1# ermite
2
3A single-user Git forge in one Go binary. ermite hosts bare repositories, serves clone and push over HTTPS, reviews branches as merge requests, and shows everything in a web interface with live updates.
4
5Status: early development. `ermite serve` serves Git over HTTP (clone, fetch, push), the API, `GET /-/health`, and the web: repositories, an expandable file tree with a repository-wide fuzzy file finder, files, commits, refs and merge requests. Visitors read public repositories; the owner signs in with a one-time link from the CLI to see private ones and to review and merge.
6
7## Run
8
9```sh
10export ERMITE_DATA_DIR=/var/lib/ermite
11export ERMITE_PUBLIC_URL=https://git.example.com
12export ERMITE_ADMIN_TOKEN=$(head -c 32 /dev/urandom | base64)
13ermite serve
14```
15
16| Variable | Default | Notes |
17|---|---|---|
18| `ERMITE_DATA_DIR` | required | absolute path of the data root |
19| `ERMITE_PUBLIC_URL` | required | `http(s)` base URL, no path |
20| `ERMITE_ADMIN_TOKEN` | required | at least 32 characters |
21| `ERMITE_ADDR` | `:7341` | listen address |
22| `ERMITE_TRUSTED_PROXIES` | empty | comma-separated CIDRs |
23| `ERMITE_GIT` | `git` | git 2.45 or newer |
24| `ERMITE_GIT_READER` | `ermite-git` | `ermite-git` reads refs, trees, blobs and history with the [ermite-git](https://git.bnema.dev/bnema/ermite-git) library where it is faster than the `git` binary and falls back to `git` elsewhere and for repositories it does not read; `cli` uses the `git` binary for every read (the escape hatch if a read looks wrong: set it and restart) |
25| `ERMITE_SOURCE_URL` | `$ERMITE_PUBLIC_URL/ermite` | link to the source (AGPL) |
26| `ERMITE_LOG_LEVEL` | `info` | `trace`, `debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error` |
27| `ERMITE_LOG_FORMAT` | `json` | `json` or `console` |
28| `ERMITE_COMMITTER_NAME` | `ermite` | committer of squash merges |
29| `ERMITE_COMMITTER_EMAIL` | `ermite@<public host>` | committer email of squash merges |
30| `ERMITE_OWNER` | `owner` | owner login that CI shows in `github.repository` (`<owner>/<repo>`) and `github.repository_owner`; follows the rules of repository names |
31| `ERMITE_CI_LOG_RETENTION` | `90d` | how long CI runs, jobs, checks and logs are kept: `Nd` (days) or a Go duration such as `720h`, at least one hour |
32
33`ermite version` prints the version (and the server's when a server URL is configured, see Remote CLI).
34
35## Remote CLI
36
37The same binary drives a running server over its API. It reads `ERMITE_URL` (the server address, `http://` or `https://`) and `ERMITE_TOKEN` (a bearer token; optional for public reads). A token sent over plain `http://` to a host that is not loopback triggers a warning on every call.
38
39Each setting comes from the environment or from a config file, the environment first:
40
41| Setting | Environment | Config file key |
42|---|---|---|
43| server address | `ERMITE_URL` | `url` |
44| bearer token (optional for public reads) | `ERMITE_TOKEN` | `token.cmd`, a command that prints it |
45
46The file is `~/.config/ermite/config` (`$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ermite/config` when set; `~/Library/Application Support/ermite/config` on macOS and `%AppData%\ermite\config` on Windows; `ERMITE_CONFIG` names another file). `ermite config show` prints the path in use. It holds no secret: `token.cmd` is a command line that fetches the token from your secret manager (pass, gopass, op, bw, secret-tool, …).
