Configuration options for the dependabot.yml file

About the dependabot.yml file

The Dependabot configuration file, dependabot.yml, uses YAML syntax. If you're new to YAML and want to learn more, see "Learn YAML in five minutes."

You must store this file in the .github directory of your repository in the default branch. When you add or update the dependabot.yml file, this triggers an immediate check for version updates. For more information and an example, see "Configuring Dependabot version updates."

Any options that also affect security updates are used the next time a security alert triggers a pull request for a security update. For more information, see "Configuring Dependabot security updates."

The dependabot.yml file has two mandatory top-level keys: version, and updates. You can, optionally, include a top-level registries key. The file must start with version: 2.

For a real-world example of dependabot.yml file, see Dependabot's own configuration file.

Configuration options for the dependabot.yml file

The top-level updates key is mandatory. You use it to configure how Dependabot updates the versions or your project's dependencies. Each entry configures the update settings for a particular package manager. You can use the following options.

Option	Required	Security Updates	Version Updates	Description
package-ecosystem				Package manager to use
directory				Location of package manifests
schedule.interval				How often to check for updates
allow				Customize which updates are allowed
assignees				Assignees to set on pull requests
commit-message				Commit message preferences
enable-beta-ecosystems				Enable ecosystems that have beta-level support
ignore		See ignore	See ignore	Ignore certain dependencies or versions
insecure-external-code-execution				Allow or deny code execution in manifest files
labels				Labels to set on pull requests
milestone				Milestone to set on pull requests
open-pull-requests-limit				Limit number of open pull requests for version updates
pull-request-branch-name.separator				Change separator for pull request branch names
rebase-strategy				Disable automatic rebasing
registries
	Private registries that Dependabot can access
reviewers				Reviewers to set on pull requests
schedule.day				Day of week to check for updates
schedule.time				Time of day to check for updates (hh:mm)
schedule.timezone				Timezone for time of day (zone identifier)
target-branch				Branch to create pull requests against
vendor				Update vendored or cached dependencies
versioning-strategy				How to update manifest version requirements

These options fit broadly into the following categories.

• Essential set up options that you must include in all configurations: package-ecosystem, directory,schedule.interval.
• Options to customize the update schedule: schedule.time, schedule.timezone, schedule.day.
• Options to control which dependencies are updated: allow, ignore, vendor.
• Options to add metadata to pull requests: reviewers, assignees, labels, milestone.
• Options to change the behavior of the pull requests: target-branch, versioning-strategy, commit-message, rebase-strategy, pull-request-branch-name.separator.

In addition, the open-pull-requests-limit option changes the maximum number of pull requests for version updates that Dependabot can open.

package-ecosystem

Required. You add one package-ecosystem element for each package manager that you want Dependabot to monitor for new versions. The repository must also contain a dependency manifest or lock file for each of these package managers. If you want to enable vendoring for a package manager that supports it, the vendored dependencies must be located in the required directory. For more information, see vendor below.

The following table shows, for each package manager:

• The YAML value to use in the dependabot.yml file
• The supported versions of the package manager
• Whether dependencies in private GitHub repositories or registries are supported
• Whether vendored dependencies are supported

Package manager	YAML value	Supported versions	Private repositories	Private registries	Vendoring
Bundler	bundler	v1, v2
Cargo	cargo	v1		(git only)
Composer	composer	v1, v2
Docker	docker	v1			Not applicable
Hex	mix	v1
elm-package	elm	v0.19
git submodule	gitsubmodule	Not applicable			Not applicable
GitHub Actions	github-actions	Not applicable			Not applicable
Go modules	gomod	v1
Gradle	gradle	Not applicable
Maven	maven	Not applicable
npm	npm	v6, v7, v8, v9
NuGet	nuget	<= 4.8
pip	pip	v21.1.2
pipenv	pip	<= 2021-05-29
pip-compile	pip	6.1.0
poetry	pip	v1
pub	pub	v2
Terraform	terraform	>= 0.13, <= 1.5.x			Not applicable
yarn	npm	v1

Cargo

Private registry support applies to git registries, and doesn't include cargo registries.

GitHub Actions

Dependabot only supports updates to GitHub Actions using the GitHub repository syntax, such as actions/checkout@v4. Dependabot will ignore actions or reusable workflows referenced locally (for example, ./.github/actions/foo.yml).

Docker Hub and GitHub Packages Container registry URLs are currently not supported. For example, references to Docker container actions using docker:// syntax aren't supported.

