GitHub - kogeletey/milka: One command, multiple git repositories

A command-line tool for managing multiple git repositories simultaneously. Milka allows you to clone, fetch, pull, and push changes across multiple repositories with a single command, making it easy to manage projects with multiple related repositories.

TL;DR

Quick start with Milka:

1. Install: Download from Releases or build from source
2. Configure: Create .meta/reps.toml or .meta/reps.rcl with your repositories
3. Use: Run commands like milka clone, milka pull, milka push to manage all repos at once

Example config:

[[repo]]
dir = 'my-project'
remote = 'https://github.com/username/my-project.git'
branch = 'main'

[[repo]]
dir = 'my-submodule'
remote = 'https://github.com/username/submodule.git'
branch = 'main'
source = 'git+subtree'  # For subtree operations (new feature!)

New Feature: Subtree Support - Use the --subtree flag to work only with repositories that have source = "git+subtree" in your configuration!

🚀 Version 2025.11.8 Highlights (Latest Release)

• Plugin architecture for github command: The github command is now an optional plugin that can be built separately with shards build milka-github -Dgithub_plugin
• Leaner default build: The default milka binary no longer includes the GitHub scanning functionality, keeping it lightweight
• Easy plugin installation: Users who need GitHub org/user scanning can build the extended version with a single command

🚀 Version 2025.11.7 Highlights

• New github command (plugin): Scan and clone all repositories from a GitHub organization or user with milka github <org-name>
• Optional cloning: Use milka github <org-name> --clone to both add repos to config and clone them
• GitHub API integration: Automatic pagination for organizations with many repositories
• Token authentication: Support for GITHUB_TOKEN and GH_TOKEN environment variables for private repos and higher rate limits

🚀 Version 2025.11.6 Highlights

• Enhanced error handling: Improved error messages and handling for repository operations
• Performance improvements: Faster repository scanning and operations with large numbers of repositories
• Configuration validation: Automatic validation of .meta/reps.toml configuration file format
• Improved logging: More detailed logging and progress information during operations

🚀 Version 2025.11.5 Highlights

• New create command: Replace init with milka create <repo-name> to create new git repositories
• Subtree repository creation: Use milka create <dir> --subtree to set up subtree repositories in existing directories
• Git initialization for non-git directories: Enhanced scan functionality automatically initializes git when using --subtree flag

Table of Contents

• Features
• Installation
• Quick Start
• Configuration
• Commands
• Usage Examples
• Author
• License

Features

• Clone multiple repositories at once using a configuration file
• Fetch updates from multiple repositories simultaneously
• Pull latest changes from all configured repositories
• Push changes to multiple repositories at once
• Subtree support - Use git subtree operations with --subtree flag
• Scan current directory for existing git repositories and add them to configuration
• GitHub organization scanning (plugin) - Fetch and clone all repositories from a GitHub organization or user (requires -Dgithub_plugin build flag)
• Colored output for better readability
• Spinner indicators for ongoing operations
• Authentication support for private repositories using personal access tokens

Installation

From Source

1. Ensure you have Crystal installed (version >= 1.0.0)
2. Clone this repository
3. Build the project:

   # Standard build (without github command)
   shards build
   
   # Build with GitHub plugin (includes the github command)
   shards build milka-github -Dgithub_plugin

4. The executable will be available as bin/milka (or bin/milka-github for the plugin version)

Pre-built Binaries

Pre-built static binaries are available for download on the Releases page. These are statically linked and can run on most systems without additional dependencies.

1. Download the appropriate binary for your platform
2. Extract the archive
3. Make the binary executable (on Unix-like systems): chmod +x milka
4. Optionally, move the binary to a directory in your PATH

Building with Container static build

You can also build Milka using the provided container configuration. See .meta/packaging/static-builds/Containerfile for the container build setup.

Docker

# Build the container
docker build -f .meta/packaging/static-builds/Containerfile -t milka .

# Run commands in the container
docker run --rm -v $(pwd):/workspace -w /workspace milka clone
docker run --rm -v $(pwd):/workspace -w /workspace milka pull

# Copy the static binary from the built container
docker create --name milka-container milka
docker cp milka-container:/usr/local/bin/milka ./milka
docker rm -v milka-container

Container builds provide a reproducible build environment and make it easy to run Milka in containerized environments.

Installing with Nix flakes

If Nix is not installed yet, install it first using the official installer:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -L https://nixos.org/nix/install | sh -s -- --daemon

For a single-user installation without the daemon:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -L https://nixos.org/nix/install | sh -s -- --no-daemon

After Nix is available, install Milka from the flake:

nix profile install github:kogeletey/milka
milka --help
milka-github --help

From a checkout of this repository, the root flake builds Milka itself:

nix build
nix flake check
nix run . -- help
nix run .#milka-github -- help

The default package installs both milka and milka-github into bin/. The root flake also provides a Milka development shell with Crystal, Shards, Git, and the Nix formatter:

nix develop --no-pure-eval

For other devenv flakes, Milka exposes a module with a simple declaration API:

{
  imports = [
    milka.lib.devenvModule
  ];

  milka.repositories = [
    {
      dir = "sireng";
      remote = "ssh://git@source.lefine.pro:2222/lefinepro/sireng.git";
      branch = "master";
    }
  ];
}

Each repository object has dir, remote, optional branch, optional commit, and optional source. Set milka.autoClone = false to disable clone on shell entry. Set MILKA_DEVENV_SKIP_CLONE=1 for a one-off skip.

