Tinuous Template

A Copier template for generating tinuous configuration files with automatic CI system detection and smart defaults.

Features

• Auto-detects CI systems - Automatically finds GitHub Actions, Travis CI, Appveyor, and CircleCI configurations
• Smart defaults - Provides sensible defaults based on detected CI systems and project structure
• DataLad integration - Optional DataLad/git-annex support with configurable subdataset boundaries
• Flexible path organization - Multiple path organization strategies (by-date, by-CI, by-type, flat, custom)
• Secret sanitization - Configurable regex patterns for automatic secret sanitization
• Complete setup - Generates tinuous.yaml, .env, and README.md

Requirements

• Copier >= 8.0
• Python >= 3.7

Usage

Generate Configuration

# Install copier
pip install copier

# Generate configuration in current directory
copier copy gh:con/tinuous-template .

# Generate in a specific directory
copier copy gh:con/tinuous-template /path/to/destination

Non-Interactive Mode

Provide answers via command-line flags:

copier copy gh:con/tinuous-template . \
  --data repository=con/tinuous \
  --data is_standalone=true \
  --data enable_datalad=true \
  --data subdataset_boundary=by-month

Use Defaults

Accept all default values:

copier copy gh:con/tinuous-template . --defaults

Configuration Questions

The template will ask you:

Basic Information

• target_repo_path: Path to target repository (auto-detected if empty)
• repository: GitHub repository in OWNER/NAME format (auto-detected from git)
• is_standalone: Whether this is a standalone repository or embedded in a project
• log_root: Root directory for logs (defaults based on standalone mode)

CI Systems

• detect_github_actions: Enable GitHub Actions (auto-detected)
• github_workflows: Specific workflows to include (empty = all)
• detect_travis: Enable Travis CI (auto-detected)
• detect_appveyor: Enable Appveyor (auto-detected)
  • appveyor_account: Appveyor account name (required if enabled)
  • appveyor_project_slug: Project slug (optional)
• detect_circleci: Enable CircleCI (auto-detected)

Path Organization

• path_organization: Choose from:
  • by-date-ci: Year/Month/Day/CI/Type (recommended)
  • by-ci-date: CI/Year/Month/Day/Type
  • by-type: Type/Year/Month
  • flat: Year/Month (flat structure)
  • custom: Define your own
• custom_path_prefix: Custom path template (if custom selected)

DataLad

• enable_datalad: Enable DataLad integration
• datalad_cfg_proc: Config procedure (text2git, yoda, none)
• subdataset_boundary: Where to create subdatasets (none, by-year, by-month, by-day)

Time Range

• since_date: Start date for fetching logs (ISO 8601)
• max_days_back: Maximum days to look back
• event_types: Event types to fetch (cron, push, pr, manual)

Artifacts & Releases

• fetch_artifacts: Fetch build artifacts (GitHub Actions, CircleCI)
• fetch_releases: Fetch GitHub release assets

Security

• enable_secret_sanitization: Enable automatic secret sanitization
• secret_patterns: Regex patterns for secrets (YAML mapping)

Examples

Example 1: Standalone Repository

mkdir tinuous-myproject
cd tinuous-myproject
git init
copier copy gh:con/tinuous-template .

The template will:

• Auto-detect repository from parent directory if available
• Detect all CI systems in the target repo
• Create configuration for a standalone log repository
• Enable DataLad with monthly subdatasets (if chosen)

Example 2: Embedded in Project

cd ~/projects/myproject
copier copy gh:con/tinuous-template .

Answer prompts:

• Is this standalone? No
• Log root: logs/tinuous

The template will:

• Auto-detect repository from .git/config
• Detect CI systems in current project
• Create configuration with logs in logs/tinuous/

Example 3: Custom Configuration

copier copy gh:con/tinuous-template . \
  --data repository=myorg/myrepo \
  --data is_standalone=false \
  --data log_root=ci-logs \
  --data path_organization=custom \
  --data custom_path_prefix='builds/{ci}/{year}/{month}/{build_commit[:7]}'

Generated Files

The template generates:

• tinuous.yaml - Main configuration file for tinuous
• .env - Template for environment variables (tokens)
• README.md - Documentation for the generated configuration

After Generation

1. Review tinuous.yaml - Check and adjust settings as needed
2. Set up authentication - Add tokens to .env (copy from .env if needed)
3. Add to .gitignore - Ensure .env is in .gitignore
4. Test configuration - Run tinuous fetch to test

Template Structure

tinuous-template/
├── copier.yml                      # Template configuration
├── extensions/
│   └── copier_extensions.py        # Custom Jinja filters
└── template/
    ├── tinuous.yaml.jinja          # Main configuration template
    ├── .env.jinja                  # Environment variables template
    └── README.md.jinja             # Documentation template

Development

Testing the Template

# Create test directory
mkdir test-output
cd test-output

# Run template
copier copy /path/to/tinuous-template .

# Or test with a real repository
cd /path/to/your/project
copier copy /path/to/tinuous-template .

CI Detection

The template detects CI systems by looking for:

• GitHub Actions: .github/workflows/*.yml or .github/workflows/*.yaml
• Travis CI: .travis.yml
• Appveyor: .appveyor.yml or appveyor.yml
• CircleCI: .circleci/config.yml

Custom Filters

Custom Jinja filters in extensions/copier_extensions.py:

• repo_from_git: Extract repo from .git/config
• has_github_actions: Check for GitHub Actions
• has_travis: Check for Travis CI
• has_appveyor: Check for Appveyor
• has_circleci: Check for CircleCI
• is_iso8601: Validate ISO 8601 date format
• get_github_workflows: List workflow filenames
• current_year: Get current year
• parse_bool: Parse boolean values

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Test your changes
4. Submit a pull request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Related Projects

• tinuous - The main tinuous tool
• tinuous-inception - Example tinuous setup
• Copier - Template engine

Support

• Issues
• Tinuous Documentation
• Copier Documentation