Dependabot supports both public and private repositories for GitHub Actions. For private registry configuration options, see "git" in "Configuration options for the dependabot.yml file."

Gradle

Gradle is supported for Dependabot version updates only.

Dependabot doesn't run Gradle but supports updates to the following files:

• build.gradle, build.gradle.kts (for Kotlin projects)
• Files included via the apply declaration that have dependencies in the filename. Note that apply does not support apply to, recursion, or advanced syntaxes (for example, Kotlin's apply with mapOf, filenames defined by property).

Maven

Dependabot doesn't run Maven but supports updates to pom.xml files.

NuGet CLI

Dependabot doesn't run the NuGet CLI but does support most features up until version 4.8.

pnpm

pnpm is supported for Dependabot version updates only. Dependabot security updates are not currently supported.

pub

Dependabot won't perform an update for pub when the version that it tries to update to is ignored, even if an earlier version is available.

Example of a basic setup for three package managers

# Basic set up for three package managers

version: 2
updates:

  # Maintain dependencies for GitHub Actions
  - package-ecosystem: "github-actions"
    # Workflow files stored in the default location of `.github/workflows`. (You don't need to specify `/.github/workflows` for `directory`. You can use `directory: "/"`.)
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"

  # Maintain dependencies for npm
  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"

  # Maintain dependencies for Composer
  - package-ecosystem: "composer"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"

directory

Required. You must define the location of the package manifests for each package manager (for example, the package.json or Gemfile). You define the directory relative to the root of the repository for all ecosystems except GitHub Actions.

For GitHub Actions, you do not need to set the directory to /.github/workflows. Configuring the key to / automatically instructs Dependabot to search the /.github/workflows directory, as well as the action.yml / action.yaml file from the root directory.

# Specify location of manifest files for each package manager

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "composer"
    # Files stored in repository root
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"

  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    # Files stored in `app` directory
    directory: "/app"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"

  - package-ecosystem: "github-actions"
    # Workflow files stored in the default location of `.github/workflows`. (You don't need to specify `/.github/workflows` for `directory`. You can use `directory: "/"`.)
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"

schedule.interval

Required. You must define how often to check for new versions for each package manager. By default, Dependabot randomly assigns a time to apply all the updates in the configuration file. To set a specific time, you can use schedule.time and schedule.timezone.

Interval types	Frequency
daily	Runs on every weekday, Monday to Friday.
weekly	Runs once each week. By default, this is on Monday. To modify this, use schedule.day.
monthly	Runs once each month. This is on the first day of the month.

# Set update schedule for each package manager

version: 2
updates:

  - package-ecosystem: "github-actions"
    # Workflow files stored in the default location of `.github/workflows`. (You don't need to specify `/.github/workflows` for `directory`. You can use `directory: "/"`.)
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      # Check for updates to GitHub Actions every weekday
      interval: "daily"

  - package-ecosystem: "composer"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      # Check for updates managed by Composer once a week
      interval: "weekly"

allow

By default all dependencies that are explicitly defined in a manifest are kept up to date by Dependabot version updates. In addition, Dependabot security updates also update vulnerable dependencies that are defined in lock files. You can use allow and ignore to customize which dependencies to maintain. Dependabot checks for all allowed dependencies and then filters out any ignored dependencies or versions. So a dependency that is matched by both an allow and an ignore will be ignored.

Use the allow option to customize which dependencies are updated. This applies to both version and security updates. You can use the following options:

• dependency-name—use to allow updates for dependencies with matching names, optionally using * to match zero or more characters.

  • For Java dependencies, the format of the dependency-name attribute is: groupId:artifactId; for example: org.kohsuke:github-api.
  • For Docker image tags, the format is the full name of the repository; for example, for an image tag of <account ID>.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/base/foo/bar/ruby:3.1.0-focal-jemalloc, use base/foo/bar/ruby.

• dependency-type—use to allow updates for dependencies of specific types.

  Dependency types	Supported by package managers	Allow updates
  direct	All	All explicitly defined dependencies.
  indirect	bundler, pip, composer, cargo	Dependencies of direct dependencies (also known as sub-dependencies, or transient dependencies).
  all	All	All explicitly defined dependencies. For bundler, pip, composer, cargo, also the dependencies of direct dependencies.
  production	bundler, composer, mix, maven, npm, pip	Only dependencies in the "Production dependency group".
  development	bundler, composer, mix, maven, npm, pip	Only dependencies in the "Development dependency group".

