Adapted from github-developer/using-the-github-api-in-your-app.

This is an example GitHub App that automates the protection of the default branch upon creation of new repositories within a GitHub organization. The creator of the new repository will be notified with an @mention in an issue within the repository that outlines the protections that were added.

This project listens for organization events and uses the Octokit.rb library to make REST API calls.

Prerequisites

To run this web service on your local machine, you will need to use a tool like Smee to send webhooks to your local machine without exposing it to the internet. If you're already comfortable with similar tools such as ngrok or localtunnel, feel free to use those instead.

Start a new Smee channel

Go to https://smee.io and click Start a new channel.

Starting a new Smee channel creates a unique domain where GitHub can send webhook payloads. This domain is called a Webhook Proxy URL and looks something like this: https://smee.io/qrfeVRbFbffd6vD

Note: The following steps are slightly different than the "Use the CLI" instructions you'll see on your Smee channel page. You do not need to follow the "Use the Node.js client" or "Using Probot's built-in support" instructions.

1. Install the Smee client

   npm install --global smee-client

2. Run the client (replacing https://smee.io/qrfeVRbFbffd6vD with your own domain):

   smee --url https://smee.io/qrfeVRbFbffd6vD --path /event_handler --port 3000

   You should see output like the following:

   Forwarding https://smee.io/qrfeVRbFbffd6vD to http://127.0.0.1:3000/event_handler
   Connected https://smee.io/qrfeVRbFbffd6vD

Register a new GitHub App

Next, you will need to register a new GitHub App and install it in your GitHub organization.

1. Visit the settings page in your GitHub organization's profile, and click on GitHub Apps under Developer settings.

2. Click New GitHub App. You'll see a form where you can enter details about your app.

3. Give your app a name. This can be anything you'd like.

4. For the "Homepage URL", use the domain issued by Smee. For example: https://smee.io/qrfeVRbFbffd6vD

5. For the "Webhook URL", again use the domain issued by Smee.

6. For the "Webhook secret", create a password to secure your webhook endpoints.

   You can use the following command to generate a random string with high entropy:

   ruby -rsecurerandom -e 'puts SecureRandom.hex(20)'

   You'll need this secret again later, so make note of it somewhere before moving on.

7. Under Permissions, specify the following Repository permissions for your app:

   • Administration (Read & Write)
   • Issues (Read & Write)

8. Scroll down to Subscribe to events and make sure Repository is checked.

9. At the bottom of the page, specify whether this is a private app or a public app. For now, leave the app as private by selecting Only on this account.

10. Click Create GitHub App to create your app!

Save your private key and App ID

After you create your app, you'll be taken back to the app settings page. You have two more things to do here:

1. Generate a private key for your app. This is necessary to authenticate your app later on. Scroll down on the page and click Generate a private key. Save the resulting PEM file in a directory where you can find it again.

2. Note the app ID GitHub has assigned your app. You'll need this later when you set your environment variables.

Install the app on your organization account

Now it's time to install the app. From your app's settings page, do the following:

1. Click Install App in the sidebar. Next to your organization name, click Install.

2. You'll be asked whether to install the app on all repositories or selected repositories. Select All repositories.

3. Click Install.

Install

Run the following command to clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/parkerbxyz/default-branch-protector.git

Install dependencies by running the following command from the project directory:

gem install bundler && bundle install

With the dependencies installed, you can start the server.

Set environment variables

1. Create a copy of the .env-example file called .env.

   cp .env-example .env

2. Add your GitHub App's private key, app ID, and webhook secret to the .env file.

   Note: Copy the entire contents of your PEM file as the value of GITHUB_PRIVATE_KEY in your .env file.

