md for Repository Overview:

# Welcome to Jdevto 🚀

This repository contains shared GitHub configurations, workflows, and templates used across all Jdevto projects.

## 🔹 Contents
- 📝 Issue & PR Templates
- ⚡ GitHub Actions Workflows
- 📜 Contribution Guidelines
- 🔒 Security Policies

For more details, check out the respective folders!

✅ Issue Template Example:

# .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml
name: "🐞 Bug Report"
description: "Report a bug in the project."
title: "[Bug] "
labels: ["bug"]

Commit & Push:

git add .
git commit -m "📝 Add issue template and README"
git push origin main

3️⃣ Reuse Workflows in Other Repositories

# Reference shared workflow
name: Reuse Deployment
on: [push]
jobs:
  deploy:
    uses: jdevto/.github/.github/workflows/deploy.yml@main

✅ Best Practices

🛠 Make it Public for open-source projects
📝 Use Issue Templates to guide contributors
📖 Include a README.md to document organization-wide standards
🚀 Share GitHub Actions to improve CI/CD
🔄 Keep It Updated for better consistency

🌍 Jdevto Organization and Example Repository

The Jdevto Organization actively uses a .github repository to streamline workflows, documentation, and automation across all its projects. You can explore their setup in the Jdevto .github Repository.

🎯 Conclusion

The .github repository simplifies workflows, improves standardization, and enhances collaboration across multiple repositories. The Jdevto Organization leverages this approach to maintain well-documented, reusable, and scalable development practices.

💬 Have you used a .github repository? Share your experience! 🚀

John Ajera @jajera