# Use `allow` to specify which dependencies to maintain

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    allow:
      # Allow updates for Lodash
      - dependency-name: "lodash"
      # Allow updates for React and any packages starting "react"
      - dependency-name: "react*"

  - package-ecosystem: "composer"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    allow:
      # Allow both direct and indirect updates for all packages
      - dependency-type: "all"

  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    allow:
      # Allow only direct updates for
      # Django and any packages starting "django"
      - dependency-name: "django*"
        dependency-type: "direct"
      # Allow only production updates for Sphinx
      - dependency-name: "sphinx"
        dependency-type: "production"

assignees

Use assignees to specify individual assignees for all pull requests raised for a package manager.

Setting this option will also affect pull requests for security updates to the manifest files of this package manager, unless you use target-branch to check for version updates on a non-default branch.

# Specify assignees for pull requests

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    # Add assignees
    assignees:
      - "octocat"

commit-message

By default, Dependabot attempts to detect your commit message preferences and use similar patterns. Use the commit-message option to specify your preferences explicitly.

Supported options

• prefix specifies a prefix for all commit messages. When you specify a prefix for commit messages, GitHub will automatically add a colon between the defined prefix and the commit message provided the defined prefix ends with a letter, number, closing parenthesis, or closing bracket. This means that, for example, if you end the prefix with a whitespace, there will be no colon added between the prefix and the commit message. The code snippet below provides examples of both in the same configuration file.

• prefix-development specifies a separate prefix for all commit messages that update dependencies in the Development dependency group. When you specify a value for this option, the prefix is used only for updates to dependencies in the Production dependency group. This is supported by: bundler, composer, mix, maven, npm, and pip.

• include: "scope" specifies that any prefix is followed by a list of the dependencies updated in the commit.

Setting this option will also affect pull requests for security updates to the manifest files of this package manager, unless you use target-branch to check for version updates on a non-default branch.

# Customize commit messages

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    commit-message:
      # Prefix all commit messages with "npm: "
      prefix: "npm"

  - package-ecosystem: "docker"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    commit-message:
      # Prefix all commit messages with "[docker] " (no colon, but a trailing whitespace)
      prefix: "[docker] "

  - package-ecosystem: "composer"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    # Prefix all commit messages with "Composer" plus its scope, that is, a
    # list of updated dependencies
    commit-message:
      prefix: "Composer"
      include: "scope"

  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    # Include a list of updated dependencies
    # with a prefix determined by the dependency group
    commit-message:
      prefix: "pip prod"
      prefix-development: "pip dev"
      include: "scope"

If you use the same configuration as in the example above, bumping the requests library in the pip development dependency group will generate a commit message of:

pip dev: bump requests from 1.0.0 to 1.0.1

ignore

By default all dependencies that are explicitly defined in a manifest are kept up to date by Dependabot version updates. In addition, Dependabot security updates also update vulnerable dependencies that are defined in lock files. You can use allow and ignore to customize which dependencies to maintain. Dependabot checks for all allowed dependencies and then filters out any ignored dependencies or versions. So a dependency that is matched by both an allow and an ignore will be ignored.

Dependencies can be ignored either by adding them to ignore or by using the @dependabot ignore command on a pull request opened by Dependabot.

Creating ignore conditions from @dependabot ignore

Dependencies ignored by using the @dependabot ignore command are stored centrally for each package manager. If you start ignoring dependencies in the dependabot.yml file, these existing preferences are considered alongside the ignore dependencies in the configuration.

You can check whether a repository has stored ignore preferences by searching the repository for "@dependabot ignore" in:comments, or by using the @dependabot show DEPENDENCY_NAME ignore conditions comment command. If you wish to unblock updates for a dependency ignored this way, re-open the pull request. This clears the ignore conditions that were set when the pull request was closed and resumes those Dependabot version updates for the dependency. To update the dependency to a newer version, merge the pull request.

For more information about the @dependabot ignore commands, see "Managing pull requests for dependency updates."

Specifying dependencies and versions to ignore

You can use the ignore option to customize which dependencies are updated. The ignore option supports the following options.