   Because the PEM file is more than one line you'll need to add quotes around the value like the example below:

   PRIVATE_KEY="-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
   ...
   HkVN9...
   ...
   -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----"
   GITHUB_APP_IDENTIFIER=12345
   GITHUB_WEBHOOK_SECRET=your-webhook-secret
   

Start the server

1. Run ruby server.rb on the command line. You should see a response like:

   == Sinatra (v2.0.3) has taken the stage on 3000 for development with backup from Puma
   Puma starting in single mode...
   * Version 3.11.2 (ruby 2.4.0-p0), codename: Love Song
   * Min threads: 0, max threads: 16
   * Environment: development
   * Listening on tcp://localhost:3000
   Use Ctrl-C to stop

2. View the Sinatra app at localhost:3000 to verify your app is connected to the server.

The web service should now be running and watching for new repositories to be created within your organization! 🚀

When you create a new repository in your organization, you should see some output in the Terminal tab where you started server.rb that looks something like this:

D, [2019-05-27T16:59:24.136072 #56585] DEBUG -- : ---- received event repository
D, [2019-05-27T16:59:24.136107 #56585] DEBUG -- : ----    action created
D, [2019-05-27T16:59:25.351392 #56585] DEBUG -- : Protecting default branch
D, [2019-05-27T16:59:25.739671 #56585] DEBUG -- : Creating a new issue
140.82.115.69 - - [27/May/2019:16:59:26 -0400] "POST /event_handler HTTP/1.1" 200 - 2.4251
127.0.0.1 - - [27/May/2019:16:59:24 EDT] "POST /event_handler HTTP/1.1" 200 0
- -> /event_handler

This means your app is running on the server as expected. 🙌

If you don't see the output, make sure Smee is running correctly in another Terminal tab.

Usage

You can add, remove, or modify the branch protection rules by changing the parameters inside the options array in the protect_default_branch helper method:

# Protect the default branch on new repositories
def protect_default_branch(payload)
  @repo = payload['repository']['full_name']
  @branch = payload['repository']['default_branch']

  # This is where branch protection parameters go
  options = {
    # This header is necessary for beta access to the branch_protection API
    # See https://developer.github.com/v3/repos/branches/#update-branch-protection
    accept: 'application/vnd.github.luke-cage-preview+json',
    # Require at least two approving reviews on a pull request before merging
    required_pull_request_reviews: { required_approving_review_count: 2 },
    # Enforce all configured restrictions for administrators
    enforce_admins: true
  }

  logger.debug 'Protecting default branch'
  @installation_client.protect_branch(@repo, @branch, options)
end

You can find a list of branch protection parameters in the GitHub Developer Guide.

If you change any of the branch protection parameters in the protect_default_branch helper method, you should update the issue_body variable in the notify_user helper method to reflect those changes:

# Open an issue to notify the user of branch protection rules
def notify_user(payload)
  username = payload['sender']['login']
  help_url = 'https://help.github.com/en/articles/about-protected-branches'
  issue_title = 'Default Branch Protected 🔐'

  # An outline of the protections that were added to the default branch
  issue_body = <<~BODY
    @#{username}: branch protection rules have been added to the `#{@branch}` branch.
    - Collaborators cannot force push to the protected branch or delete the branch
    - All commits must be made to a non-protected branch and submitted via a pull request
    - There must be least 2 approving reviews and no changes requested before a PR can be merged
    \n **Note:** All configured restrictions are enforced for administrators.
    \n You can learn more about protected branches here: [About protected branches - GitHub Help](#{help_url})
  BODY

  logger.debug 'Creating a new issue'
  @installation_client.create_issue(@repo, issue_title, issue_body)
end

Troubleshooting

If you run into any problems, check out the Troubleshooting section in the "Setting up your development environment" quickstart guide on developer.github.com. If you run into any other trouble, you can open an issue in this repository.

Resources

• Setting up your development environment | GitHub Developer Guide
• Using the GitHub API in your app | GitHub Developer Guide
• Branches | GitHub Developer Guide
• github-developer/using-the-github-api-in-your-app
• https://octokit.github.io/octokit.rb/Octokit/Client.html