Lefinepro devenv flake

The Lefinepro repository workspace is a separate flake in lefinepro/. It uses Milka from the root flake, describes Lefinepro repositories as Nix objects via the Milka declaration API, and clones them automatically when the devenv shell starts.

Install the devenv CLI if you want to use devenv shell directly:

nix profile install nixpkgs#devenv

Enter the Lefinepro development environment from the directory where the repositories should be cloned:

cd /root/opt/lefine
nix develop ./milka/lefinepro --no-pure-eval
devenv shell ./milka/lefinepro

To enter the shell without cloning:

MILKA_DEVENV_SKIP_CLONE=1 nix develop ./milka/lefinepro --no-pure-eval
MILKA_DEVENV_SKIP_CLONE=1 devenv shell ./milka/lefinepro

You can also clone from the Lefinepro flake without entering the shell:

nix run ./milka/lefinepro
nix run ./milka/lefinepro -- sireng

Quick Start

1. Create a .meta/reps.toml configuration file in your project root with the repositories you want to manage:

   [[repo]]
   dir = 'my-project'
   remote = 'https://github.com/username/my-project.git'
   branch = 'main'
   
   [[repo]]
   dir = 'my-other-project'
   remote = 'https://github.com/username/my-other-project.git'
   branch = 'develop'

2. Clone all repositories at once:

3. Pull latest changes from all repositories:

Configuration

Milka uses a TOML file (default: .meta/reps.toml) to define which repositories to manage. RCL is also supported when the config path ends with .rcl.

Configuration File Format

The configuration file uses the following format:

[[repo]]
dir = 'directory-name'           # Local directory name where the repo will be cloned
remote = 'https://github.com/username/repo.git'  # Git repository URL
branch = 'main'                  # Branch to work with (default: 'main')
# commit = ''                    # Specific commit to checkout (optional)

Equivalent RCL:

do [
  do
    dir = "directory-name"
    remote = "https://github.com/username/repo.git"
    branch = "main"
    # commit = ""
  end
]

Default Configuration Location

By default, Milka looks for configuration in .meta/reps.toml relative to the current working directory. Use --config .meta/reps.rcl to load RCL instead, or specify any other location with the --config option.

Commands

clone

Clone repositories specified in the configuration file.

milka clone                    # Clone all repositories
milka clone repo-name          # Clone specific repository
milka clone --subtree          # Clone only repositories with source = "git+subtree" (new!)

fetch

Fetch updates from remote repositories without merging.

milka fetch                    # Fetch all repositories
milka fetch repo-name          # Fetch specific repository
milka fetch --subtree          # Fetch only repositories with source = "git+subtree" (new!)

pull

Pull latest changes from remote repositories.

milka pull                     # Pull all repositories
milka pull repo-name           # Pull specific repository
milka pull --subtree           # Pull only repositories with source = "git+subtree" (new!)

push

Push local changes to remote repositories.

milka push                     # Push all repositories
milka push repo-name           # Push specific repository
milka push --subtree           # Push only repositories with source = "git+subtree" (new!)

init

Initialize a new configuration file for managing repositories.

milka init                     # Create a new .meta/reps.toml configuration file with template

scan

Scan current directory for git repositories and add them to the configuration file.

milka scan                     # Scan and add git repos to config (with source = "git")
milka scan --subtree           # Scan and add git repos to config (with source = "git+subtree")

github (Plugin)

Scan GitHub organization or user repositories and add them to the configuration file. Optionally clone them as well.

Note: This command is only available in the milka-github binary built with -Dgithub_plugin flag.

milka-github github myorg             # Scan GitHub org 'myorg' and add all repos to config
milka-github github myorg --clone     # Scan and also clone all repositories
milka-github github myuser --subtree  # Scan user 'myuser' and add repos with subtree source

Authentication: For private repositories or to avoid rate limits, set the GITHUB_TOKEN or GH_TOKEN environment variable with your GitHub personal access token.

help

Show usage information.

milka help                     # Show help message

Options

• --config <path>: Specify custom path to configuration file (default: ./.meta/reps.toml; .rcl paths are parsed as RCL)
• --branch <branch>: Override branch for operations (default: branch from config or 'main')
• --subtree: With scan: Add repositories with source = "git+subtree" (default: "git")

Usage Examples

Clone all configured repositories:

Clone a specific repository:

Pull changes from all repositories:

Fetch updates for a specific repository:

Push changes to all repositories:

Pull changes from all repositories using a specific branch:

milka --branch develop pull

Use a custom configuration file:

milka --config /path/to/custom.toml pull
milka --config .meta/reps.rcl pull

Scan current directory and add git repositories to configuration:

milka scan                     # Add repos plane, not git init
milka scan --subtree           # Add repos with subtree functionality

Scan and clone all repositories from a GitHub organization (requires plugin build):

# Build the plugin version first: shards build milka-github -Dgithub_plugin
milka-github github myorg             # Add all org repos to config
milka-github github myorg --clone     # Add to config and clone all repos
GITHUB_TOKEN=your_token milka-github github private-org --clone  # With authentication

Author

Milka is developed by Konrad Geletey kg@re128.org.

License

This project is licensed under the ISC License. See the LICENSE file for details.