Option	Description
dependency-name	Use to ignore updates for dependencies with matching names, optionally using * to match zero or more characters. For Java dependencies, the format of the dependency-name attribute is: groupId:artifactId (for example: org.kohsuke:github-api). To prevent Dependabot from automatically updating TypeScript type definitions from DefinitelyTyped, use @types/*.
versions	Use to ignore specific versions or ranges of versions. If you want to define a range, use the standard pattern for the package manager. For example, for npm, use ^1.0.0; for Bundler, use ~> 2.0; for Docker, use Ruby version syntax; for NuGet, use 7.*.
update-types	Use to ignore types of updates, such as semver major, minor, or patch updates on version updates (for example: version-update:semver-patch will ignore patch updates). You can combine this with dependency-name: "*" to ignore particular update-types for all dependencies. Currently, version-update:semver-major, version-update:semver-minor, and version-update:semver-patch are the only supported options.

When used alone, the ignore.versions key affects both Dependabot updates, but the ignore.update-types key affects only Dependabot version updates.

However, if versions and update-types are used together in the same ignore rule, both Dependabot updates are affected, unless the configuration uses target-branch to check for version updates on a non-default branch.

# Use `ignore` to specify dependencies that should not be updated

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    ignore:
      - dependency-name: "express"
        # For Express, ignore all Dependabot updates for version 4 and 5
        versions: ["4.x", "5.x"]
        # For Lodash, ignore all updates
      - dependency-name: "lodash"
        # For AWS SDK, ignore all patch updates for version updates only
      - dependency-name: "aws-sdk"
        update-types: ["version-update:semver-patch"]

insecure-external-code-execution

Package managers with the package-ecosystem values bundler, mix, and pip may execute external code in the manifest as part of the version update process. This might allow a compromised package to steal credentials or gain access to configured registries. When you add a registries setting within an updates configuration, Dependabot automatically prevents external code execution, in which case the version update may fail. You can choose to override this behavior and allow external code execution for bundler, mix, and pip package managers by setting insecure-external-code-execution to allow.

# Allow external code execution when updating dependencies from private registries

version: 2
registries:
  ruby-github:
    type: rubygems-server
    url: https://rubygems.pkg.github.com/octocat/github_api
    token: ${{secrets.MY_GITHUB_PERSONAL_TOKEN}}
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "bundler"
    directory: "/rubygems-server"
    insecure-external-code-execution: allow
    registries: "*"
    schedule:
      interval: "monthly"

If you define a registries setting to allow Dependabot to access a private package registry, and you set insecure-external-code-execution to allow in the same updates configuration, external code execution that occurs will only have access to the package managers in the registries associated with that updatessetting. There is no access allowed to any of the registries defined in the top level registries configuration.

In this example, the configuration file allows Dependabot to access the ruby-github private package registry. In the same updatessetting, insecure-external-code-executionis set to allow, which means that the code executed by dependencies will only access the ruby-github registry, and not the dockerhub registry.

# Using `registries` in conjunction with `insecure-external-code-execution:allow`
# in the same `updates` setting

version: 2
registries:
  ruby-github:
    type: rubygems-server
    url: https://rubygems.pkg.github.com/octocat/github_api
    token: ${{secrets.MY_GITHUB_PERSONAL_TOKEN}}
  dockerhub:
    type: docker-registry
    url: registry.hub.docker.com
    username: octocat
    password: ${{secrets.DOCKERHUB_PASSWORD}}
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "bundler"
    directory: "/rubygems-server"
    insecure-external-code-execution: allow
    registries:
      - ruby-github # only access to registries associated with this ecosystem/directory
    schedule:
      interval: "monthly"

You can explicitly deny external code execution, regardless of whether there is a registries setting for this update configuration, by setting insecure-external-code-execution to deny.

labels

By default, Dependabot raises all pull requests with the dependencies label. If more than one package manager is defined, Dependabot includes an additional label on each pull request. This indicates which language or ecosystem the pull request will update, for example: java for Gradle updates and submodules for git submodule updates. Dependabot creates these default labels automatically, as necessary in your repository.

Use labels to override the default labels and specify alternative labels for all pull requests raised for a package manager. If any of these labels is not defined in the repository, it is ignored. To disable all labels, including the default labels, use labels: [ ].

Setting this option will also affect pull requests for security updates to the manifest files of this package manager, unless you use target-branch to check for version updates on a non-default branch.

# Specify labels for pull requests

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    # Specify labels for npm pull requests
    labels:
      - "npm"
      - "dependencies"

milestone

Use milestone to associate all pull requests raised for a package manager with a milestone. You need to specify the numeric identifier of the milestone and not its label. If you view a milestone, the final part of the page URL, after milestone, is the identifier. For example: https://github.com/<org>/<repo>/milestone/3.