47
48```ini
49# ~/.config/ermite/config
50url       = https://git.example.com
51token.cmd = pass show ermite/token
52```
53
54```sh
55ermite config set url https://git.example.com
56ermite config set token.cmd 'pass show ermite/token'   # or: gopass show -o ermite/token, op read op://vault/ermite/token, secret-tool lookup service ermite
57ermite config show [--json]                             # path and stored values; unset removes a key
58```
59
60`token.cmd` runs with `sh -c` (`cmd /C` on Windows) only when a command needs the token, at most once per run, with your environment and, when standard input is a terminal, that terminal (so a pinentry or biometric prompt works; otherwise it reads nothing). On a timeout or when ermite is interrupted or terminated, the command and everything it started are killed (when standard input is a terminal, only the shell is, so that prompts keep working). It must print the token alone on one line, in under 4 KiB, within 60 seconds. It is not run when `ERMITE_TOKEN` is set, nor by `ermite version` or `ermite config`, and not when the config file, or the directory holding it, can be written by other users or the file belongs to another user (`ermite config show` and `set` warn about it). On Windows this check does not exist: keep the file in your own profile, the default place. It belongs to the server of the file: when `ERMITE_URL` names a different server than the file's `url`, it is not run and the call is anonymous (with a notice; set `ERMITE_TOKEN` to authenticate there). A failure is reported in one line without its output. Shell completion never runs it: it is anonymous unless `ERMITE_TOKEN` is set.
61
62```sh
63export ERMITE_URL=https://git.example.com ERMITE_TOKEN=ermite_...
64ermite repo list | show <name> | create <name> [--description …] [--visibility public] | edit <name> [--description …] [--visibility …] [--default-branch …] | delete <name> [--yes]
65ermite token create <label> [--preset cli|agent|ci|runner] [--scope repo:read …] [--repo name …] [--branch-prefix agent/x/ …] [--expires 30d]   # prints the secret once
66ermite token list | revoke <id>
67# a token for an AI agent that cannot touch main:
68ermite token create claude --preset agent --scope repo:read --repo myrepo --branch-prefix agent/claude/
69ermite mr create <repo> --source <branch> --title … | list <repo> | show <repo> <n> [--diff]
70ermite mr comment <repo> <n> -m … [--path … --line … --side old|new] | resolve <repo> <n> <comment>
71ermite mr merge <repo> <n> --head <id> [--squash] [--delete-branch] | close <repo> <n>
72ermite run list <repo> [--workflow …] [--branch …] [--status …] | view <repo> <id> [--attempt n] [--log [--job …]]
73ermite run watch <repo> <id> [--log] | cancel <repo> <id> | rerun <repo> <id> [--failed]
74ermite runner list | remove <id>
75ermite web login                # prints a one-time sign-in link (60 s)
76ermite web logout --all         # signs every browser out
77ermite web passkey list | remove <id>   # the owner's passkeys; removing one signs every browser out
78ermite signing-key show         # public key and allowed_signers line of squash commits
79ermite config show [--json] | set <url|token.cmd> <value> | unset <key>   # the CLI config file
80ermite version                  # client and server, warns about missing server features
81ermite watch [repo] [--json]    # follows events, reconnects and resumes
82```
83
84An agent skill describing the CLI and the forge lives in [`skills/ermite`](skills/ermite/SKILL.md); link or copy that folder into your agent's skills directory.
85
86`--json` on `repo list|show|create|edit`, `token create|list`, `run list|view|cancel|rerun`, `runner list` and `version` prints stable field names, listed in each command's `--help`; `watch --json` prints one object per line. Errors are one line on standard error (`ermite: …`) and exit status 1. `ermite completion bash|zsh|fish` prints a shell completion script that completes repository names from the server.
87
88## Git over HTTP
89
90```sh
91git clone http://git.example.com/<repo>.git          # public repositories need no credentials
92git push http://u:<token>@git.example.com/<repo>.git main
93```
94
95Use the admin token (`ERMITE_ADMIN_TOKEN`) or a stored token as the password; the username is ignored. Store it in a Git credential helper rather than in the URL. Pushing to a new name creates a private repository. Repository names are lowercase, `[a-z0-9._-]`. TLS is terminated by your proxy; list its network in `ERMITE_TRUSTED_PROXIES` so that failed-login limits see the real client address (`X-Forwarded-For`).
