FAQ

How can I set up an enterprise / hosted git, or use Gitlab or others?

You can use custom git vendors.

Start by generating a project-local configuration file:

$ bp config --init
wrote: .backpack.yaml.

Example: configure a Github Enterprise instance:

vendors:
  custom:
    ghe: # <--- this prefix is yours
      kind: github
      base:
        enterprise-github.acme.org
        # `---- it will point here now

And now, you can use the ghe: prefix for your shortlinks:

$ bp ghe:user/repo

You can check in the .backpack.yaml to your project to share it with your team. When backpack runs it will pick it up automatically.

You can also generate a global user config by specifying:

$ bp config --init --global

What's the difference between `new` and `apply`?

$ bp kriasoft/react-starter-kit my-react-project

• Create a new project into my-react-project
• Resolves to https://github.com/kriasoft/react-starter-kit
• Finds the default branch, downloads it and caches locally. Next time you run, it'll be much faster.

$ bp -f kriasoft/react-starter-kit/-/.github

Let's say you really like how react-starter-kit configured its Github Action, and you'd like to copy that to your existing project. You can do this:

• Use /-/ to access a subfolder
• Use -f to overlay files onto your current working directory

How can I define actions and variables for a repo I know?

To maximize producitivity, you can do either of these, or all of these in sequence:

1. Just copy material from a template repo, as a faster git clone that has built-in cache and knows how to take parts of repos.
2. Embed placeholder variables in your template repo and have backpack swap these when doing bp or bp -f
3. Execute actions for input taking from a user, or for running install actions after a clone

You can build a .backpack-project.yml into your template repo for defining actions and variables, or a project pointing to that repo in your central backpack.yml.

Can I generate a project without typing the name of the repo?

$ bp

And follow the interactive menu, which will let you:

• Pick a project, if you have any configured
• Input a shortlink
• Input a destination or pick an auto generated one

What's a shortlink?

A shortlink is a pointer to a Git repo which looks like this:

Any one of these is a legal shortlink:

user/repo -> resolves to https://github.com/user/repo
gl:user/repo -> resolves to https://gitlab.org/user/repo
user/repo/-/subfolder -> takes only 'subfolder'
user/repo#wip -> takes the 'wip' branch

✅ Bare minimum is user/repo which defaults to Github.
✅ You can set up a custom prefix if you want.

Is it possible to use backpack only on parts of source repos?

Yes, use the folder notation /-/:

$ bp user/repo/-/path/to/folder dest-folder

Can I generate from a given branch?

Branches or tags can be used with the #branch specifier.

$ bp kriasoft/react-starter-kit#feature/redux my-starter

Can I use backpack on empty or populated directories?

Yes. Use apply to grab content and apply it to an existing empty or populated directories:

$ cd your-directory
$ bp -f user/repo .

Can backpack work on self hosted Git servers?

If it's one of the supported vendors, you can create a custom prefix configuration:

vendors:
  custom:
    gh:
      kind: github
      base: github.acme.com/my-org

Note that in addition to the custom hosted github.acme.com server, we also specified a default org my-org above, so it saves a bit of typing. Then you can run:

$ bp gh:my-repo my-repo

Can backpack infer the name of the destination folder and save me some more typing?

Where it's non ambiguous, yes. For example, when you specify a subfolder:

$ bp user/repo/-/my-folder

Will grab just my-folder from user/repo and create in a destinaton folder called my-folder.

If there's a inference strategy you think will work, open an issue or submit a PR.

How to install backpack globally?

With Homebrew it happens automatically. Otherwise, download a binary and add its containing folder to your PATH in the way that's supported by your OS.

We're accepting PRs for other OS specific installers.

Any requirements or dependencies for backpack?

Just git to exist (and we will eventually remove that dependency). Other than that the bp binary is self contained and has no dependencies.

Can I get a single file?

Yes. backpack will act differently when the source is a file, it will do what you're expecting it to.

For example, this will give you a .gitignore file from another project:

$ cd my-project
$ bp -f rusty-ferris-club/backpack/-/.gitignore
$ tree
.gitignore

This will copy just a single workflow file, but also the entire hierarchy of folders:

$ cd my-project
$ bp -f rusty-ferris-club/backpack/-/.github/workflows/build.yml
$ tree
.github/
  workflows/
    build.yml

Or in other words:

1. When you specify a target file verbatim, it will use that
2. If you're not specifying a target file, the destination file and folder path will be copied from the source.