Setting this option will also affect pull requests for security updates to the manifest files of this package manager, unless you use target-branch to check for version updates on a non-default branch.

# Specify a milestone for pull requests

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    # Associate pull requests with milestone "4"
    milestone: 4

open-pull-requests-limit

By default, Dependabot opens a maximum of five pull requests for version updates. Once there are five open pull requests from Dependabot, Dependabot will not open any new requests until some of those open requests are merged or closed. Use open-pull-requests-limit to change this limit. This also provides a simple way to temporarily disable version updates for a package manager.

This option has no impact on security updates, which have a separate, internal limit of ten open pull requests.

# Specify the number of open pull requests allowed

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    # Disable version updates for npm dependencies
    open-pull-requests-limit: 0

  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    # Allow up to 10 open pull requests for pip dependencies
    open-pull-requests-limit: 10

pull-request-branch-name.separator

Dependabot generates a branch for each pull request. Each branch name includes dependabot, and the package manager and dependency that are updated. By default, these parts are separated by a / symbol, for example: dependabot/npm_and_yarn/next_js/acorn-6.4.1.

Use pull-request-branch-name.separator to specify a different separator. This can be one of: "-", _ or /. The hyphen symbol must be quoted because otherwise it's interpreted as starting an empty YAML list.

Setting this option will also affect pull requests for security updates to the manifest files of this package manager, unless you use target-branch to check for version updates on a non-default branch.

# Specify a different separator for branch names

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    pull-request-branch-name:
      # Separate sections of the branch name with a hyphen
      # for example, `dependabot-npm_and_yarn-next_js-acorn-6.4.1`
      separator: "-"

rebase-strategy

By default, Dependabot automatically rebases open pull requests when it detects any changes to the pull request. Use rebase-strategy to disable this behavior.

Available rebase strategies

• auto to use the default behavior and rebase open pull requests when changes are detected.
• disabled to disable automatic rebasing.

When rebase-strategy is set to auto, Dependabot attempts to rebase pull requests in the following cases.

• When you use Dependabot version updates, for any open Dependabot pull request when your schedule runs.
• When you reopen a closed Dependabot pull request.
• When you change the value of target-branch in the Dependabot configuration file. For more information about this field, see "target-branch."
• When Dependabot detects that a Dependabot pull request is in conflict after a recent push to the target branch.

When rebase-strategy is set to disabled, Dependabot stops rebasing pull requests.

Setting this option will also affect pull requests for security updates to the manifest files of this package manager, unless you use target-branch to check for version updates on a non-default branch.

# Disable automatic rebasing

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    # Disable rebasing for npm pull requests
    rebase-strategy: "disabled"

registries

To allow Dependabot to access a private package registry when performing a version update, you must include a registries setting within the relevant updates configuration. You can allow all of the defined registries to be used by setting registries to "*". Alternatively, you can list the registries that the update can use. To do this, use the name of the registry as defined in the top-level registries section of the dependabot.yml file. For more information, see "Configuration options for private registries" below.

For in-depth information about available options, as well as recommendations and advice when configuring private registries, see "Guidance for the configuration of private registries for Dependabot."

To allow Dependabot to use bundler, mix, and pip package managers to update dependencies in private registries, you can choose to allow external code execution. For more information, see insecure-external-code-execution above.

# Allow Dependabot to use one of the two defined private registries
# when updating dependency versions for this ecosystem

version: 2
registries:
  maven-github:
    type: maven-repository
    url: https://maven.pkg.github.com/octocat
    username: octocat
    password: ${{secrets.MY_ARTIFACTORY_PASSWORD}}
  npm-npmjs:
    type: npm-registry
    url: https://registry.npmjs.org
    username: octocat
    password: ${{secrets.MY_NPM_PASSWORD}}
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "gitsubmodule"
    directory: "/"
    registries:
      - maven-github
    schedule:
      interval: "monthly"

reviewers

Use reviewers to specify individual reviewers or teams of reviewers for all pull requests raised for a package manager. You must use the full team name, including the organization, as if you were @mentioning the team.

Setting this option will also affect pull requests for security updates to the manifest files of this package manager, unless you use target-branch to check for version updates on a non-default branch.

# Specify reviewers for pull requests

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    # Add reviewers
    reviewers:
      - "octocat"
      - "my-username"
      - "my-org/python-team"

schedule.day

When you set a weekly update schedule, by default, Dependabot checks for new versions on Monday at a random set time for the repository. Use schedule.day to specify an alternative day to check for updates.

