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A Repository is a connection to one GitHub or GitLab project. Towbar reads its configuration from Git; connecting it does not deploy anything.

Before you connect

  1. Configure the GitHub or GitLab integration and grant it access to the project.
  2. Register every target IP named by the manifest under Servers. A server can be prepared later, but it must exist before the first sync.
  3. Commit towbar.yml and at least one entity file on the branch you plan to map. Start with the manifest guide.
For example, the root file declares environment names, while the app file declares a workload:
towbar.yml
.towbar/apps/web.app.yml
Replace the example IP with a registered server. The entity’s id is its durable identity; name is a display label.

Connect in Towbar

Open Repositories → Add repository. Select the provider and project, choose the environments to import, and map each one to a branch. Towbar suggests environments from the default branch when it can read its configuration. You can add another environment name and map it to a branch that contains that environment in towbar.yml. Review the first sync before deploying. A failed sync leaves existing inventory unchanged. Fix the files in Git and sync again; Towbar does not keep a second, editable copy of the workload definition. Next: manage environment branches or prepare a server.
Last modified on September 26, 2026