mirror-netdata-repos

A local mirror of every active Netdata-org source repository, synced by a vendored bash script. Built for AI assistants (and humans) that need cross-repo grep, code review, and pattern lookup without paying GitHub API costs.

Why this skill exists

Netdata maintains ~150 active source repos across the netdata GitHub org (the agent monorepo, cloud-* services, ai-agent, charts, helmchart, blogs, dashboards, ...). Routine work (cross-repo grep, "how does service X handle this?", pattern lookup, build) needs all of them locally.

Without a local mirror:

• Each cross-repo question hits the GitHub API.
• Searches are paginated and rate-limited.
• An AI assistant cannot pipeline grep results across repos.
• Iteration speed and reasoning depth fall through the floor.

With a local mirror at ${NETDATA_REPOS_DIR}, all of that is fast local I/O.

This is a netdata repos mirror, independent from any other repo mirrors this workstation may have. It exists for this project's cross-repo work; it is not a generic research mirror.

How it works

The vendored script scripts/sync-netdata-repos.sh does two phases:

Phase 1 -- update existing repos

For each .git-bearing subdirectory under ${NETDATA_REPOS_DIR}, sorted by recent activity (cached in .repo-activity-cache):

• If staged OR modified files exist -> skip with details.
• Else: detect default branch (master / main / develop), switch to it (committed feature-branch state survives in the branch ref), git pull, and git submodule update --init --force --recursive.

Phase 2 -- discover and clone new repos

Runs only when:

• no --repo flag was given (full sync), AND
• gh is available AND authenticated.

Lists gh repo list netdata --source --no-archived and clones any that are not yet in the mirror. The --source --no-archived filter excludes forks and dead repos -- they add no value for cross-repo grep.

If gh is missing or not authenticated, Phase 2 is skipped with a clear warning. Phase 1 still runs (it uses local git only, no GitHub API).

Reset-to-default-branch is the feature, not a hazard

Sub-repos in a mirror tend to drift onto stale feature branches that no one remembers. A repo whose HEAD is on fix/something-from-six-months-ago is a black hole for cross-repo reasoning -- the assistant grepping it sees out-of-date code and reasons wrong.

The only viable fix: always reset to the default branch when it's safe to do so. The script's safety conditions:

• Untracked files: OK; they survive checkout.
• Staged or modified files: NOT safe; script skips the repo and prints what was found.
• Unpushed feature-branch commits: SAFE; the branch ref preserves them, no data is lost. Script switches to default with a warning summarizing the unpushed commits.

So the rule is: if you have working changes you want to keep, commit them or stash them before running this. Anything else the script handles correctly.

When to run

• Before any cross-repo grep / review session.
• After a long absence from the workstation (catches up to upstream on every repo).
• When you've just added a new netdata-org repo: nothing to do manually; the next full run picks it up via Phase 2.
• Periodically (daily / weekly) to keep the mirror fresh.

There's no automation here; the script is interactive (colored output, end-of-run summary). Run it on demand.

Setup

One-time

1. Pick a directory for the mirror (large; expect 30-50 GB).
2. Set NETDATA_REPOS_DIR in <repo>/.env:
   Copy

   NETDATA_REPOS_DIR="/path/to/your/mirror"
   

3. mkdir -p "$NETDATA_REPOS_DIR".
4. Required tools: git and jq. Install via your package manager.
5. For Phase 2 (auto-discovery): install gh (the GitHub CLI) and run gh auth login. SSH clone access to GitHub for the netdata organization must work for clones.

First sync

# Source the env, run the script.
source <(grep -E '^NETDATA_REPOS_DIR=' <repo>/.env)
.agents/skills/mirror-netdata-repos/scripts/sync-netdata-repos.sh

Or with the variable inline:

NETDATA_REPOS_DIR="/path/to/mirror" \
  .agents/skills/mirror-netdata-repos/scripts/sync-netdata-repos.sh

The first run clones every netdata-org source repo. Expect it to take several minutes; subsequent runs are fast (only fetch+pull on each repo).

Common usage

Sync everything (default)

.agents/skills/mirror-netdata-repos/scripts/sync-netdata-repos.sh

Sync just one or two repos

.agents/skills/mirror-netdata-repos/scripts/sync-netdata-repos.sh \
    --repo netdata \
    --repo cloud-frontend

--repo is repeatable. When any --repo is given, Phase 2 (discovery) is skipped -- you asked for specific repos, the script does not go looking for new ones.

See help

.agents/skills/mirror-netdata-repos/scripts/sync-netdata-repos.sh --help

Works without NETDATA_REPOS_DIR set.

Reading the output

The script prints colored per-repo progress and ends with a summary covering:

• Branches switched to default: every repo that was on a non-default branch and got switched. Inspect this list if you had work in progress.
• Repositories with uncommitted changes (skipped): these weren't synced. Commit / stash / revert and re-run.
• Repositories with unpushed commits: switched to default, but you have feature-branch commits that haven't been pushed. The branch ref preserves them; push when you're ready.
• Repositories on wrong branch: tried to switch but failed (rare). Manual intervention needed.
• Repositories that failed to update: fetch or pull failure. Inspect manually.

Adding a new netdata-org repo

Nothing to do in this skill or its script. Phase 2's gh repo list netdata --source --no-archived discovers any new netdata-org repo on the next full sync run. The repo must be:

• Owned by the netdata org (not a fork).
• Not archived.

Otherwise it's skipped intentionally.

If you want to mirror a fork or an archived repo (rare), clone it manually into ${NETDATA_REPOS_DIR}/<name> and the next run's Phase 1 will start syncing it.

Sanitization (what the script checks)

The script refuses to run unsafely. Hard errors (exit 2):

• NETDATA_REPOS_DIR not set.
• NETDATA_REPOS_DIR set but the directory doesn't exist.
• git not in PATH.
• jq not in PATH.

Soft warnings (Phase 2 skipped, Phase 1 still runs):

• gh not installed.
• gh installed but not authenticated.

Limitations

• Org is hardcoded (netdata). This skill is netdata-org-specific.
• Filter is hardcoded (--source --no-archived). To mirror forks or archived repos, clone them manually -- the script will then sync them in Phase 1.
• gh rate limit: Phase 2 calls gh repo list netdata --limit 1000 once per run. On a properly-authed gh this is well within the limit.
• Submodule --force --recursive: intentional. Cross-repo review and most build steps depend on accurate, up-to-date submodule state. Local submodule modifications are overwritten -- if you have work-in-progress inside a submodule, commit it before running.

Path discipline

This skill follows <repo>/.agents/sensitive-data-discipline.md:

• All references to the mirror directory go through ${NETDATA_REPOS_DIR} (the env key from .env).
• The script itself contains no hardcoded user paths.
• The skill content contains no workstation paths.

See also

• <repo>/.agents/skills/mirror-netdata-repos/scripts/sync-netdata-repos.sh -- the vendored script.
• <repo>/.agents/skills/mirror-netdata-repos/how-tos/INDEX.md -- live catalog of how-tos.
• <repo>/.env -- where NETDATA_REPOS_DIR lives.