Supported values

• monday
• tuesday
• wednesday
• thursday
• friday
• saturday
• sunday

# Specify the day for weekly checks

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
      # Check for npm updates on Sundays
      day: "sunday"

schedule.time

By default, Dependabot checks for new versions at a random set time for the repository. Use schedule.time to specify an alternative time of day to check for updates (format: hh:mm).

# Set a time for checks
version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
      # Check for npm updates at 9am UTC
      time: "09:00"

schedule.timezone

By default, Dependabot checks for new versions at a random set time for the repository. Use schedule.timezone to specify an alternative time zone. The time zone identifier must be from the Time Zone database maintained by iana. For more information, see List of tz database time zones.

# Specify the timezone for checks

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
      time: "09:00"
      # Use Japan Standard Time (UTC +09:00)
      timezone: "Asia/Tokyo"

target-branch

By default, Dependabot checks for manifest files on the default branch and raises pull requests for version updates against this branch. Use target-branch to specify a different branch for manifest files and for pull requests. When you use this option, the settings for this package manager will no longer affect any pull requests raised for security updates.

# Specify a non-default branch for pull requests for pip

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    # Raise pull requests for version updates
    # to pip against the `develop` branch
    target-branch: "develop"
    # Labels on pull requests for version updates only
    labels:
      - "pip dependencies"

  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
      # Check for npm updates on Sundays
      day: "sunday"
    # Labels on pull requests for security and version updates
    labels:
      - "npm dependencies"

vendor

Use the vendor option to tell Dependabot to vendor dependencies when updating them. Don't use this option if you're using gomod as Dependabot automatically detects vendoring for this tool.

# Configure version updates for both dependencies defined in manifests and vendored dependencies

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "bundler"
    # Raise pull requests to update vendored dependencies that are checked in to the repository
    vendor: true
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"

Dependabot only updates the vendored dependencies located in specific directories in a repository.

Package manager	Required file path for vendored dependencies	More information
bundler	The dependencies must be in the vendor/cache directory. Other file paths are not supported.	bundle cache documentation
gomod	No path requirement (dependencies are usually located in the vendor directory)	go mod vendor documentation

versioning-strategy

When Dependabot edits a manifest file to update a version, there are several different potential versioning strategies:

Option	Action
auto	Try to differentiate between apps and libraries. Use increase for apps and widen for libraries.
increase	Always increase the minimum version requirement to match the new version. If a range already exists, typically this only increases the lower bound.
increase-if-necessary	Leave the constraint if the original constraint allows the new version, otherwise, bump the constraint.
lockfile-only	Only create pull requests to update lockfiles. Ignore any new versions that would require package manifest changes.
widen	Widen the allowed version requirements to include both the new and old versions, when possible. Typically, this only increases the maximum allowed version requirement.
N/A	Some package managers do not yet support configuring the versioning-strategy parameter.

The following table shows an example of how versioning-strategy can be used.

Current constraint	Current version	New version	Strategy	New constraint
^1.0.0	1.0.0	1.2.0	widen	^1.0.0
^1.0.0	1.0.0	1.2.0	increase	^1.2.0
^1.0.0	1.0.0	1.2.0	increase-if-necessary	^1.0.0
^1.0.0	1.0.0	2.0.0	widen	>=1.0.0 <3.0.0
^1.0.0	1.0.0	2.0.0	increase	^2.0.0
^1.0.0	1.0.0	2.0.0	increase-if-necessary	^2.0.0

Use the versioning-strategy option to change this behavior for supported package managers.

Setting this option will also affect pull requests for security updates to the manifest files of this package manager, unless you use target-branch to check for version updates on a non-default branch.

Available update strategies:

Ecosystem	Supported versioning strategies	Default strategy
bundler	auto, increase, increase-if-necessary, lockfile-only	auto
cargo	auto, lockfile-only	auto
composer	auto, increase, increase-if-necessary, lockfile-only, widen	auto
docker	N/A	N/A
github-actions	N/A	N/A
gitsubmodule	N/A	N/A
gomod	N/A	N/A
gradle	N/A	N/A
maven	N/A	N/A
mix	auto, lockfile-only	auto
npm	auto, increase, increase-if-necessary, lockfile-only, widen	auto
nuget	N/A	N/A
pip	auto, increase, increase-if-necessary, lockfile-only	auto
pub	auto, increase, increase-if-necessary, widen	auto
terraform	N/A	N/A

# Example configuration for customizing the manifest version strategy

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "composer"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    # Increase the version requirements for Composer only when required
    versioning-strategy: increase-if-necessary

Configuration options for private registries

The top-level registries key is optional. It allows you to specify authentication details that Dependabot can use to access private package registries.

