Skip to content

git-morph

Directory actions

More options

Directory actions

More options

Latest commit

 

History

History

git-morph

README.adoc

git-morph

A git extension that morphs repositories between monorepo components and standalone repos.

Problem

Large project ecosystems face a tension: monorepos reduce organizational overhead, but individual components sometimes need to function as standalone repos (for CI, package registries, users who want just one piece, or contributors focused on one area).

Currently this is a manual, error-prone process.

Solution

A single command with directional subcommands:

git morph inflate ffi/libgit2/          # monorepo component → standalone repo
git morph deflate ~/repos/libgit2-ffi   # standalone repo → monorepo component

git morph inflate <component-path>

Extracts a component from a monorepo into a fully functional standalone repository, adding all necessary boilerplate (LICENSE, CI, SECURITY.md, build config, etc.) from configurable templates.

git morph deflate <repo-path>

Takes a standalone repository and packs it into the current monorepo as a component, stripping boilerplate that the monorepo provides at root level.

Key Features

  • Manifest-driven: Each component has a .morph.a2ml manifest defining owned files, inherited files, and template rules

  • Deterministic: Same input always produces same output

  • Reversible: inflate then deflate (or vice versa) round-trips cleanly

  • History-aware: Optionally preserves/filters git history for the component

  • Template system: Boilerplate added during inflation comes from configurable templates (default: rsr-template-repo)

  • Extensible: git morph is designed for additional subcommands beyond inflate/deflate

Usage

# Inflate a monorepo component to a standalone repo
git morph inflate src/libgit2-ffi/ --output ~/repos/libgit2-ffi --with-history

# Deflate a standalone repo into the current monorepo
git morph deflate ~/repos/libgit2-ffi --at ffi/libgit2/

# Dry-run to preview what would change
git morph inflate src/libgit2-ffi/ --dry-run

# Use a custom template instead of rsr-template-repo
git morph inflate src/libgit2-ffi/ --template ~/my-template/

# List components that have morph manifests
git morph list

Manifest Format

Each component declares a .morph.a2ml manifest:

[component]
name = "libgit2-ffi"
path = "ffi/libgit2/"

[files]
owned = [
  "ffi/**",
  "src/abi/**",
  "build.zig",
  "docs/**",
  "examples/**",
]

inherited = [
  "LICENSE",
  "SECURITY.md",
  "CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md",
  "CONTRIBUTING.md",
  ".github/workflows/*.yml",
]

[template]
name = "rsr-template-repo"
vars = { repo_name = "libgit2-ffi", description = "Zig FFI bindings for libgit2" }

[dependencies]
components = []

[registry]
type = "none"

Status

Phase 1 implementation (Rust).

License

PMPL-1.0-or-later