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vole
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Read only, no credentials:

https://rodent.software/git/vole.git

Write over SSH with a registered key:

git clone ssh://git@0.0.0.0:2222/vole.git

A free and open-source forge that lives in your Git repo.

Customize the instance from an instance repository

6ce635a84ad5d5d0c862d4deb4d46489dc97c677 · Keenan Nemetz · 1d ago · parent f2fd4024

Customize the instance from an instance repository

The landing page's prose was config-only, so changing it meant editing
vole.toml on the host and restarting, and the packaged service cannot write
that file. Custom CSS, assets, and a favicon had nowhere to live at all.

This adds an instance repository, modelled on GitHub's .github repository:
fixed paths in one private repository, read as data rather than executed.

    profile/README.md           the landing page introduction
    profile/private/README.md   replaces it for signed-in viewers
    profile/custom.css          loaded after the built-in stylesheets
    profile/favicon.svg         favicon override
    assets/                     served at /static/custom/assets/

forge/instancerepo reads one commit into an immutable snapshot on a two
second timer and swaps it atomically; a request never runs git, and a load
failure keeps the previous theme. Markdown goes through the issue sanitiser,
assets are an extension whitelist with size and count caps, and scripts and
HTML are not assets. The repository is private to instance admins and hidden
from the home grid and activity rail, but its files are served to visitors.

The Admin Configuration tab grows an Instance repository panel: status, the
last commit, the last load error, the clone URL, the recognized paths, and a
button that creates the repository with starter files. The home page's pencil
keeps the in-place editor, but a save is now a commit to profile/README.md
with the admin as the author and web.home.intro in the audit log, instead of a
row in users.db.

The rest of the landing page stays in the shape it had: instance_name as the
heading, the introduction card, then the repository grid beside the Latest
rail. Moving a configurable page layout into a template system was tried and
dropped: this is fixed files, not a templating surface.

This replaces the pending introduction-store change, which is closed.

docs/configuration.md +42−10

@@ -4,9 +4,15 @@ Vole is designed to work out of the box. The defaults are enough for a local
4 4 instance. Change them when you want Vole to listen on another address, limit what
5 5 people can push, or serve websites.
6 6
7 There is no control panel. One TOML file is the whole configuration. An
7 There is no general control panel. One TOML file is the whole configuration. An
8 8 instance admin can see the effective values and the file they came from on the
9 Admin page's Configuration tab, but that page is read-only.
9 Admin page's Configuration tab, and that view is read-only.
10
11 The one exception is the customizable repository: `instance_repo` names a
12 private repository whose tree supplies the landing page's introduction, a
13 stylesheet, a favicon, and static assets. It is not written to `vole.toml`,
14 because the packaged service runs with `ProtectSystem=strict` and cannot write
15 its config file. See [Customizing the instance](#customizing-the-instance).
10 16
11 17 ## A minimal config
12 18
@@ -50,9 +56,9 @@ vole admin account list
50 56 | `ssh_max_connections` | `64` | Simultaneous connections on that listener; past it a connection is closed before the handshake rather than queued |
51 57 | `ssh_max_git_processes` | `16` | Git processes across every SSH connection; past it a command waits a short while, then is told to retry |
52 58 | `ssh_handshake_timeout_seconds` | `20` | How long a connection may take to finish the SSH handshake before it is dropped |
59 | `instance_name` | `"Vole"` | Heading on the home page |
60 | `instance_repo` | `"vole-instance"` | Repository whose tree customizes the instance; empty disables it |
53 61 | `public_url` | empty | Canonical browser address; must be HTTPS to enable passkey sign-in |
54 | `instance_name` | `"Vole"` | Name the landing page shows for this forge |
55 | `instance_tagline` | `"A forge that lives in your Git repo."` | One line under the name on the landing page |
56 62 | `acme_email` | empty | Contact address given to the certificate authority |
57 63 | `acme_domains` | empty | Host names to obtain certificates for; defaults to the host in `public_url` |
58 64 | `acme_cache_dir` | `<data_dir>/acme` | Where the ACME account key and certificates are stored |
@@ -126,18 +132,44 @@ go with it; `git lfs` will report a missing object rather than fetch from SSH.
126 132 A release archive is served under the same limit: `git_http_timeout_seconds`
127 133 does not apply to the release page's tarball, which has its own concurrency bound.
128 134
129 ## Instance name and tagline
135 ## Customizing the instance
136
137 `instance_repo` names a repository whose tree customizes the instance. The idea is
138 GitHub's `.github` repository: fixed paths read as data, not templates.
130 139
131 The landing page names the forge above its repository list. Set these when the
132 instance belongs to a team, so a visitor knows where they are without reading
133 the URL:
140 ```toml
141 instance_repo = "vole-instance" # the default; empty disables customization
142 ```
143
144 An instance admin can scaffold it from **Admin → Configuration** (the Instance
145 repository panel), or create a repository with that name normally and push the
146 files. The repository is private to instance admins and hidden from the home page
147 and activity feed; the files below are served to visitors.
148
149 | Path | What it does |
150 |---|---|
151 | `profile/README.md` | Landing page introduction; markdown, sanitized like an issue body |
152 | `profile/private/README.md` | Replaces it for signed-in viewers when present |
153 | `profile/custom.css` | Loaded after the built-in stylesheets |
154 | `profile/favicon.svg` | Replaces the favicon links |
155 | `assets/` | Served at `/static/custom/assets/`; CSS, images and fonts only |
156
157 Other files are ignored, and assets are limited to CSS, images and fonts: a
158 same-origin script is not a theme. The pencil on the home page commits
159 `profile/README.md` with the admin as the author and records the change as
160 `web.home.intro`; the private README and everything else are edited by pushing.
161 A push is live within a couple of seconds, and a load failure keeps the previous
162 theme.
163
164 The introduction is rendered and sanitized the same way an issue body is, and it
165 appears above the repository list. An empty `profile/README.md` removes the
166 card's body. The heading is `instance_name`, which is what the forge calls itself:
134 167
135 168 ```toml
136 169 instance_name = "Acme Forge"
137 instance_tagline = "Code, issues, change requests, and CI for the Acme team."
138 170 ```
139 171
140 Neither setting changes the `vole` wordmark in the top bar.
172 None of this changes the `vole` wordmark in the top bar.
141 173
142 174 ## Public URL
143 175