The value of the registries key is an associative array, each element of which consists of a key that identifies a particular registry and a value which is an associative array that specifies the settings required to access that registry. The following dependabot.yml file configures a registry identified as dockerhub in the registries section of the file and then references this in the updates section of the file.

# Minimal settings to update dependencies in one private registry

version: 2
registries:
  dockerhub: # Define access for a private registry
    type: docker-registry
    url: registry.hub.docker.com
    username: octocat
    password: ${{secrets.DOCKERHUB_PASSWORD}}
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "docker"
    directory: "/docker-registry/dockerhub"
    registries:
      - dockerhub # Allow version updates for dependencies in this registry
    schedule:
      interval: "monthly"

You use the following options to specify access settings. Registry settings must contain a type and a url, and typically either a username and password combination or a token.

Option	Description
type	Identifies the type of registry. See the full list of types below.
url	The URL to use to access the dependencies in this registry. The protocol is optional. If not specified, https:// is assumed. Dependabot adds or ignores trailing slashes as required.
username	The username that Dependabot uses to access the registry. username is the username or email address for the account.
password	A reference to a Dependabot secret containing the password for the specified user. For more information, see "Configuring access to private registries for Dependabot." password is the password for the account specified by the username. If the account is a GitHub account, you can use a GitHub personal access token in place of the password.
key	A reference to a Dependabot secret containing an access key for this registry. For more information, see "Configuring access to private registries for Dependabot."
token	A reference to a Dependabot secret containing an access token for this registry. For more information, see "Configuring access to private registries for Dependabot." token is used to provide an access token for an external system and should not be used to provide a GitHub personal access token. If you want to use a GitHub personal access token, you should supply it as a password.
replaces-base	For registries with type: python-index, if the boolean value is true, pip resolves dependencies by using the specified URL rather than the base URL of the Python Package Index (by default https://pypi.org/simple).

You must provide the required settings for each configuration type that you specify. Some types allow more than one way to connect. The following sections provide details of the settings you should use for each type.

For in-depth information about available options, as well as recommendations and advice when configuring private registries, see "Guidance for the configuration of private registries for Dependabot."

composer-repository

The composer-repository type supports username and password. If the account is a GitHub account, you can use a GitHub personal access token in place of the password.

This registry type will prefix-match the path provided in the url option. This means you can provide multiple credentials to the same host, which can be used to access distinct paths. However, if you don't have multiple registries on the same host, we recommend that you omit the path from the url, so that all paths to the registry will receive credentials.

registries:
  composer:
    type: composer-repository
    url: https://repo.packagist.com/example-company/
    username: octocat
    password: ${{secrets.MY_PACKAGIST_PASSWORD}}

docker-registry

Dependabot works with any container registries that implement the OCI container registry spec. For more information, see https://github.com/opencontainers/distribution-spec/blob/main/spec.md. Dependabot supports authentication to private registries via a central token service or HTTP Basic Auth. For further details, see Token Authentication Specification in the Docker documentation and Basic access authentication on Wikipedia.

The docker-registry type supports username and password. If the account is a GitHub account, you can use a GitHub personal access token in place of the password.

This registry type will prefix-match the path provided in the url option. This means you can provide multiple credentials to the same host, which can be used to access distinct paths. However, if you don't have multiple registries on the same host, we recommend that you omit the path from the url, so that all paths to the registry will receive credentials.

registries:
  dockerhub:
    type: docker-registry
    url: https://registry.hub.docker.com
    username: octocat
    password: ${{secrets.MY_DOCKERHUB_PASSWORD}}

The docker-registry type can also be used to pull from private Amazon ECR using static AWS credentials.

registries:
  ecr-docker:
    type: docker-registry
    url: https://1234567890.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
    username: ${{secrets.ECR_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID}}
    password: ${{secrets.ECR_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}}

git

The git type supports username and password. If the account is a GitHub account, you can use a GitHub personal access token in place of the password.

registries:
  github-octocat:
    type: git
    url: https://github.com
    username: x-access-token
    password: ${{secrets.MY_GITHUB_PERSONAL_TOKEN}}

hex-organization

The hex-organization type supports organization and key.

