werkator/docs/configuration.md

GitTally Configuration Reference

GitTally is configured via YAML files. Settings are merged from several sources in order — later layers override earlier ones.

Config File Locations

Layer	Path	Committed to Git	Purpose
Project config	.gittally.yml	Yes	Shared team settings
Repo installation config	.git/gittally/.gittally.yml	No	Machine- or user-specific overrides, secrets
Build worktree config	.gittally.yml of the built commit	Yes	Per-branch build settings (build layer only)

The repo install config (.git/gittally/.gittally.yml) wins on any key present in both files. Typically used to set git.token and git.account without committing them.

Per-branch build settings from the worktree

When a branch builds, its build config is resolved with an extra layer: the .gittally.yml committed on the branch being built (read from its build worktree) overrides the two layers above, giving the precedence worktree > repo install > project. So a branch can change its own buildCommand, cleanCommand, artifactDirs, log file names, autoBuild, and docker.image/dockerfile/context/env.

This layer applies only to the build itself. A pinned set is always taken from the repo install/project config and can never be set from the worktree:

• secrets and server-side settings: the whole git, gitea, and server sections;
• the container sandbox policy: docker.enabled and docker.network.

This keeps a branch from disabling its own build container, changing its network mode, or reaching credentials. Watcher decisions that happen before a build exists — autoBuild scheduling and the requirePullRequest gate — are still read from the repo install/project config, because there is no worktree at that point.

Inspect the Effective Config

java -jar build/libs/gittally.jar config:print         # only explicitly set values
java -jar build/libs/gittally.jar config:print --full  # all values including defaults

git.token is masked as *** by default, so the output can safely be shared or pasted. Add --show-secrets to print it in clear text.

.gittally.yml

Values shown are the defaults.

server:
  # Public base URL of this GitTally installation — used for all links posted to Gitea.
  publicBaseUrl: https://ci.example.org/
  # HTTP port of the `server` subcommand (default 18080, like legacy)
  port: 18080
  # bind address of the `server` subcommand; loopback only, because the UI and the API
  # are unauthenticated — set 0.0.0.0 only deliberately (see the note below)
  bindAddress: 127.0.0.1
  # optional Impressum (legal disclosure) link in the web UI footer; empty hides the link
  impressumUrl: ""
  # Opt-in managed nginx+certbot Docker container for HTTPS, for hosts without
  # a usable reverse proxy (ADR 0005; see notes below and deployment.md).
  nginx:
    # manage an nginx Docker container with Let's Encrypt certificates
    enabled: false
    # public DNS name served by nginx and used for the certificate; required when enabled
    serverName: ""
    # host port published as nginx port 80 (ACME challenge + HTTPS redirect)
    httpPort: 8080
    # host port published as nginx port 443
    httpsPort: 8443
    # host nginx proxies to; empty = serverName (the container cannot reach localhost)
    upstreamHost: ""
    # name of the managed container; empty = gittally-nginx-<repo-name>
    containerName: ""
    # directory for nginx config, certificates, and logs;
    # empty = $XDG_STATE_HOME (or ~/.local/state) plus /gittally/nginx/<repo-key>
    stateDir: ""
    # e-mail for the Let's Encrypt account; empty registers without one
    letsencryptEmail: ""

# Gitea integration for fetching commits and posting build statuses.
gitea:
  baseUrl: https://git.example.org   # base URL of the Gitea instance
  owner: my-org                      # repository owner (user or organisation) for Gitea API (e.g. status checks)
  repo: my-repo                      # repository name
  statusContext: GitTally            # label shown on Gitea commit status checks (default: GitTally)

# Build execution.
builds:
  # How many branches may build at the same time.
  # At most one build per branch runs regardless; each branch builds in its own
  # git worktree under .git/gittally/worktrees/, never in the primary checkout.
  # Changing this value requires a restart.
  maxConcurrent: 1

