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Create a new repository

For a new project, create a repository and clone the starter kit locally as a template for the new project . Change the remote of the cloned repository like described below so you're not pushing project changes to the starter kit repository.

IMPORTANT: When creating the repository, make sure NO files are created (which is a setting) - since this creates a branch. Set both README.md and .gitignore to NO when asked. All files we need are provided by the starter kit.

Cloning vs Forking vs Template Repository

Forking won't work unfortunately since that causes PRs ending up in the starter kit repo; and template repositories are not yet a thing on Bitbucket

Steps in detail to clone a new repository (create a new repository first ☝️):

# Replace PROJECT with project name (dash-case):
git clone git@bitbucket.org:DODdevteam/helium-starter-kit.git ./PROJECT
cd ./PROJECT

# Replace GIT_URL with the SSH url of the new repo:
git remote set-url origin GIT_URL
git push -u origin master

# Initialize the project
npm i
git add . && git commit -m "Initialize project"
git push

The first time npm i is ran, the install script initializes the project. This changes one or more files; make sure to commit these changes before having other people work on the project.

Bitbucket SSH Keys

For security and convenience we always prefer using SSH over HTTPS whenever possible. Make sure your public key is known by Bitbucket for this to work:

https://bitbucket.org/account/settings/ssh-keys/

✨ What happens during initialization?

  • The repeatable blocks are being generated from .templates/ and .snippets/. After this, we don't need these folders anymore.
  • The docker-compose.yml file is updated with the unique project name to prevent conflicts with other projects installed on a developers machine.

⌚ When will this script run?

  • The initialization scripts will run only one time. This is done by verifying no folders exist yet, other than the . (dot) folders, inside repeatable-default/ and repeatable-custom/. If there are more folders than that, the initialization script presumes the project is already initialized and the scripts to initialize will not continue on npm install.
  • Need to re-initialize the repeatable sections? Run npm run init:sections; this will ask you to remove all files and folders in repeatable-custom/* and repeatable-default/*, so the files can be generated again. Typically, this is useful when working on the starter kit itself, not when initializing a new project. ⚠️ BEWARE: This means all changes and additions in these folders will be deleted, except those in the . (dot) folders. ⚠️
templates and snippets folders

Removing the .templates/ and .snippets/ folders is optional, but recommended to avoid confusion for future developers on the project. Obviously, after removing these folders, the command npm run init:sections will not work unless both folders are recovered (from the starter kit repo for instance).