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This version of GitHub Enterprise was discontinued on 2023-07-06. No patch releases will be made, even for critical security issues. For better performance, improved security, and new features, upgrade to the latest version of GitHub Enterprise. For help with the upgrade, contact GitHub Enterprise support.

Creating a template repository

You can make an existing repository a template, so you and others can generate new repositories with the same directory structure, branches, and files.

Who can use this feature

Anyone with admin permissions to a repository can make the repository a template.

Note: Your template repository cannot include files stored using Git LFS.

To create a template repository, you must create a repository, then make the repository a template. For more information about creating a repository, see "Creating a new repository."

After you make your repository a template, anyone with access to the repository can generate a new repository with the same directory structure and files as your default branch. They can also choose to include all the other branches in your repository. Branches created from a template have unrelated histories, so you cannot create pull requests or merge between the branches. For more information, see "Creating a repository from a template."

  1. On your GitHub Enterprise Server instance, navigate to the main page of the repository.

  2. Under your repository name, click Settings. If you cannot see the "Settings" tab, select the dropdown menu, then click Settings.

    Screenshot of a repository header showing the tabs. The "Settings" tab is highlighted by a dark orange outline.

  3. Select Template repository.