Ghsync

ghsync: mirror and sync every repo you can access

Onboarding into a new enterprise means finding and cloning dozens of repos by hand, then drifting out of date. This skill does both halves: it discovers everything you can reach and keeps it in sync.

• First run — clones every accessible repo into a worktree-friendly layout.
• Every run after — fast-forward updates repos already on their default

branch, updates their worktrees, and clones anything new. It never clobbers local work: repos with uncommitted changes or on a non-default branch are fetched but not pulled, and reported in the summary.

It is org-agnostic — point it at any GitHub org, GitHub Enterprise host, or personal account. The script detects the account type itself: for an organization it unions the teams you belong to with the org's repo list (so direct-collaborator and public repos are included even with no team membership); for a personal account it uses the account's repo list (private repos included when it's your own account).

How to run it

The script lives next to this file. Resolve its directory the same way the other skills do (works whether installed as a plugin or hand-placed under ~/.claude/skills/):

SKILL_DIR="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:+$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/skills/ghsync}"
SKILL_DIR="${SKILL_DIR:-$(dirname "$(realpath ~/.claude/skills/ghsync/SKILL.md)")}"

# Org is derived from the directory you run in. To mirror the "meridianhub"
# org, run from a directory named meridianhub:
cd ~/dev/github.com/meridianhub
bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/ghsync.sh"

The org defaults to the basename of the directory you launch from. So running inside ~/dev/github.com/meridianhub syncs the meridianhub org into that directory. Override the org name or target directory explicitly when they differ:

bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/ghsync.sh" --org meridianhub --root ~/dev/github.com/meridianhub

What to do when invoked

1. Confirm the target. Run with --list-repos first (or --list-teams

for an org) so the user sees which account and how many repos before any cloning. This doubles as a check that the derived account name is correct.

1. Dry run on first use against a new org (--dry-run) to preview clones

and updates without touching disk.

1. Run the real sync. Stream the output; the run ends with a summary

(up-to-date / updated / failed / uncommitted / branch issues / worktrees).

1. Surface the exceptions. Call out anything under Failed, *Uncommitted

changes, or Not on default branch* — these are the repos the user may need to deal with manually.

Flags

| Flag | Effect | |------|--------| | --org NAME | Org or personal account to sync (default: basename of --root / cwd) | | --root DIR | Directory to clone into (default: current directory) | | --list-teams | List your teams in the org (with repo counts) and exit; orgs only | | --list-repos | List the deduplicated accessible repos and exit | | --porcelain | Machine-readable repo list: one name per line to stdout, all chatter to stderr; implies --list-repos. Consumed by downstream tooling such as /ghreport. | | --dry-run | Show what would be cloned/updated without making changes | | --limit N | Process only the first N repos (useful for a quick test) | | --quiet | Suppress per-repository chatter; keep the final summary |

Layout produced

//
  ├── -main/   # default-branch checkout, kept clean and up to date
  └── worktree/      # ready for `git worktree add ...`

This matches the worktree convention the rest of the toolkit assumes: -main stays on the default branch and clean, and feature work happens in sibling worktrees.

Sync safety rules

• Repos with uncommitted changes are fetched but not pulled (reported under

Uncommitted changes).

• Repos not on their default branch are fetched but not pulled (reported

under Not on default branch).

• Updates are fast-forward only (git pull --ff-only) — no merge commits,

no rebases, never a force.

• Worktrees on the default branch with no local changes are fast-forwarded too.
• A repo that exists locally without the -main structure is flagged

(Wrong structure) rather than touched.

Requirements & configuration

• gh and jq on PATH, and gh auth status must be authenticated. The

script checks both up front.

• GitHub Enterprise: gh uses its configured host. Target a GHE instance by

setting GH_HOST=github.example.com or running gh auth login --hostname github.example.com first.

• Access model: for an organization, repos are discovered by unioning

two sources and deduplicating: the teams you belong to (gh api user/teams) and the org repo list (gh repo list ), which also surfaces public repos and repos reachable via direct collaborator grants outside any team. Team membership is not a precondition — a user on no team still syncs every repo they can otherwise access. For a personal account, repos come from gh repo list (includes private repos when authenticated as that account). Empty repos with no default branch are skipped in both cases.

• Blacklist: export GHSYNC_BLACKLIST="repo-a repo-b" to skip oversized or

problematic repos.

• timeout: optional but recommended (brew install coreutils) — caps each

repo at 5 minutes so one hung clone can't stall the run.

• Archived repos are skipped from cloning and cached to

/.gh_archived_repos for reference.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: bjcoombs
• Source: bjcoombs/ai-native-toolkit
• License: Apache-2.0

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.