# Git & Source Control

## Commit Practices

- Use meaningful commit messages; prefer small, focused commits over large batches
- Never commit secrets in plaintext — use SOPS + age or equivalent encryption
- Enable pre-commit hooks where appropriate (secret detection, linting, formatting)

## Pre-Commit Hooks

- Block `local_secrets/` and similar directories from being committed
- Auto-encrypt files matching `.sops.yaml` rules that aren't yet encrypted
- Enable with `git config core.hooksPath .githooks`
- Consider secret detection, linting, and formatting hooks

## GitOps Workflow

- All infrastructure changes should be tracked in Git
- No manual changes without corresponding GitOps manifests — anything applied manually (e.g., `kubectl apply`, `helm install`) should immediately get a corresponding tracked manifest
- For ArgoCD-managed clusters: edit in Git, push, sync — never edit live resources directly

## Remote Conventions

- SSH workflows preferred over HTTPS for Git remotes
- Use SSH config host aliases for multi-user setups (e.g., `gitea.example.com-<user>`)
- Remote URL format: `git@<host-alias>:<org>/<repo>.git`
- Optionally push-mirror to GitHub for public visibility

## Access and Clone Gotchas

- **Org repos require explicit collaborator grants.** Don't assume organizational membership implies write access — verify permissions before setting up automation or CI/CD.
- **Shallow clones break push operations.** `git clone --depth 1` is fine for read-only CI jobs, but pipelines that push artifacts, tags, or mirror to other remotes need full clones.

## Version Management

- Use the latest stable version of dependencies unless pinned for a reason
- Verify versions from live sources (`helm search repo`, upstream docs, package registries) — don't rely on memory
- Document the reason in a comment if a version is intentionally pinned below latest
- Check compatibility matrices before upgrading (e.g., Talos ↔ Kubernetes, framework ↔ runtime)

## Placeholder Conventions in Template-Heavy Repos

When files contain multiple templating syntaxes (Go templates `{{ .var }}`, CI variables `${{ }}`, Helm `{{ }}`, etc.), use a distinct placeholder convention for your own substitutions that can't be confused with any templating language:

- **Double-underscore:** `__CUSTOMER_NAME__`, `__DOMAIN__`
- **All-caps curly brace (no spaces):** `{{CUSTOMER_NAME}}` (distinct from Go's `{{ .Title }}` with spaces and dots)

Choose one convention per repo and document it.

## Git Worktrees for Parallel Agent Work

When running parallel agents or tasks that modify the same repo:
- Give each task its own branch and worktree (`git worktree add .worktrees/<task-id> -b <branch>`)
- Tasks with no dependencies branch from HEAD; tasks with one dependency branch from that dependency's branch
- Tasks with multiple dependencies get an octopus merge base branch
- Worktrees share the `.git` object store — fast creation, minimal disk usage
- Keep containers detached (`docker run -d`, not `--rm`) so logs survive for inspection after exit

## API-Created Repos Need SSH User as Collaborator

If a repo is created via API token (user A) but pushes use an SSH alias authenticating as user B, user B has no access by default. Add the SSH-authenticating user as admin collaborator via API before the first push. This applies to Gitea, GitHub, and any platform where API auth and SSH auth use different identities.