GitHub Repository Setup & Governance Guide

Complete guide for using AI-powered repository setup and governance through MCP (Model Context Protocol).

Prerequisites

Before using this guide, complete the MCP Setup to configure your MCP server with:

• DevOps AI Toolkit MCP server running
• No additional dependencies required (tool does not need Kubernetes or AI model access)

Note: This tool does NOT require:

• Kubernetes cluster access
• Qdrant vector database
• AI model API keys

The tool generates files based on templates and your answers - no AI inference or cluster access needed.

Overview

The DevOps AI Toolkit project setup feature provides:

• Repository audit - Scans repositories to identify missing governance, legal, and automation files
• Gap analysis - Shows which standardized files are missing from your repository
• Template-based generation - Creates 25+ files across 9 scopes using industry best practices
• Interactive workflow - Asks relevant questions and generates customized files
• Standards compliance - All templates based on authoritative sources (Contributor Covenant, OpenSSF, GitHub)

What It Generates

The tool can generate files across these scopes:

• readme: README.md with project information
• legal: LICENSE files (MIT, Apache-2.0, GPL-3.0, BSD-3-Clause) with NOTICE/COPYRIGHT as needed
• governance: CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, SECURITY.md
• community: SUPPORT.md, GOVERNANCE.md, CODEOWNERS
• github-issues: Bug report, feature request, and question templates (.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/)
• pr-template: Pull request template (.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md) - automatically detected and used by the prd-done workflow for intelligent PR creation
• github-community: FUNDING.yml, AUTHORS, CONTRIBUTORS, CHANGELOG, release.yml
• github-security: OpenSSF Scorecard workflow (.github/workflows/scorecard.yml)
• github-automation: Renovate, GitHub Labeler, Stale Bot configurations

When to Use This Tool

Use project setup when you want to:

• Bootstrap a new repository with proper governance
• Audit existing repository for missing files
• Standardize team workflows across multiple repositories
• Implement security and contribution guidelines
• Add GitHub automation (dependency updates, PR labeling, stale issue management)

Video: Transform Your GitHub Repository

Complete Workflow Example

Step 1: Request Repository Audit

User: Audit my repository for missing governance files

Agent: I'll scan your repository to identify missing files.

[Scans repository for 21 files]

Repository Analysis:

✓ readme: 1/1 files exist
✓ legal: 1/1 files exist
○ governance: 0/6 files exist
  Missing: CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, SECURITY.md, docs/MAINTAINERS.md, docs/GOVERNANCE.md, docs/ROADMAP.md
○ community: 0/2 files exist
  Missing: SUPPORT.md, ADOPTERS.md
○ github-issues: 0/3 files exist
  Missing: .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml, .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.yml, .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml
○ pr-template: 0/1 files exist
  Missing: .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
○ github-community: 0/2 files exist
  Missing: .github/CODEOWNERS, .github/release.yml
○ github-security: 0/1 files exist
  Missing: .github/workflows/scorecard.yml
○ github-automation: 0/4 files exist
  Missing: renovate.json, .github/labeler.yml, .github/workflows/labeler.yml, .github/workflows/stale.yml

Which scopes would you like to set up? (You can choose multiple)

Step 2: Select Scopes and Answer Questions

User: Set up governance and github-issues

Agent: I'll set up governance first (6 files to generate).

Let me analyze your repository to suggest answers:

1. Project name: my-awesome-app
2. Repository URL: https://github.com/username/my-awesome-app
3. Enforcement email: conduct@example.com
4. Security email: security@example.com
5. Maintainer email: maintainers@example.com
6. Lead maintainer name: John Doe
7. Lead maintainer GitHub: johndoe
8. Setup command: npm install
9. Test command: npm test
10. Lint command: npm run lint
... (27 questions total)

Do these look correct, or would you like to modify any?

User: Looks good

Step 3: Files Generated and Written

Agent: Generated 6 files for governance scope:
- CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
- CONTRIBUTING.md
- SECURITY.md
- docs/MAINTAINERS.md
- docs/GOVERNANCE.md
- docs/ROADMAP.md

[Writes these 6 files to repository]

✓ Governance files created successfully!

Now let's set up github-issues (3 files to generate).

Questions for github-issues:
1. Project name: my-awesome-app
2. Repository URL: https://github.com/username/my-awesome-app
3. Bug report form title: Bug Report
4. Feature request form title: Feature Request
... (8 questions total)

Do these look correct?

User: Yes

Agent: Generated 3 files for github-issues scope:
- .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml
- .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.yml
- .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml

[Writes these 3 files to repository]

✓ GitHub issue templates created successfully!

All requested scopes are now complete. Your repository now has:
- 6 governance files
- 3 GitHub issue templates

Scope Reference

Scope	Files	Description
readme	README.md	Basic project README with name, description, license
legal	LICENSE, NOTICE*, COPYRIGHT*	License files (MIT, Apache-2.0, GPL-3.0, BSD-3-Clause)
governance	CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, SECURITY.md, MAINTAINERS.md, GOVERNANCE.md, ROADMAP.md	Complete governance documentation
community	SUPPORT.md, ADOPTERS.md	Support channels and project adopters
github-issues	bug_report.yml, feature_request.yml, config.yml	GitHub issue templates
pr-template	PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md	Pull request template with checklist
github-community	FUNDING.yml*, AUTHORS*, CONTRIBUTORS*, CHANGELOG*, release.yml*	Community and funding files
github-security	workflows/scorecard.yml	OpenSSF Scorecard security workflow
github-automation	renovate.json, labeler.yml, workflows/labeler.yml, workflows/stale.yml	Automated dependency updates, PR labeling, stale issue management

* Conditional files - only generated based on your answers

Common Use Cases

New Open Source Project

User: Set up a new open source project with all governance files

Recommended scopes: legal, governance, community, github-issues, pr-template, github-security, github-automation

Existing Project Audit

User: Audit my existing project for missing files

The agent will show what's missing and let you choose which scopes to add.

Add GitHub Automation Only

User: Add Renovate and issue automation to my project

Recommended scopes: github-automation

Security and Compliance

User: Add security scanning and policies

Recommended scopes: governance (includes SECURITY.md), github-security

Tips

Workflow Tips

Review before committing: The agent generates files but YOU control what gets committed. Review the generated content before committing.

Multiple sessions: You can run the tool multiple times. It only generates missing files, never overwrites existing ones.

Customize templates: After generation, you can edit files to match your project's specific needs.

Best Practices

Start with governance: If setting up a new project, start with legal and governance scopes first.

Add automation last: Set up github-automation after your basic repository structure is in place.

Review email addresses: Double-check all email addresses in governance files before committing.

Test workflows: After generating GitHub Actions workflows, verify they run successfully.

See Also

• MCP Setup Guide - Initial MCP server configuration
• Tools and Features Overview - Browse all available tools and features