| 1 | --- |
| 2 | name: mirror-netdata-repos |
| 3 | description: Maintains a local mirror of Netdata-org source repositories at `${NETDATA_REPOS_DIR}` so AI assistants and developers can do cross-repo grep / code review locally without GitHub API round-trips and rate limits. Ships a vendored sync script (`scripts/sync-netdata-repos.sh`) that updates ~150 repos in two phases (resync existing on default branch, discover and clone new). Safety -- skips repos that have staged or modified changes; otherwise switches to the default branch and recursively updates submodules. Reset-to-default is intentional -- it prevents stale-feature-branch "black hole" repos that confuse cross-repo reasoning. Supports `--repo NAME` (repeatable) to scope to specific repos. Independent from any other repo mirrors this workstation may have. Use when the local mirror is out of date, before a cross-repo grep / review session, when adding a new netdata-org repo (auto-discovered), when an assistant needs cross-repo cognition without `gh` API turnaround. |
| 4 | --- |
| 5 | |
| 6 | # mirror-netdata-repos |
| 7 | |
| 8 | A local mirror of every active Netdata-org source repository, |
| 9 | synced by a vendored bash script. Built for AI assistants |
| 10 | (and humans) that need cross-repo grep, code review, and |
| 11 | pattern lookup without paying GitHub API costs. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ## Why this skill exists |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Netdata maintains ~150 active source repos across the |
| 16 | `netdata` GitHub org (the agent monorepo, cloud-* services, |
| 17 | ai-agent, charts, helmchart, blogs, dashboards, ...). Routine |
| 18 | work (cross-repo grep, "how does service X handle this?", |
| 19 | pattern lookup, build) needs all of them locally. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Without a local mirror: |
| 22 | - Each cross-repo question hits the GitHub API. |
| 23 | - Searches are paginated and rate-limited. |
| 24 | - An AI assistant cannot pipeline grep results across repos. |
| 25 | - Iteration speed and reasoning depth fall through the floor. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | With a local mirror at `${NETDATA_REPOS_DIR}`, all of that is |
| 28 | fast local I/O. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | This is a **netdata repos mirror, independent from any other |
| 31 | repo mirrors this workstation may have**. It exists for this |
| 32 | project's cross-repo work; it is not a generic research mirror. |
| 33 | |
| 34 | ## How it works |
| 35 | |
| 36 | The vendored script `scripts/sync-netdata-repos.sh` does two |
| 37 | phases: |
| 38 | |
| 39 | ### Phase 1 -- update existing repos |
| 40 | |
| 41 | For each `.git`-bearing subdirectory under `${NETDATA_REPOS_DIR}`, |
| 42 | sorted by recent activity (cached in `.repo-activity-cache`): |
| 43 | |
| 44 | - If staged OR modified files exist -> **skip** with details. |
| 45 | - Else: detect default branch (master / main / develop), |
| 46 | switch to it (committed feature-branch state survives in |
| 47 | the branch ref), `git pull`, and `git submodule update |
| 48 | --init --force --recursive`. |
| 49 | |
| 50 | ### Phase 2 -- discover and clone new repos |
| 51 | |
| 52 | Runs only when: |
| 53 | - no `--repo` flag was given (full sync), AND |
| 54 | - `gh` is available AND authenticated. |
| 55 | |
| 56 | Lists `gh repo list netdata --source --no-archived` and clones |
| 57 | any that are not yet in the mirror. The `--source --no-archived` |
| 58 | filter excludes forks and dead repos -- they add no value for |
| 59 | cross-repo grep. |
| 60 | |
| 61 | If `gh` is missing or not authenticated, Phase 2 is skipped |