96
97## Branch-limited tokens
98
99For an AI agent that should propose changes, not publish them: `--branch-prefix agent/claude/` (repeatable, up to 8, each ending with `/`) limits a token to the branches under its prefixes.
100
101- It can push, force-push and delete `refs/heads/agent/claude/…`. Any other ref (`main`, other branches, tags, notes, anything outside `refs/heads/`) refuses the whole push, and the message names the ref.
102- It cannot create a repository (push to a new name, or `repo create`), delete one, or change its settings (default branch, visibility, description, merge modes, failing-checks rule): those decide what happens to branches outside its prefixes. It never has the rights of the owner (it cannot open web sessions even with every scope), and can only create tokens whose prefixes lie within its own.
103- It opens, comments on and closes merge requests as usual; with `mr:merge` it can merge only into a branch under its prefixes, and delete only a source branch under them. You review and merge the agent's request.
104- CI: it reads runs, jobs, logs and checks as any token that can read the repository. With `ci:write` it can cancel and re-run only the runs of branches under its prefixes, never those of `main`, other branches or tags. It never manages runners (`runner list|remove`, registration), even with `runner:register`: a runner runs every branch of every repository.
105- `ermite token list` shows a `branches` column (`all` when unlimited); `--json` has `branch_prefixes`.
106- This build stores tokens in storage schema 2. Once it has started on your data, an older ermite refuses to start on it (it would read limited tokens as unrestricted): to go back, restore the backup taken before the upgrade.
107
108## Merge requests
109
110A merge request proposes a branch for its target (the default branch unless set). The merge is refused when the branch moved since the reviewed head (`--head`) or when the target is not an ancestor of it. Fast-forward moves the target; squash writes one commit signed by the server's SSH key (`ermite signing-key show` prints the `allowed_signers` line for `git verify-commit`). `ermite repo edit --merge-modes` limits the modes per repository. `--delete-branch` (a checkbox on the web) deletes the source branch after the merge, unless it is the default branch or another open request uses it. Tokens need `mr:write` to open and comment, and `mr:merge` to merge (and delete the merged branch).
111
112## CI
113
114ermite runs the `.github/workflows/*.yml` workflows of a repository on `push` (a branch or a tag, and the merge of a merge request) and shows each job as a check on the commit, the branch list and the merge request. CI is on once a runner is registered; there is no switch. Before that a push makes no run and no check.
115
116Runs execute on [ermite-runner](https://git.bnema.dev/bnema/ermite-runner) hosts, which call ermite over its API. Create a token for the runner host with `ermite token create <label> --preset runner` (the `runner:register` scope, which also gives access to the code and the secrets of every repository: give it only to runners you operate), then register the runner with it. `ermite runner list` shows the runners and whether they are online; `ermite runner remove <id>` stops one. A job goes to a runner that has every label of its `runs-on`; a job no runner takes within 24 hours fails.
117
118`ermite run list|view|watch|cancel|rerun` and the `Actions` tab of a repository read and control the runs; `cancel` and `rerun` need the `ci:write` scope. With `failing_checks_block` on (the default, `ermite repo edit --failing-checks-block=false`), a merge is refused while a check of the head failed or has not finished. A workflow that uses a feature the runner does not support yet (`uses:` steps, `container:`, `services:`, `environment:`, `concurrency`, `continue-on-error`) fails with `not supported yet: <feature>`, never silently. Logs are files under `$ERMITE_DATA_DIR/ci/logs`.
119
120## Web sign-in
121
122Two ways in, both for the owner, both giving the same session cookie for 12 hours. Neither works over plain `http` except on localhost: the cookie is `Secure`.
123
124- **Passkey** (a phone, a laptop, a security key): open `/-/login` and press "Sign in with a passkey". Nothing to type, no terminal. A passkey is added once from `/-/passkeys` while signed in.
125- **Link**: `ermite web login`, run with the admin token or a token with every scope, prints a link that works once within 60 seconds. Opening it and confirming signs the browser in (never longer than the token that asked for the link). It is also how to sign in the first time, before any passkey exists.
