Bulk GitHub Repository Settings Sync Action

Update repository settings in bulk across multiple GitHub repositories.

Features

🔧 Update pull request merge strategies (squash, merge, rebase)
✅ Configure auto-merge settings
🗑️ Enable automatic branch deletion after merge
🔄 Configure pull request branch update suggestions
📊 Enable default CodeQL code scanning
🔒 Enable or disable immutable releases to prevent release deletion and modification
🏷️ Manage repository topics
🔄 Sync dependabot.yml files across repositories via pull requests
📋 Sync repository rulesets across repositories
📝 Sync pull request templates across repositories via pull requests
📝 Support multiple repository input methods (comma-separated, YAML file, or all org repos)
🔍 Dry-run mode with change preview and intelligent change detection
📋 Per-repository overrides via YAML configuration
📊 Comprehensive logging showing before/after values for all changes

Usage Examples

Basic Usage

- name: Update Repository Settings
  uses: joshjohanning/bulk-github-repo-settings-sync-action@v1
  with:
    github-token: ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }}
    repositories: 'owner/repo1,owner/repo2,owner/repo3'
    allow-squash-merge: true
    allow-merge-commit: false
    delete-branch-on-merge: true
    enable-default-code-scanning: true
    immutable-releases: true
    dependabot-yml: './config/dependabot/npm-actions.yml'
    rulesets-file: './config/rulesets/prod-ruleset.json'
    pull-request-template: './config/templates/pull_request_template.md'
    topics: 'javascript,github-actions,automation'
    dry-run: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' }} # dry run if PR

Using YAML Configuration with Overrides

Create a repos.yml file:

repos:
  - repo: owner/repo1
    allow-squash-merge: false # Override global setting
    topics: 'javascript,special-config'
  - repo: owner/repo2 # Uses global defaults
  - repo: owner/repo3
    enable-default-code-scanning: false

Use in workflow:

- name: Update Repository Settings with Overrides
  uses: joshjohanning/bulk-github-repo-settings-sync-action@v1
  with:
    github-token: ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }}
    repositories-file: 'repos.yml'
    # Global defaults (overridden per-repo in YAML)
    allow-squash-merge: true
    delete-branch-on-merge: true
    enable-default-code-scanning: true
    topics: 'javascript,github-actions'

Syncing Dependabot Configuration

Sync a dependabot.yml file to .github/dependabot.yml in target repositories via pull requests:

- name: Sync Dependabot Config
  uses: joshjohanning/bulk-github-repo-settings-sync-action@v1
  with:
    github-token: ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }}
    repositories-file: 'repos.yml'
    dependabot-yml: './config/dependabot/npm-actions.yml'
    dependabot-pr-title: 'chore: update dependabot.yml'

Or with repo-specific overrides in repos.yml:

repos:
  - repo: owner/repo1
    dependabot-yml: './config/dependabot/npm-actions.yml'
  - repo: owner/repo2
    dependabot-yml: './config/dependabot/python.yml'
  - repo: owner/repo3
    dependabot-yml: './.github/dependabot.yml' # use the same config that this repo is using

Behavior:

If .github/dependabot.yml doesn't exist, it creates it and opens a PR
If it exists but differs, it updates it via PR
If content is identical, no PR is created
PRs are created/updated using the GitHub API so commits are verified
Updates existing open PRs instead of creating duplicates

Syncing Repository Rulesets

Sync repository rulesets across multiple repositories:

- name: Sync Repository Rulesets
  uses: joshjohanning/bulk-github-repo-settings-sync-action@v1
  with:
    github-token: ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }}
    repositories-file: 'repos.yml'
    rulesets-file: './config/rulesets/ci-ruleset.json'

Or with repo-specific overrides in repos.yml:

repos:
  - repo: owner/repo1
    rulesets-file: './config/rulesets/ci-ruleset.json'
  - repo: owner/repo2
    rulesets-file: './config/rulesets/prod-ruleset.json'
  - repo: owner/repo3
    # Skip ruleset sync for this repo

Behavior:

Creates the ruleset if it doesn't exist in the repository
Updates the ruleset if a ruleset with the same name already exists
Ruleset is identified by the name field in the JSON configuration
The JSON file should contain a valid ruleset configuration matching the GitHub Rulesets API schema

Example Ruleset JSON (ci-ruleset.json):

{
  "name": "ci",
  "target": "branch",
  "enforcement": "active",
  "bypass_actors": [
    {
      "actor_id": 5,
      "actor_type": "RepositoryRole",
      "bypass_mode": "always"
    }
  ],
  "conditions": {
    "ref_name": {
      "include": ["refs/heads/main"],
      "exclude": []
    }
  },
  "rules": [
    {
      "type": "deletion"
    },
    {
      "type": "required_status_checks",
      "parameters": {
        "required_status_checks": [
          {
            "context": "test",
            "integration_id": 15368
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "non_fast_forward"
    }
  ]
}

For more information on ruleset configuration, see the GitHub Rulesets documentation.

