Sources

In CodeInventory terms, a source is a location where an agency stores source code metadata. A source could be:

• A version control system such as Git, Subversion, Jazz SCM, CVS, or Mercurial
• A structured document such as a spreadsheet, CSV file, or JSON file
• Files on a network drive
• An API

CodeInventory is designed to be extensible with any type of source, but it currently comes bundled with three sources:

• GitHub: If you configure the GitHub source with a GitHub API access token and an organization name, the GitHub source will look through each of your organization's GitHub repositories to see if they have a .codeinventory.yml or .codeinventory.json file that contains metadata about the repository, corresponding to the Code.gov required fields. If it does, the GitHub source will pull information from that metadata file and provide it to CodeInventory.
• CSV File: The CSV File source will read a CSV file that you provide and pull metadata from it. The CSV file must have specific column headers that correspond to the Code.gov required fields.
• JSON File: The JSON File source will read a JSON file that you provide and pull metadata from it. The JSON file must have specific keys that correspond to the Code.gov required fields.

Developing a Custom Source

If the existing sources don't fit your needs, you can write your own and have CodeInventory use it.

As the CodeInventory architecture stabilizes, we will create more comprehensive instructions on developing custom sources. For now, please refer to the existing sources as examples.