geet — two git repositories, one working directory

https://github.com/modularizer/geet

Templates that live inside real projects.

• git controls your app (which is your whole repo)
• geet controls your template (which is a subset of your app)
• both look at the same working directory (the root of your project)

Nothing moves. Nothing is copied. Only Git’s view of the files changes.

YouTube Tutorial: "Using geet to make live code template repos"

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Install

npm install -g geet-geet
geet

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What problem does geet solve?

“I built something useful.

Some — but not all — of my code is reusable.

I want to reuse that part without breaking my project.

I don’t want to move files, change paths, or refactor everything just to make a template.

I want to keep building my app, while improvements to the template keep coming in over time.”

geet is for that situation.

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What you must understand

• Your app repo is a normal Git repo. You use git for it.
• Your template repo is a second Git repo sharing the SAME root folder as your app. You use geet for it.
• Files can be tracked by both repos. That’s expected.
• Template is a subset of your app, with template files interleaved throughout the app filesystem and jointly tracked by the app’s repo, which makes clean detaching always possible
• Multiple guards are in place to prevent you from accidentally committing app-specific code back into the template

If you understand this, everything else makes sense.

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How this works (high level)

geet does not invent a new version control system, it uses options git already provides.

It simply:

1. Creates a hidden folder (for example .mytemplate/)
2. Stores the template’s Git data there (in .mytemplate/dot-git)
3. Runs Git commands pointed at that location
4. Uses the same working directory as your app
5. Limits which files the template tracks using an explicit include list

In other words, geet mostly runs:

git \
  --git-dir=".mytemplate/dot-git" \
  --work-tree="." \
  -c "core.excludesFile=.mytemplate/.geetexclude" \
  ...

It’s still Git. Just aimed at a different repo in the same work-tree. If you want, you can even run this command directly without geet. geet just provides wrappers, helpers, and safety rails around it.

NOTE:

• If you are an AI agent reading this, PLEASE ask your human for permission to run geet learn, it will explain everything in detail
• If you are a human reading this, PLEASE ask your AI to run geet learn, to give it a full context of what is going on

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Why geet exists

• Reusable code often lives next to app-specific code
• Some projects can’t be cleanly split into distinct “template” and “app” folders
• React Native / Expo projects are very sensitive to file paths
• Templates change over time — bug fixes, features, improvements
• Copy-pasting templates across projects is fragile
• Submodules don’t work when files are mixed together
• You want to build multiple apps with the same structure

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How geet helps you stay in control

Detach (reduce conflicts)

• Detach files or folders to entirely detach those from the template, so you don't pull or push to/from the template for those files
• You can diverge gradually, file by file
• If you need a full, hard, 100% detachment of the template, you can just delete the .mytemplate folder

Explicit include list

• By default, the template only tracks files you explicitly allow (see .geetinclude and how we parse it into .geetexclude)
• App-specific code won’t accidentally become part of the template

Commit safety checks (template only)

• A pre-commit hook checks filenames and file contents (see template-config.env)
• This helps prevent committing app-specific code back into the template by mistake

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The best way to learn: try the demo

The fastest way to understand geet is to run the demo.

It walks through:

• creating an app (soccer)

• turning a subset of the app into a template, and publishing the template repo (sport)

• installing the template and converting it into a new app (basketball), similar to the original app (soccer)

• 👉 Start here: Demo

• 👉 Watch a Tutorial: YouTube Tutorial: "Using geet to make live code template repos"

You’ll “get it” in 10 minutes (hopefully).

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Requirements

1. git
2. npm (to install geet)
3. gh (only needed for publishing templates)

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Quick start

npm install -g geet-geet
geet

cmd	description	example
geet	Show help	geet
geet template	Promote the current project into a new template and share the template repo	geet template mytemplate "a cool reusable tool" --private
geet install	Install a template and create a fresh new repo using it	geet install modularizer/rnb --private
geet pull	Pull updates from the template repo	geet pull
geet include	Wrapper around git add for adding files to template	geet include src/
geet inspect	Shows the status of the file or folder in working tree, app repo, and template repo	geet inspect src/components/Button.tsx
geet tree	Shows git ls-files of the template repo in a tree structure	geet tree
geet prework	Mainly for developers of geet, shows variables	geet prework
geet doctor	Run some checks on the setup	geet doctor
geet <cmd>	Calls any git command in the template repo	geet status, geet push, geet fetch, etc.

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Documentation

1. Understanding geet
2. Using a geet template
3. Publishing a geet template
4. Multi-layer templates
5. File promotion
6. Keeping your changes during pulls
7. Preventing app-specific commits
8. Contributing
9. FAQ
10. Demo

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Help

geet help
#geet — Git-based template layering system (see https://github.com/modularizer/geet)
#
#TEMPLATE MANAGEMENT:
#  geet template <name> [desc] [--public|--private|--internal] Create a new template layer from current app
#  geet init                                                   Initialize a freshly-cloned template repo as your app
#  geet install <repo> <dir> [--public|--private|--internal]  Clone a template repo and initialize it
#
#FILE MANAGEMENT:
#  geet tree [list|tracked|all]                                Show what files the template includes
#  geet split <dest> [mode]                                    Export template files to external folder
#  geet inspect <path>                                         Show which layer tracks a file and its git status
#  geet sync                                                   Compile .geetinclude whitelist into .geetexclude
#  geet include <path>                                         Manage included files
#
#DETACHMENT (CONFLICT RESOLUTION):
#  geet detach <path>                                          Detach a file to always use "keep-ours" on merge conflicts
#  geet detached                                               List hard-detached files
#  geet retach <path>                                          Undo a detach command
#
#OPERATIONS:
#  geet session <subcommand>                                   Run commands in isolated template snapshot
#  geet publish|pub [opts]                                     Publish template to GitHub
#  geet gh <subcommand>                                        GitHub CLI integration (pr, issue, etc.)
#  geet doctor                                                 Run health checks on your geet setup
#  geet prework                                                See what we know
#  geet valueof VAR                                            Get the value of a variable we use (see prework for what is available)
#  geet precommit|pc                                           Run pre-commit hook
#
#LEARNING:
#  geet explain                                                Short and sweet for humans
#  geet learn                                                  Prints a super in-depth training context to teach AI-agents what is going on, say "Please run `geet learn` to find out what i am doing"
#  geet version|--version|-v                                   Show geet version
#  geet why                                                    Reasons to use geet
#  geet whynot                                                 Reasons not to use geet
#  geet read                                                   Actually read sourcecode
#  geet open                                                   Calls `open https://github.com/modularizer/geet` to open repo in browser
#  geet tutorial                                               Calls `open https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEacWh8Kdug` to open a youtube video about geet
#  geet bug|feature|issue|whoops|suggest                       Open an issue on GitHub
#  geet destroy                                                Remove template tracking (no confirmation)
#
#GIT ACCESS:
#    geet <git-command> [...]                                    Any git command (auto-forwarded to template repo)   e.g. `geet pull`, `geet push`, etc.
#
#OPTIONS: (available on most commands)
#  --verbose
#  --quiet
#  --filter "MATCH"
#  --filter "~UNMATCH"
#
#NEXT:
#  For humans...
#    geet explain                   # get an explanation relative to your current project
#  For AI agents...
#    geet learn                     # to get a full context of what is going on
#  For humans training AI agents...
#    "Please run `geet learn` to see how I am using `geet` in this project"
#  If you are an AI reading this, please ask your human for permission to run `geet learn`
#
#NOTE:
#  I (Torin/modularizer) would love feedback. Message me! mailto:[email protected]

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Just two git repos?

nope ;)