import-into

name	import-into
description	Use when pulling live GitHub state back into existing gh-infra manifests with `gh infra import --into`, especially for write/patch/skip decisions, shared file sources, template-backed files, and import safety rules.

Import Into

Use this skill for gh infra import --into=....

This workflow is different from normal import, plan, and apply:

• it updates local manifests from live GitHub state
• it may rewrite YAML, local source files, or manifest patches
• it has file-level write modes and skip safety rules

When To Use

Use this skill when the user wants to:

• pull GitHub state back into existing manifests
• reconcile drift from GitHub UI into local YAML
• decide between write, patch, and skip
• understand why a file was skipped during import
• update shared templates safely after repository-side drift

Command

gh infra import <owner/repo> [owner/repo ...] --into=<path>

<path> may be a file or a directory of manifests.

How It Works

1. Parse local manifests
2. Match target repositories against Repository, RepositorySet, and FileSet
3. Fetch live state from GitHub
4. Diff local vs remote
5. Show plan output
6. For file changes, open the interactive diff viewer
7. Write approved local changes

File Write Modes

• write: update the normal local target
• patch: store the drift under patches:
• skip: ignore for this run

Typical defaults:

• inline content: write
• single-use local source: write
• shared local source: patch
• existing patches: entry: patch
• many create_only entries: skip

Safety Rules

There are two skip modes:

• default skip: safe enough to import, but skipped by default
• hard skip: cannot be written back safely

Hard-skip cases include:

• github:// sources
• template-backed files whose placeholders cannot be reverse-mapped safely

Template-Backed Files

For templates such as <% .Repo.Name %> and <% .Repo.FullName %>, gh-infra compares:

1. rendered local template
2. remote GitHub file

It then tries to reconstruct updated local template source while preserving placeholders.

Use write only when you want to update the underlying shared source. Use patch when drift should stay repository-specific.

What Gets Updated

• repository settings: patched into YAML
• inline file content: written back into the manifest
• local source: ./... files: written back to the source file
• shared local source files: often better stored as patches

What Does Not Get Imported

• secrets: GitHub does not return secret values
• github:// sources: no local write target
• template-backed files that cannot be reverse-mapped safely

Read Next

• Examples and detailed behavior: references/behavior.md
• Diff-viewer decisions: references/write-modes.md
• Template safety: references/template-safety.md