How do I work with a git repository within another repository?

git git-submodules multiple-repositories
Brent O'Connor picture Brent O'Connor · Nov 28, 2009 · Viewed 111k times · Source

I have a Git media repository where I'm keeping all of my JavaScript and CSS master files and scripts that I'll use on various projects.

If I create a new project that's in its own Git repository, how do I use JavaScript files from my media repository in my new project in a way that makes it so I don't have to update both copies of the script when I make changes?

Answer

gahooa picture gahooa · Nov 28, 2009

The key is git submodules.

Start reading the Submodules chapter of the Git Community Book or of the Users Manual

Say you have repository PROJECT1, PROJECT2, and MEDIA...

cd /path/to/PROJECT1
git submodule add ssh://path.to.repo/MEDIA
git commit -m "Added Media submodule"

Repeat on the other repo...

Now, the cool thing is, that any time you commit changes to MEDIA, you can do this:

cd /path/to/PROJECT2/MEDIA
git pull
cd ..
git add MEDIA
git commit -m "Upgraded media to version XYZ"

This just recorded the fact that the MEDIA submodule WITHIN PROJECT2 is now at version XYZ.

It gives you 100% control over what version of MEDIA each project uses. git submodules are great, but you need to experiment and learn about them.

With great power comes the great chance to get bitten in the rump.

Related questions

Easy way to pull latest of all git submodules

We're using git submodules to manage a couple of large projects that have dependencies on many other libraries we've developed. Each library is a separate repo brought into the dependent project as a submodule. During development, we often want to …

Read More
How to "git clone" including submodules?

I'm trying to put a submodule into a repo. The problem is that when I clone the parent repo, the submodule folder is entirely empty. Is there any way to make it so that git clone parent_repo actually puts …

Read More
How do I remove a submodule?

How do I remove a Git submodule? By the way, is there a reason I can't simply do git submodule rm whatever ?

Read More