# Build artifact storage and retention.
artifacts:
  # Root directory for stored build artifacts.
  # Empty means the platform default: $XDG_STATE_HOME (or ~/.local/state) plus /gittally/artifacts/<repo-key>,
  # where <repo-key> is the sanitized absolute repository path.
  # A leading ~/ expands to the home directory; a relative path is resolved against the repository.
  rootDir: ""
  # number of builds to keep per branch
  retentionPerBranch: 3
  # Additionally drop builds older than this age; suffixes s (seconds), m (minutes), h (hours), d (days).
  # Empty means no age limit.
  # Combines with retentionPerBranch: a build is kept only while it satisfies both limits.
  # A branch's newest build is never age-pruned, so dormant branches keep their last status.
  retentionMaxAge: ""
  # Keep each branch's latest green (successful) build even beyond retentionPerBranch and retentionMaxAge.
  # This backs the permanent artifact URLs /branches/<branch-key>/... — they always serve
  # the latest green build of a branch and stay valid while newer builds fail.
  # The kept build is still dropped once its branch is deleted from origin.
  keepLatestGreen: true

# Controls the branch-polling loop.
watcher:
  # delay between poll cycles; suffixes s (seconds), m (minutes), h (hours), d (days)
  pollInterval: 10s
  # max commit age for new origin branches to be pulled automatically
  newBranchMaxAge: 5d
  # Honor the branches.<name>.requirePullRequest gates (see notes below).
  # Set false for a plain git origin without pull-request refs (no Gitea/GitHub);
  # gated branches then build on new commits like any other branch.
  pullRequestGate: true
  # At the end of each poll cycle, fast-forward the primary checkout's local branch refs
  # to their origin counterparts (see notes below). Fast-forward only — a diverged or
  # ahead local branch is never touched. Set false to leave refs/heads/* alone entirely.
  fastForwardLocalRefs: true

# Per-branch build configuration.
# Use "default" as the fallback for all branches not listed explicitly.
# Each entry merges build settings and auto-build scheduling.
branches:
  default:
    # run before each build
    cleanCommand: rm -rf build
    # shell command for each build 
    buildCommand: ./gradlew --console=plain --no-daemon test
    # directories copied as build artifacts
    artifactDirs:                                         
      - build/reports
      - build/doc
    stdoutLog: build.stdout.log   # filename for captured stdout
    stderrLog: build.stderr.log   # filename for captured stderr
    # Build this branch only while its head commit matches a pull-request head on origin
    # (refs/pull/*/head — read via plain git, no API token needed; see notes below).
    requirePullRequest: false
    autoBuild:
      enabled: false        # whether to rebuild on schedule
      times: ["01:00"]      # UTC times HH:MM for scheduled builds
    # Optional Docker build runtime; when enabled, the clean and build commands
    # run inside a container instead of natively (see notes below).
    docker:
      # run clean/build commands in a Docker container
      enabled: false
      # image for the build container; required when enabled
      image: ""
      # Dockerfile to (re)build the image from when it is missing or stale; empty pulls the image as-is
      dockerfile: ""
      # Docker build context used with dockerfile
      context: "."
      # Docker network mode for the build container; empty = Docker default
      network: ""
      # additional environment variables set inside the build container
      env: {}

  main:
    autoBuild:
      enabled: true

  master:
    autoBuild:
      enabled: true

  release:
    buildCommand: ./gradlew --console=plain --no-daemon --no-build-cache test jacocoReport
    autoBuild:
      enabled: true
      times:
        - "04:00"

Notes on server.bindAddress

The default is 127.0.0.1. Neither the web UI nor the JSON API authenticates read access — which is intended, so build states and artifacts can be linked from anywhere — so GitTally is meant to sit behind the host's reverse proxy rather than on a public interface. Set 0.0.0.0 only deliberately — for the managed nginx container (which reaches GitTally over the Docker bridge, not over loopback), or when the proxy runs on another host. Installations created before v0.9.9 have bindAddress: 0.0.0.0 written into their .gittally.yml and keep it; the new default only applies where the key is absent or init writes a fresh file.

