GitHub Repo Skill: Public-Grade Repository Standards & Release Workflows

The github-repo skill establishes strict standards for building, organizing, sanitizing, and maintaining production-ready GitHub repositories. It serves as a sister skill to openwiki-skill: while openwiki-skill manages deep wiki documentation in .openwiki/ and continuous updates, github-repo governs repository layout, top-tier README design, CI/CD pipelines, NPM release workflows, and strict privacy/security audits.

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1. When to Invoke This Skill

• Repository Initialization: When creating a new repository or preparing an existing codebase for open-source publication.
• Pre-Push Sanitization Audit: Before committing or pushing code, to ensure no absolute local paths, API keys, foreign repository names, or cloned user metadata are published.
• Workflow Setup: Setting up automated testing (ci.yml), automated NPM releases (publish.yml), or .gitignore rules.
• README Overhaul: Restructuring a project's README.md to conform to modern open-source README standards.

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1.1 ⚡ Mandatory Prerequisite: Automatic OpenWiki Check

Whenever the github-repo skill is invoked, the agent MUST perform an automated pre-flight check:

1. Check .openwiki/ Existence: Verify if .openwiki/ directory exists and contains quickstart.md, architecture.md, and release notes.
2. Automatic Execution of openwiki-skill: If .openwiki/ is missing, empty, or stale, automatically invoke openwiki-skill first before performing repo structure or README edits.
3. Handshake: Allow openwiki-skill to scan the codebase and populate .openwiki/, then resume github-repo tasks (README layout, dynamic badges, CI/CD workflows, sanitization audit).

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2. 🔒 Mandatory Sanitization & Privacy Rules (Clean-Repo Engine)

Before pushing any commit to GitHub, execute this 5-point sanitization audit:

Rule 1: No Absolute Local Paths or Usernames

<!-- validate-skills-ignore -->

• Forbidden: Paths like /Users/john/projects/..., C:\Users\dev\..., /home/ubuntu/....
• Allowed: Relative paths (./src/index.ts, config/settings.json) or environment placeholders (~/.config/, $HOME/).

Rule 2: Zero Secrets & Credentials

• Forbidden: API keys, secret tokens, private keys, database strings with passwords, OAuth client secrets.
• Action: Ensure .env is listed in .gitignore. Always provide a sanitized .env.example file.

Rule 3: Scrub Foreign Clone Artifacts

• Forbidden: Foreign git remote URLs, mismatched repository names in package.json / pyproject.toml, or author details retained from cloned starter templates.
• Action: Verify package.json fields (name, repository, homepage, bugs, author) match the target repository explicitly.

Rule 4: Clean Remote & Repository Name Synchronization

• Forbidden: References to older repository names or external GitHub orgs/users that do not match the current project.
• Action: Check all internal markdown links, badge URLs, and package references to ensure accurate naming across all files.

Rule 5: Workspace Artifact Exclusion

• Forbidden: Committing .DS_Store, build outputs (dist/, build/), node_modules/, scratch files, or environment configurations.
• Action: Verify complete coverage in .gitignore.

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3. Recommended Repository Layout

.
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       ├── ci.yml            # Continuous integration & test matrix
│       └── publish.yml       # NPM publish on GitHub Release tag
├── .openwiki/                # Managed by openwiki-skill (architecture, quickstart, etc.)
│   ├── quickstart.md
│   ├── architecture.md
│   └── release_notes.md
├── src/                      # Source code
├── tests/                    # Unit and integration tests
├── .env.example              # Sanitized environment template
├── .gitignore                # Production gitignore rules
├── CHANGELOG.md              # Version change history
├── LICENSE                   # Open-source license (MIT/Apache-2.0)
├── README.md                 # Primary entrypoint (High-Impact layout)
└── package.json / Cargo.toml # Package manifest

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4. High-Impact README Layout Standard

A top-tier README.md MUST strictly adhere to the following professional layout and structure.

4.1 Top Bar: Language Definition & ASCII Art Header

Every README must start with a language switch header at the very top (if applicable), followed immediately by a clean ASCII Art text logo inside a text block. The ASCII art should spell out the Organization and Project Name using standard blocky fonts.

4.2 Title, Topology Sketch & Dynamic Badges

Directly below the ASCII art, place the main title (H1) with an appropriate emoji. Topology Sketch (MANDATORY): Directly below the title, include an architectural sketch image representing the system. You MUST instruct the agent or use your own generative tools (e.g., DALL-E, Nano Banana, or available harness tools) to generate a topology sketch image (e.g., ![Architecture Sketch](assets/topology_sketch.jpg)). Follow this immediately with a clean row of dynamic shields/badges tailored to the repository.

4.3 The Hook (Mission Statement)

Directly below the badges, write a single, bolded, hard-hitting sentence inside a blockquote that explains the ultimate value proposition of the project.

4.4 Visualizations, Emojis, & GitHub Alerts

• Mermaid Diagrams: ALWAYS include mermaid code blocks to visualize the core architecture or signal flow.
• Emojis: Use clear H2 (##) sections with matching emojis (e.g., ## 🌟 Key Highlights, ## 🏗️ Architecture, ## 🚀 Quickstart).
• GitHub Alerts: NEVER use standard bold text for warnings or tips. You MUST use official GitHub Markdown Alert syntax (> [!IMPORTANT], > [!TIP], > [!CAUTION]).
• Clean Clutter: Use <details> and <summary><strong>...</strong></summary> to collapse verbose information.