Syncing Pull Request Templates

Sync a pull request template file to .github/pull_request_template.md in target repositories via pull requests:

- name: Sync Pull Request Template
  uses: joshjohanning/bulk-github-repo-settings-sync-action@v1
  with:
    github-token: ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }}
    repositories-file: 'repos.yml'
    pull-request-template: './config/templates/pull_request_template.md'
    pull-request-template-pr-title: 'chore: update pull request template'

Or with repo-specific overrides in repos.yml:

repos:
  - repo: owner/repo1
    pull-request-template: './config/templates/standard-template.md'
  - repo: owner/repo2
    pull-request-template: './config/templates/feature-template.md'
  - repo: owner/repo3
    # Skip pull request template sync for this repo

Behavior:

If .github/pull_request_template.md doesn't exist, it creates it and opens a PR
If it exists but differs, it updates it via PR
If content is identical, no PR is created
PRs are created/updated using the GitHub API so commits are verified
Updates existing open PRs instead of creating duplicates

For more information on pull request templates, see the GitHub documentation.

Organization-wide Updates

- name: Update All Org Repositories
  uses: joshjohanning/bulk-github-repo-settings-sync-action@v1
  with:
    github-token: ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }}
    repositories: 'all'
    owner: 'my-organization'
    allow-squash-merge: true
    delete-branch-on-merge: true

Dry-Run Mode

Preview changes without applying them:

- name: Preview Changes
  uses: joshjohanning/bulk-github-repo-settings-sync-action@v1
  with:
    github-token: ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }}
    repositories: 'owner/repo1,owner/repo2'
    allow-squash-merge: true
    dry-run: true
    # dry-run true in PRs, false otherwise example:
    # dry-run: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' }}

Output shows what would change:

🔍 Would update owner/repo1
  📝 Settings changes:
     allow-squash-merge: false → true
     delete-branch-on-merge: false → true
  📦 Would create .github/dependabot.yml via PR

Action Inputs

Input	Description	Required	Default
`github-token`	GitHub token for API access (requires `repo` scope or GitHub App with repository administration)	Yes	-
`github-api-url`	GitHub API URL (e.g., `https://api.github.com` for GitHub.com or `https://ghes.domain.com/api/v3` for GHES). Instance URL is auto-derived.	No	`${{ github.api_url }}`
`repositories`	Comma-separated list of repositories (`owner/repo`) or `"all"` for all org/user repos	No*	-
`repositories-file`	Path to YAML file containing repository list	No*	-
`owner`	Owner (user or organization) name - required when using `repositories: "all"`	No	-
`allow-squash-merge`	Allow squash merging pull requests	No	-
`allow-merge-commit`	Allow merge commits for pull requests	No	-
`allow-rebase-merge`	Allow rebase merging pull requests	No	-
`allow-auto-merge`	Allow auto-merge on pull requests	No	-
`delete-branch-on-merge`	Automatically delete head branches after pull requests are merged	No	-
`allow-update-branch`	Always suggest updating pull request branches	No	-
`immutable-releases`	Enable immutable releases to prevent release deletion and modification	No	-
`enable-default-code-scanning`	Enable default code scanning setup	No	-
`topics`	Comma-separated list of topics to set on repositories (replaces existing topics)	No	-
`dependabot-yml`	Path to a dependabot.yml file to sync to `.github/dependabot.yml` in target repositories	No	-
`dependabot-pr-title`	Title for pull requests when updating dependabot.yml	No	`chore: update dependabot.yml`
`rulesets-file`	Path to a JSON file containing repository ruleset configuration to sync to target repositories	No	-
`pull-request-template`	Path to a pull request template file to sync to `.github/pull_request_template.md` in target repositories	No	-
`pull-request-template-pr-title`	Title for pull requests when updating pull request template	No	`chore: update pull request template`
`dry-run`	Preview changes without applying them (logs what would be changed)	No	`false`