Notes on server.nginx

With nginx.enabled, the server subcommand also starts a managed nginx Docker container that serves GitTally over HTTPS (ADR 0005). This is meant for hosts that provide Docker but no usable reverse proxy (e.g. Hostsharing managed containers); otherwise prefer the reverse-proxy setup in deployment.md. Certificates are obtained and renewed via Let's Encrypt (certbot Docker container, webroot mode), so serverName must be a public DNS name pointing at the host and httpPort must be reachable from the internet as port 80 (or via a port forward). When server.publicBaseUrl is empty and serverName is set, it defaults to https://<serverName>/. All nginx/certificate failures are non-fatal warnings; the plain HTTP server keeps running without the proxy. The container is labelled org.hoennig.gittally; stale nginx containers of the repository are removed before each start, and the container is removed on shutdown. server.port must differ from httpPort and httpsPort.

Notes on branches.<name>.requirePullRequest

The gate applies to all watcher-triggered builds (push-triggered and scheduled auto builds). A manual gittally build <branch> always builds, regardless of this setting.

Detection works without a Gitea API token: the watcher lists refs/pull/*/head on origin via git ls-remote and builds a branch only when its head commit equals one of those pull-request head commits. This ls-remote call is made at most once per poll cycle, and only when a branch requiring a pull request is otherwise due.

Because matching is by commit id, a closed pull request whose head ref still equals the branch head also counts. Distinguishing open from closed pull requests would require the Gitea API.

To build pull-request branches only, set the key under branches.default and override it for permanent branches:

branches:
  default:
    requirePullRequest: true
  main:
    requirePullRequest: false

Without the main override, direct pushes and merges to main would never build — merge commits do not match any pull-request head.

A plain git origin (no Gitea/GitHub) serves no refs/pull/*/head at all, so gated branches would never build there. For such origins, disable all gates globally with watcher.pullRequestGate: false — typically in the machine-specific .git/gittally/.gittally.yml, so the committed configuration keeps the gates for forge-backed environments.

Notes on watcher.fastForwardLocalRefs

Builds run in worktrees that share the primary checkout's .git, so a build tool can read refs/heads/* there. GitTally itself never needs those refs to be current — it builds the commit refs/remotes/origin/<branch> points at — but build tools do. A common case is a check that refuses to run when the local main branch differs from its origin counterpart; without this key it would fail on every build once origin moved on, because nothing would ever advance the local ref.

The fast-forward runs at the end of the poll cycle, after the due branches were enqueued. That order is required, not cosmetic: a local ref lagging behind origin is exactly how the watcher recognizes new commits, so a ref kept in sync earlier — by this key, a cron job, or a mirroring fetch refspec (+refs/heads/*:refs/heads/*) — would silently stop the branch from ever being built.

Only fast-forwards are applied, as a compare-and-swap against the commit just read. A local branch that diverged from origin or is ahead of it stays untouched, so local work in the primary checkout is never lost. The branch checked out in the primary checkout is advanced with git merge --ff-only, which refuses to overwrite conflicting uncommitted changes; a refusal is logged and the cycle continues.

Notes on branches.<name>.docker

With docker.enabled, GitTally shells out to the docker CLI; the docker command must be on the PATH. When dockerfile is set, the image is (re)built whenever the Dockerfile content, its path, or the context path changed. Staleness is tracked via the image label org.gittally.build-inputs-sha256. A Gradle cache volume gittally-gradle-<repo-key> is created per repository and mounted as GRADLE_USER_HOME. The build worktree is bind-mounted into the container; after each command the ownership of build/ and .gradle/ is repaired to the host user. Git works inside the container: the primary repository's .git is mounted read-only (so build steps can run read-only git commands like git log or git describe), with .git/gittally/ masked by an empty tmpfs so the build can never read the machine config (git.token) or the control token. Note that the rest of .git — including .git/config — is visible to builds; GitTally never stores credentials there, and neither should you. The Docker socket is mounted into the container and DOCKER_HOST/TESTCONTAINERS_* variables are set, so Testcontainers-based builds work inside the container. All GitTally containers carry org.hoennig.gittally labels; stale build containers of the repository are removed before the first Docker build after a restart.

.git/gittally/.gittally.yml (not committed)

# Machine- or user-specific overrides and secrets. Keys here win over .gittally.yml.
git:
  account: my-user              # technical username for git HTTPS authentication
  token: glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx # Gitea API token — never commit this