| 62 | with a clear warning. Phase 1 still runs (it uses local `git` |
| 63 | only, no GitHub API). |
| 64 | |
| 65 | ## Reset-to-default-branch is the feature, not a hazard |
| 66 | |
| 67 | Sub-repos in a mirror tend to drift onto stale feature |
| 68 | branches that no one remembers. A repo whose `HEAD` is on |
| 69 | `fix/something-from-six-months-ago` is a **black hole** for |
| 70 | cross-repo reasoning -- the assistant grepping it sees |
| 71 | out-of-date code and reasons wrong. |
| 72 | |
| 73 | The only viable fix: always reset to the default branch when |
| 74 | it's safe to do so. The script's safety conditions: |
| 75 | |
| 76 | - **Untracked files**: OK; they survive checkout. |
| 77 | - **Staged or modified files**: NOT safe; script skips the |
| 78 | repo and prints what was found. |
| 79 | - **Unpushed feature-branch commits**: SAFE; the branch ref |
| 80 | preserves them, no data is lost. Script switches to default |
| 81 | with a warning summarizing the unpushed commits. |
| 82 | |
| 83 | So the rule is: if you have working changes you want to keep, |
| 84 | commit them or stash them before running this. Anything else |
| 85 | the script handles correctly. |
| 86 | |
| 87 | ## When to run |
| 88 | |
| 89 | - **Before any cross-repo grep / review** session. |
| 90 | - **After a long absence** from the workstation (catches up to |
| 91 | upstream on every repo). |
| 92 | - **When you've just added a new netdata-org repo**: nothing |
| 93 | to do manually; the next full run picks it up via Phase 2. |
| 94 | - **Periodically** (daily / weekly) to keep the mirror fresh. |
| 95 | |
| 96 | There's no automation here; the script is interactive (colored |
| 97 | output, end-of-run summary). Run it on demand. |
| 98 | |
| 99 | ## Setup |
| 100 | |
| 101 | ### One-time |
| 102 | |
| 103 | 1. Pick a directory for the mirror (large; expect 30-50 GB). |
| 104 | 2. Set `NETDATA_REPOS_DIR` in `<repo>/.env`: |
| 105 | ``` |
| 106 | NETDATA_REPOS_DIR="/path/to/your/mirror" |
| 107 | ``` |
| 108 | 3. `mkdir -p "$NETDATA_REPOS_DIR"`. |
| 109 | 4. Required tools: `git` and `jq`. Install via your package |
| 110 | manager. |
| 111 | 5. For Phase 2 (auto-discovery): install `gh` (the GitHub CLI) |
| 112 | and run `gh auth login`. SSH clone access to GitHub for the |
| 113 | `netdata` organization must work for clones. |
| 114 | |
| 115 | ### First sync |
| 116 | |
| 117 | ```bash |
| 118 | # Source the env, run the script. |
| 119 | source <(grep -E '^NETDATA_REPOS_DIR=' <repo>/.env) |
| 120 | .agents/skills/mirror-netdata-repos/scripts/sync-netdata-repos.sh |
| 121 | ``` |
| 122 | |
| 123 | Or with the variable inline: |
| 124 | |
| 125 | ```bash |
| 126 | NETDATA_REPOS_DIR="/path/to/mirror" \ |
| 127 | .agents/skills/mirror-netdata-repos/scripts/sync-netdata-repos.sh |
| 128 | ``` |
| 129 | |
| 130 | The first run clones every netdata-org source repo. Expect it |
| 131 | to take several minutes; subsequent runs are fast (only |
| 132 | fetch+pull on each repo). |
| 133 | |
| 134 | ## Common usage |
| 135 | |
| 136 | ### Sync everything (default) |
| 137 | |
| 138 | ```bash |
| 139 | .agents/skills/mirror-netdata-repos/scripts/sync-netdata-repos.sh |
| 140 | ``` |
| 141 | |
| 142 | ### Sync just one or two repos |
| 143 | |
| 144 | ```bash |
| 145 | .agents/skills/mirror-netdata-repos/scripts/sync-netdata-repos.sh \ |
| 146 | --repo netdata \ |
| 147 | --repo cloud-frontend |
| 148 | ``` |
| 149 | |
| 150 | `--repo` is repeatable. When any `--repo` is given, Phase 2 |
| 151 | (discovery) is skipped -- you asked for specific repos, the |
| 152 | script does not go looking for new ones. |
| 153 | |
| 154 | ### See help |
| 155 | |
| 156 | ```bash |