* Either repositories or repositories-file must be provided

Action Outputs

Output	Description
`updated-repositories`	Number of repositories successfully updated
`failed-repositories`	Number of repositories that failed to update
`results`	JSON array of update results for each repository

Authentication

GitHub App (Recommended)

For better security and rate limits, use a GitHub App:

Create a GitHub App with the following permissions:
- Repository Administration: Read and write (required for updating repository settings and rulesets)
- Contents: Read and write (required if syncing dependabot.yml)
- Pull Requests: Read and write (required if syncing dependabot.yml)
Install it to your organization/repositories
Add APP_ID and APP_PRIVATE_KEY as repository secrets

- name: Generate GitHub App Token
  id: app-token
  uses: actions/create-github-app-token@v1
  with:
    app-id: ${{ secrets.APP_ID }}
    private-key: ${{ secrets.APP_PRIVATE_KEY }}
    owner: ${{ github.repository_owner }}

- name: Update Repository Settings
  uses: joshjohanning/bulk-github-repo-settings-sync-action@v1
  with:
    github-token: ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }}
    # ... other inputs

Personal Access Token

Alternatively, use a PAT with repo scope:

- name: Update Repository Settings
  uses: joshjohanning/bulk-github-repo-settings-sync-action@v1
  with:
    github-token: ${{ secrets.PAT_TOKEN }}
    # ... other inputs

YAML Configuration

The repositories-file supports both simple lists and per-repository overrides:

Basic Format

repos:
  - owner/repo1
  - owner/repo2
  - owner/repo3

With Per-Repository Overrides

repos:
  - repo: owner/repo1
    allow-squash-merge: false # Override global setting
    topics: 'javascript,custom-topic'
  - repo: owner/repo2 # Uses global defaults
  - repo: owner/repo3
    enable-default-code-scanning: false
    dependabot-yml: './config/dependabot/npm-actions.yml'
    rulesets-file: './config/rulesets/custom-ruleset.json'
    pull-request-template: './config/templates/feature-template.md'

Priority: Repository-specific settings override global defaults from action inputs.

Important Notes

Settings not specified will remain unchanged
Topics replace all existing repository topics
Dependabot.yml syncing creates pull requests for review before merging
Dependabot.yml PRs use the GitHub API ensuring verified commits
Pull request template syncing creates pull requests for review before merging
Pull request templates are synced to .github/pull_request_template.md (standard location)
Failed updates are logged as warnings but don't fail the action
Access denied repositories are skipped with warnings - ensure your GitHub App has:
- Repository Administration permissions
- Is installed on all target repositories
CodeQL scanning may not be available for all languages

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, testing, and contribution guidelines.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 33 Commits
.github		.github
__tests__		__tests__
badges		badges
src		src
.gitignore		.gitignore
.prettierignore		.prettierignore
.prettierrc.json		.prettierrc.json
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
action.yml		action.yml
eslint.config.js		eslint.config.js
example-repos-with-overrides.yml		example-repos-with-overrides.yml
example-repos.yml		example-repos.yml
example-ruleset-ci.json		example-ruleset-ci.json
jest.config.js		jest.config.js
package-lock.json		package-lock.json
package.json		package.json

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Bulk GitHub Repository Settings Sync Action

Features

Usage Examples

Basic Usage

Using YAML Configuration with Overrides

Syncing Dependabot Configuration

Syncing Repository Rulesets

Syncing Pull Request Templates

Organization-wide Updates

Dry-Run Mode

Action Inputs

Action Outputs

Authentication

GitHub App (Recommended)

Personal Access Token

YAML Configuration

Basic Format

With Per-Repository Overrides

Important Notes

Contributing

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Bulk GitHub Repository Settings Sync Action

Features

Usage Examples

Basic Usage

Using YAML Configuration with Overrides

Syncing Dependabot Configuration

Syncing Repository Rulesets

Syncing Pull Request Templates

Organization-wide Updates

Dry-Run Mode

Action Inputs

Action Outputs

Authentication

GitHub App (Recommended)

Personal Access Token

YAML Configuration

Basic Format

With Per-Repository Overrides

Important Notes

Contributing

About

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License

Contributing

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