4.5 Standard Layout Formula

🌐 **Language / Sprache**: **Deutsch** | [ 🇬🇧 English ](README.en.md)

````text
   [ O R G / A U T H O R ]   -   P R O J E C T   N A M E

🚀 [Org/Author] - [Project Name]

Architecture Sketch

CI coverage runtime license key metric

[Action verb] the [Technology] into a [High-end outcome], highly isolated, [Feature]-grade system.

🌟 Key Highlights

...

🏗️ Architecture & Workflow

...

### Dynamic Badge Adaptation Guidelines
- **`CI Status Badge`**: Points to `.github/workflows/ci.yml` in the specific repository (`CI | passing`).
- **`Coverage Badge`**: Reflects actual test suite coverage (e.g. `coverage | 94%`).
- **`Runtime / Language Badge`**: Matches the primary runtime (e.g., `python | 3.10+`, `node | 18+`, `go | 1.22+`).
- **`License Badge`**: Matches the project's `LICENSE` file (`license | Apache 2.0`, `license | MIT`).
- **`Key Metric Badge`**: Highlights the primary value or performance metric (e.g. `avg savings | 67%`, `downloads | 10k+`).

---

### 🌐 Multi-Language README Standard (Trilingual Switcher)

When preparing repositories for international audiences, provide multi-language READMEs with a top-bar language navigation switcher placed directly under the header banner:

1. **File Naming Standards**:
   - `README.md` (Default English - GitHub root entrypoint)
   - `README.de.md` (Deutsch / German)
   - `README.pt.md` (Português / Portuguese)

2. **Top-Bar Language Switcher Syntax**:
   - **In `README.md` (English)**:
     ```markdown
     🌐 **Language / Sprache / Idioma**: **English** | [ 🇩🇪 Deutsch ](README.de.md) | [ 🇵🇹 Português ](README.pt.md)
     ```
   - **In `README.de.md` (Deutsch)**:
     ```markdown
     🌐 **Sprache / Language / Idioma**: [ 🇬🇧 English ](README.md) | **Deutsch** | [ 🇵🇹 Português ](README.pt.md)
     ```
   - **In `README.pt.md` (Português)**:
     ```markdown
     🌐 **Idioma / Language / Sprache**: [ 🇬🇧 English ](README.md) | [ 🇩🇪 Deutsch ](README.de.md) | **Português**
     ```

3. **Parity Requirement**: All language versions MUST maintain 100% section parity (Header, Badges, Features, Architecture diagrams, Quickstart commands, CLI reference, License).

---

## ✨ Features

- **Key Feature 1**: Brief description emphasizing benefits.
- **Key Feature 2**: Brief description emphasizing performance or ease of use.
- **Key Feature 3**: Security, privacy, or integration highlight.

---

## 🏗️ Architecture & Workflow

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    A[Input / Trigger] --> B[Processing Engine]
    B --> C[Sanitized Output / Artifact]

---

🚀 Quickstart

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ / Python 3.10+
• Package manager (npm, pnpm, or bun)

Installation

# Via NPX
npx <package-name>@latest

# Or global installation
npm install -g <package-name>

---

⚙️ Configuration

Copy .env.example to .env and configure environment variables:

Variable	Description	Default	Required
API_KEY	Authentication key for external service	N/A	Yes
LOG_LEVEL	Logging verbosity (info, debug, error)	info	No

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💻 CLI & Usage

# Run main command
<command-name> --help

# Example command with arguments
<command-name> run --config ./config.json

---

🔄 CI/CD & Workflows

This repository includes automated workflows for testing and deployment:

• CI Matrix: Runs on every push/PR across Node versions (.github/workflows/ci.yml).
• NPM Publish: Automatically builds and publishes to NPM upon creating a GitHub Release (.github/workflows/publish.yml).

---

📚 Documentation

For complete architectural details, developer guides, and release notes, visit the .openwiki/ directory.

---

📄 License

MIT © Project Contributors

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Elevate your agency. Dominate the workflow.

---

## 5. Workflow Templates

### 5.1 `.github/workflows/ci.yml`
```yaml
name: CI

on:
  push:
    branches: [ main, master ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ main, master ]

jobs:
  test:
    name: Build & Test
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [18.x, 20.x, 22.x]

    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Check code formatting & lint
        run: npm run lint --if-present

      - name: Run test suite
        run: npm test --if-present

      - name: Build production package
        run: npm run build --if-present

5.2 .github/workflows/publish.yml

name: Publish Package

on:
  release:
    types: [published]

jobs:
  publish:
    name: Publish to NPM
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20.x'
          registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Build package
        run: npm run build --if-present

      - name: Publish to NPM
        run: npm publish --access public
        env:
          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}

---

6. Pre-Publish Verification Checklist

Before releasing a package or pushing a release tag:

1. Dry Run NPM Build: Run npm pack --dry-run to confirm only intended files are packaged.
2. Sanitization Sweep: Search codebase for any stray /Users/ or secret strings.
3. Version Bump: Ensure package.json version matches CHANGELOG.md and release tags.
4. Secrets Verification: Ensure NPM_TOKEN is configured in GitHub Repository Secrets.
5. OpenWiki Sync: Run openwiki-skill workflow to update .openwiki/release_notes.md and root entrypoints.