Use Settings GitHub app to manage repo settings

[tomkerkhove]

Use Settings GitHub app (link) to manage repo settings, instead of our own label tool.

This should be enabled on the organization and our default config added to our GitHub template and existing repos.

[tomkerkhove]

Is this something you'd like to dig into @stijnmoreels?

[stijnmoreels]

Is this something you'd like to dig into @stijnmoreels?

👍 Seems like something clearer and better manageable. The risk is however that people with push permissions can change admin things. But our branch restrictions on PR's is maybe enough to circumvent that.

[stijnmoreels]

Maybe we can add a 'root' config in this repo and inherit from this in the other repo's. That we can can change a single config setting across all repo's at once.

[tomkerkhove]

Our branch policies should stop that indeed 👍

I don't know if that app supports the root config though, would have to check but think we can just start with 1 config:1 repo.

[stijnmoreels]

And I think/hope that with changing the branch policies in the probot config, you will not circumvent existing branch policies. 😅

Yeah, ok, seems reasonable.

[stijnmoreels]

Hmm, should we first move existing configuration on our repository to such a Probot configuration? Like moving milestones and labels.. I'll first check this in a test repo in our organization.

[tomkerkhove]

Sounds good, thanks!

[stijnmoreels]

Ok, as I expected, it's working in a one-way synchronization. Which means that we have to manually move all the settings from the repo's to the config. We may not have to move everything to this config, so I was wondering, what is useful for us to move to such configuration. Maybe the same things we have now in our GitHub repository tool?

[tomkerkhove]

I'd suggest to start with these:

• repository
• labels
• branches

[stijnmoreels]

Shame we can't add issues here, though. Something we support in our tool

[stijnmoreels]

Hmm, not sure if I understand correctly, but as I see it, the Probot config is only adding for use the milestones directly automatically. We still have to configure the issues and the branch protection ourselves. Not sure if the Probot is then such an added-value, here, or am I missing something? This is mostly useful for new projects, right? Not with existing.

[tomkerkhove]

Are you sure it doesn't work? Because it should.

[stijnmoreels]

Are you sure it doesn't work? Because it should.

You mean the synchronization? Yeah, pretty sure that it only works one way:

• Change in file results in change in repo
• Change in repo doesn't result change in file

[tomkerkhove]

No I was referring to the branch policies.

Only one way makes sense, that's what it was built for.

It still has value because we can manage the labels, repo settings and branch policies which is still manual today. Labels can be done through the tool but we never run it anymore, but with this we can add it to our repo template.

[stijnmoreels]

No I was referring to the branch policies.

Ah, yes, that works. Some things seems a bit strange and can't be entirely set the way we normally configure the repo, but as close as it gets we can set some branch protection.

The labels are already added to our template, so that's already automated. It's probably mostly about the milestones and the branch policies that Probot can help.

[stijnmoreels]

No I was referring to the branch policies.

Ah, yes, that works. Some things seems a bit strange and can't be entirely set the way we normally configure the repo, but as close as it gets we can set some branch protection.

The labels are already added to our template, so that's already automated. It's probably mostly about the milestones and the branch policies that Probot can help.

Hmm, this seems like less and less added value to me since there's only a part that we can do (milestones, 'some' branch policies) while the current tool or manual work still has to do (issues about README, pipelines, CI badge, issues). And otherwise, the tool takes care of that. Maybe we should consider updating the tool to include the branch policies.