126
127Passkeys need `ERMITE_PUBLIC_URL` to be `https` (or `http://localhost`) with a **host name, not an IP address**: WebAuthn ties a passkey to that name, and a passkey registered for one name does not work on another. On `http://127.0.0.1:…` the server starts without passkeys (the log says `passkeys disabled`, the routes and links are absent, `ermite version` does not list `passkeys`). Up to 20 passkeys can be registered; each asks for user verification (a fingerprint, a face or a PIN), and the server stores only the public key. A security key that reports a signature counter is checked for cloning; synced passkeys (iCloud, Google, a password manager) report none, so they are not.
128
129`ermite web passkey list` shows them, `ermite web passkey remove <id>` removes one. Removing a passkey, `ermite web logout --all`, or revoking a token with every scope ends every session, on every device. Browser writes require the session and an `Origin` equal to `ERMITE_PUBLIC_URL`. If you lose every device, `ermite web login` still works from a terminal.
130
131The server keeps its runtime files in `$ERMITE_DATA_DIR/run/` (the hook socket and scripts that git calls on each push); the hook socket path must stay under about 100 bytes.
132
133## Run with Docker
134
135```sh
136docker build --build-arg VERSION="$(git describe --tags --always --dirty)" -t ermite .
137token=$(head -c 32 /dev/urandom | base64)   # keep it: it is the root credential
138docker run -d -p 127.0.0.1:7341:7341 -v ermite-data:/data \
139  -e ERMITE_PUBLIC_URL=http://localhost:7341 -e ERMITE_ADMIN_TOKEN="$token" ermite
140```
141
142The image is alpine with git, runs as uid 10001 and keeps its data in the `/data` volume. Logs are JSON by default. The build fetches `bnema.dev/ermite-*` from `git.bnema.dev`, so the host must reach it (NetBird); the build container uses the host's DNS and routes. Behind another route, pass `--build-arg GIT_REWRITE_BASE=http://git.bnema.dev:8088/` with `--network host`, as the CI job does.
143
144## Develop with compose
145
146```sh
147docker compose up
148```
149
150Serves on `http://localhost:7341` with the development admin token in `compose.yaml`. The source is mounted and [air](https://github.com/air-verse/air) (`go tool air`, `.air.toml`) rebuilds and restarts the server on each change to a `.go` or `.templ` file or an embedded web asset; the module and build caches and the data live in named volumes. `docker compose down -v` removes them. The dev container runs as root, which maps to your user under rootless Docker.
151
152## Build
153
154```sh
155go build ./cmd/ermite
156go test ./...
157```
158
159## Architecture
160
161`cmd/ermite` (entry point, calls `app.Run`) → `internal/app` (CLI and composition root: builds the adapters and wires them to the use cases) → `internal/usecase` (use cases), `internal/ports` (interfaces and parameter types that cross layers), `internal/domain` (pure values and rules) and `internal/adapters` (Git, KV store, HTTP, API, web, client implementations of the ports).
162
163- `internal/usecase` imports only `internal/domain` and `internal/ports`.
164- Adapters import `internal/domain`, `internal/ports` and the shared `internal/clientlimit`; never a use case, `internal/app` or another adapter.
165- The web adapter, like the API and Git over HTTP, calls the use cases through `internal/ports` with the principal of the request (anonymous, or the owner with a valid session); it never imports the generated API code.
166- `internal/ports` imports only `internal/domain`; `internal/domain` imports nothing from the module.
167- `internal/config` (environment parsing) is used by `internal/app` only.
168
169`internal/boundary/boundary_test.go` enforces these import rules on production files; `hexcheck` (`.hexcheck.yaml`) checks the layering of types and behaviour. The release version is stamped with `-ldflags "-X bnema.dev/ermite/internal/app.stamped=<version>"`.
170
171## Develop
172
173Tools are pinned in `go.mod`:
174
175```sh
176go tool buf lint
177go tool buf generate        # proto/ -> gen/
178go generate ./...           # mockery mocks of the ports
179go tool hexcheck -fail-on warn ./...
180```
181
182## License
183
184AGPL-3.0-or-later. See [LICENSE](LICENSE).