| 157 | .agents/skills/mirror-netdata-repos/scripts/sync-netdata-repos.sh --help |
| 158 | ``` |
| 159 | |
| 160 | Works without `NETDATA_REPOS_DIR` set. |
| 161 | |
| 162 | ## Reading the output |
| 163 | |
| 164 | The script prints colored per-repo progress and ends with a |
| 165 | summary covering: |
| 166 | |
| 167 | - **Branches switched to default**: every repo that was on a |
| 168 | non-default branch and got switched. Inspect this list if |
| 169 | you had work in progress. |
| 170 | - **Repositories with uncommitted changes (skipped)**: these |
| 171 | weren't synced. Commit / stash / revert and re-run. |
| 172 | - **Repositories with unpushed commits**: switched to default, |
| 173 | but you have feature-branch commits that haven't been |
| 174 | pushed. The branch ref preserves them; push when you're |
| 175 | ready. |
| 176 | - **Repositories on wrong branch**: tried to switch but |
| 177 | failed (rare). Manual intervention needed. |
| 178 | - **Repositories that failed to update**: fetch or pull |
| 179 | failure. Inspect manually. |
| 180 | |
| 181 | ## Adding a new netdata-org repo |
| 182 | |
| 183 | Nothing to do in this skill or its script. Phase 2's |
| 184 | `gh repo list netdata --source --no-archived` discovers any |
| 185 | new netdata-org repo on the next full sync run. The repo |
| 186 | must be: |
| 187 | |
| 188 | - Owned by the `netdata` org (not a fork). |
| 189 | - Not archived. |
| 190 | |
| 191 | Otherwise it's skipped intentionally. |
| 192 | |
| 193 | If you want to mirror a fork or an archived repo (rare), |
| 194 | clone it manually into `${NETDATA_REPOS_DIR}/<name>` and the |
| 195 | next run's Phase 1 will start syncing it. |
| 196 | |
| 197 | ## Sanitization (what the script checks) |
| 198 | |
| 199 | The script refuses to run unsafely. Hard errors (exit 2): |
| 200 | |
| 201 | - `NETDATA_REPOS_DIR` not set. |
| 202 | - `NETDATA_REPOS_DIR` set but the directory doesn't exist. |
| 203 | - `git` not in `PATH`. |
| 204 | - `jq` not in `PATH`. |
| 205 | |
| 206 | Soft warnings (Phase 2 skipped, Phase 1 still runs): |
| 207 | |
| 208 | - `gh` not installed. |
| 209 | - `gh` installed but not authenticated. |
| 210 | |
| 211 | ## Limitations |
| 212 | |
| 213 | - **Org is hardcoded** (`netdata`). This skill is |
| 214 | netdata-org-specific. |
| 215 | - **Filter is hardcoded** (`--source --no-archived`). To |
| 216 | mirror forks or archived repos, clone them manually -- the |
| 217 | script will then sync them in Phase 1. |
| 218 | - **`gh` rate limit**: Phase 2 calls `gh repo list netdata |
| 219 | --limit 1000` once per run. On a properly-authed `gh` this |
| 220 | is well within the limit. |
| 221 | - **Submodule `--force --recursive`**: intentional. Cross-repo |
| 222 | review and most build steps depend on accurate, up-to-date |
| 223 | submodule state. Local submodule modifications are |
| 224 | overwritten -- if you have work-in-progress inside a |
| 225 | submodule, commit it before running. |
| 226 | |
| 227 | ## Path discipline |
| 228 | |
| 229 | This skill follows |
| 230 | `<repo>/.agents/sow/specs/sensitive-data-discipline.md`: |
| 231 | |
| 232 | - All references to the mirror directory go through |
| 233 | `${NETDATA_REPOS_DIR}` (the env key from `.env`). |
| 234 | - The script itself contains no hardcoded user paths. |
| 235 | - The skill content contains no workstation paths. |
| 236 | |
| 237 | ## See also |
| 238 | |
| 239 | - `<repo>/.agents/skills/mirror-netdata-repos/scripts/sync-netdata-repos.sh` |
| 240 | -- the vendored script. |
| 241 | - `<repo>/.agents/skills/mirror-netdata-repos/how-tos/INDEX.md` |
| 242 | -- live catalog of how-tos. |
| 243 | - `<repo>/.env` -- where `NETDATA_REPOS_DIR` lives. |