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Guide · GitHub

The GitHub App

Connect repositories so their commits, issues and pull requests are read into the brain, with a backfill that runs on the server.

The Living Brain GitHub App reads a repository's commits, issues and pull requests into the brain, as sources, so the brain can answer questions about them and cite them. It does not write to your repositories. Proposing wiki edits as pull requests is planned, not built.

Connect a repository

  1. Sign in to app.livingbrain.wiki as an owner or admin of the workspace.
  2. Open Settings → GitHub.
  3. Choose Install Living Brain on GitHub. Pick your account or organization. Choose Only select repositories and select the ones you want.
  4. GitHub asks you to authorize Living Brain once. That only proves which GitHub user installed the app; the token is used for two reads and then dropped.
  5. Back in Settings → GitHub, the repository is listed. It is shared by default, and filed under a project named after the repository.

A member who installs the app on an organization makes an approval request; an owner of that organization finishes the steps.

What comes in

The app is subscribed to pushes, issues, issue comments, pull requests, pull request reviews and review comments, releases, and installation changes. Each item becomes a source: commits by their SHA, and issues and pull requests by their number, each with a permalink. The author's GitHub login is kept; no email address is stored.

Backfill

The first connection also reads the repository's existing history. The backfill runs on the server, on the cron tick (every five minutes), in pages that respect GitHub's rate limits. Settings → GitHub shows its progress. Nothing has to be clicked to start it, and nothing outside Living Brain can start a backfill.

Filtering

Sources → GitHub lists commits, issues and pull requests, filtered by kind and project. Each entry links to its page on github.com.

Your own app (advanced)

By default the workspace uses the shared Living Brain app. Under the advanced section, you can instead create your own GitHub App for your account or organization. Living Brain then uses that app's credentials, which it keeps sealed. Removing an app here forgets its credentials; delete the app on GitHub as well.

Reference

The record format, webhook checks and backfill planner are in the GitHub connection reference.

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