.github

Default community health files, issue templates, and shared configurations for all JacobPEvans repositories.

About This Repository

This is GitHub's special .github repository, which provides organization-wide default files for all public repositories. Files stored here are automatically inherited by any repository that doesn't have its own version.

How Inheritance Works

Automatic Inheritance: When someone views a community health file in a repository that doesn't have one, GitHub displays the version from this .github repository. This happens in real-time. No syncing is required.

Search Order: GitHub looks for files in this order within both the target repository and this .github repository:

1. The .github/ folder
2. The repository root
3. The docs/ folder

One-Way Flow: Files in this repository serve as fallbacks. Changes here don't overwrite or sync to repositories that already have their own versions.

Override Behavior: Any repository can override these defaults by creating its own version of a file. For issue templates specifically, if a repository has ANY files in its own .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/ folder, NONE of the defaults from this repository will be used.

Public Requirement: This repository must be public for inheritance to work organization-wide. Private .github repositories only work for private repositories in the same organization.

Learn More: Creating a default community health file - GitHub Docs

Supported Inheritable Files

According to GitHub's documentation, the following files can be inherited:

• CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
• CONTRIBUTING.md
• Discussion category forms
• FUNDING.yml
• GOVERNANCE.md
• Issue and pull request templates
• SECURITY.md
• SUPPORT.md

Note: LICENSE files cannot be inherited and must be added to each repository individually.

Repository Structure

Root Files

File	Purpose	Inherited?	Documentation
README.md	This file	No	-
LICENSE	Apache License 2.0 for this repository	No	-
AGENTS.md	Quick reference for AI agents	No	-

docs/

Documentation files (inheritable by other repositories):

File	Purpose	Inherited?	Documentation
docs/CONTRIBUTING.md	Contribution guidelines	Yes	About CONTRIBUTING
docs/LABELS.md	Label system documentation	No	-
docs/AI_ASSISTANT_CONFIG.md	AI review tool setup templates	No	-

.github/

File	Purpose	Inherited?	Documentation
.github/labels.yml	Canonical label definitions	No	Managing labels

.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/

Standardized issue forms that enforce the label taxonomy and collect structured information:

Template	Description	Auto-Label	File
Bug Report	Bug reports with reproduction steps	type:bug	bug_report.yml
Feature Request	Feature requests and enhancements	type:feature	feature_request.yml
Documentation	Documentation improvements	type:docs	documentation.yml
Chore/Maintenance	Maintenance and tooling tasks	type:chore	chore.yml
Template Config	Disables blank issues, configures chooser	-	config.yml

All templates require:

• Priority selection (priority:critical/high/medium/low)
• Size estimation (size:xs/s/m/l/xl)

Learn More:

• About issue and pull request templates
• Syntax for issue forms

.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/

Standardized pull request templates that enforce conventional commits and collect structured information:

Template	Use Case	Type Label	File
Default/General	Chores, CI, tests, other changes	Multiple	pull_request_template.md
Bug Fix	Bug fixes with root cause	type:bug	bug.md
Feature	New features with design docs	type:feature	feature.md
Breaking Change	Breaking changes with migration	type:breaking	breaking.md
Documentation	Docs improvements	type:docs	docs.md
Refactoring	Code refactoring with impact	type:refactor	refactor.md
Performance	Performance improvements	type:perf	performance.md

All templates require:

• Conventional commit format in PR title (type(scope): description)
• Related issue linking
• Type, priority, and size labels
• GPG-signed commits

Selecting a template:

• Default template loads automatically
• Use query parameter for specific template: ?template=bug.md
• Templates align with Conventional Commits specification

Learn More:

• Creating a pull request template for your repository
• Conventional Commits specification

.github/workflows/

GitHub Actions workflows that automate label management:

Workflow	Purpose	Trigger	Documentation
auto-label-issues.yml	Automatically applies priority and size labels from issue form dropdowns	Issue creation	Using workflows

How it works: When an issue is created from a template, the workflow extracts the user's dropdown selections (priority and size). It then applies the corresponding labels automatically.

Label System

All repositories use a consistent labeling taxonomy for issue classification and workflow management.

See LABELS.md for complete documentation.

Quick Reference

• Type labels (type:*): bug, feature, breaking, docs, chore, ci, test, refactor, perf
• Priority labels (priority:*): critical, high, medium, low
• Size labels (size:*): xs, s, m, l, xl
• AI workflow labels (ai:*): created, ready
• Triage labels: duplicate, invalid, wontfix, question

Learn More: Managing labels - GitHub Docs

Using These Files in Your Repositories

Option 1: Inherit (Recommended)

Simply don't create your own versions of community health files. GitHub will automatically display files from this .github repository as fallbacks.

How to check: Visit https://github.com/JacobPEvans/YOUR_REPO/community to see which files are inherited vs. defined in your repository.

Pros: Zero maintenance. Updates to this repository automatically apply to all repos without their own files.

Cons: Can't customize per-repository without losing inheritance completely.

Option 2: Override

Create your own version of a file in your repository to override the default.

Examples:

• Add CONTRIBUTING.md to your repo root or docs/ folder to replace the inherited version
• Add any file to .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/ to disable ALL template inheritance

Pros: Full customization for specific repository needs.

Cons: Loses automatic updates from this .github repository.

Option 3: Sync Labels

Labels are not inherited automatically. Use the GitHub CLI to sync them from .github/labels.yml:

# One-time sync from this repo to another
gh label clone JacobPEvans/.github -R JacobPEvans/YOUR_REPO --force

Why --force? Updates existing labels and creates new ones. Without it, the command fails if labels already exist.

Learn More: GitHub CLI manual

License

All JacobPEvans repositories are licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 unless otherwise noted. Each repository contains its own LICENSE file as the authoritative license for that project, since GitHub does not support inheriting LICENSE files from a .github repository.

See the LICENSE file in this repository for the full license text.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines on contributing to this repository.

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Related Documentation:

• About community profiles for public repositories
• Creating a default community health file
• GitHub CLI documentation

Maintained by: Jacob P Evans