Mergebot

Vision

Minimize the number of steps required to accept contributions for Debian packages you maintain.

Usage instructions

To merge the most recent patch in Debian bug #831331 and build the resulting package, use:

mergebot -source_package=wit -bug=831331

Afterwards, inspect the resulting Debian package and git repository. If both look good, push and upload using the following commands which are suggested by the mergebot invocation above:

cd /tmp/mergebot-19384221
(cd repo && git push)
(cd export && debsign *.changes && dput *.changes)

See “Future ideas” for how to further streamline this process.

Installation

Until mergebot is packaged in Debian, use these instructions to install Go and build mergebot from source:

sudo apt-get install golang-go
export GOPATH=~/gocode
go get -u github.com/Debian/mergebot

Dependencies

• git
• sbuild
• gbp
• devscripts (pulled in by gbp as well)

Assumptions

• your repository can be cloned using gbp clone --pristine-tar
• your repository uses git as SCM
• your repository can be built using gbp buildpackage with sbuild

Future ideas

Please get in touch in case you’re interested in using or helping with any of the following features:

• Run mergebot automatically for every incoming patch, respond to the bug with a report about whether the patch can be merged successfully and whether the resulting package builds successfully.
• Add a UI to mergebot (web service? email? user script for the BTS?), allowing you to have mergebot merge, build, push and upload contributions on your behalf.