This registry type will prefix-match the path provided in the url option. This means you can provide multiple credentials to the same host, which can be used to access distinct paths. However, if you don't have multiple registries on the same host, we recommend that you omit the path from the url, so that all paths to the registry will receive credentials.

registries:
  github-hex-org:
    type: hex-organization
    organization: github
    key: ${{secrets.MY_HEX_ORGANIZATION_KEY}}

maven-repository

The maven-repository type supports username and password. If the account is a GitHub account, you can use a GitHub personal access token in place of the password.

This registry type will prefix-match the path provided in the url option. This means you can provide multiple credentials to the same host, which can be used to access distinct paths. However, if you don't have multiple registries on the same host, we recommend that you omit the path from the url, so that all paths to the registry will receive credentials.

registries:
  maven-artifactory:
    type: maven-repository
    url: https://acme.jfrog.io/artifactory/my-maven-registry
    username: octocat
    password: ${{secrets.MY_ARTIFACTORY_PASSWORD}}

npm-registry

The npm-registry type supports username and password, or token. If the account is a GitHub account, you can use a GitHub personal access token in place of the password.

When using username and password, your .npmrc's auth token may contain a base64 encoded _password; however, the password referenced in your Dependabot configuration file must be the original (unencoded) password.

registries:
  npm-npmjs:
    type: npm-registry
    url: https://registry.npmjs.org
    username: octocat
    password: ${{secrets.MY_NPM_PASSWORD}}  # Must be an unencoded password

registries:
  npm-github:
    type: npm-registry
    url: https://npm.pkg.github.com
    token: ${{secrets.MY_GITHUB_PERSONAL_TOKEN}}

nuget-feed

The nuget-feed type supports username and password, or token. If the account is a GitHub account, you can use a GitHub personal access token in place of the password.

registries:
  nuget-example:
    type: nuget-feed
    url: https://nuget.example.com/v3/index.json
    username: octocat@example.com
    password: ${{secrets.MY_NUGET_PASSWORD}}

registries:
  nuget-azure-devops:
    type: nuget-feed
    url: https://pkgs.dev.azure.com/.../_packaging/My_Feed/nuget/v3/index.json
    username: octocat@example.com
    password: ${{secrets.MY_AZURE_DEVOPS_TOKEN}}

python-index

The python-index type supports username and password, or token. If the account is a GitHub account, you can use a GitHub personal access token in place of the password.

This registry type will prefix-match the path provided in the url option. This means you can provide multiple credentials to the same host, which can be used to access distinct paths. However, if you don't have multiple registries on the same host, we recommend that you omit the path from the url, so that all paths to the registry will receive credentials.

registries:
  python-example:
    type: python-index
    url: https://example.com/_packaging/my-feed/pypi/example
    username: octocat
    password: ${{secrets.MY_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD}}
    replaces-base: true

registries:
  python-azure:
    type: python-index
    url: https://pkgs.dev.azure.com/octocat/_packaging/my-feed/pypi/example
    username: octocat@example.com
    password: ${{secrets.MY_AZURE_DEVOPS_TOKEN}}
    replaces-base: true

rubygems-server

The rubygems-server type supports username and password, or token. If the account is a GitHub account, you can use a GitHub personal access token in place of the password.

This registry type will prefix-match the path provided in the url option. This means you can provide multiple credentials to the same host, which can be used to access distinct paths. However, if you don't have multiple registries on the same host, we recommend that you omit the path from the url, so that all paths to the registry will receive credentials.

registries:
  ruby-example:
    type: rubygems-server
    url: https://rubygems.example.com
    username: octocat@example.com
    password: ${{secrets.MY_RUBYGEMS_PASSWORD}}

registries:
  ruby-github:
    type: rubygems-server
    url: https://rubygems.pkg.github.com/octocat/github_api
    token: ${{secrets.MY_GITHUB_PERSONAL_TOKEN}}

terraform-registry

The terraform-registry type supports a token.

registries:
  terraform-example:
    type: terraform-registry
    url: https://terraform.example.com
    token: ${{secrets.MY_TERRAFORM_API_TOKEN}}

Enabling support for beta-level ecosystems

enable-beta-ecosystems

By default, Dependabot updates the dependency manifests and lock files only for fully supported ecosystems. Use the enable-beta-ecosystems flag to opt in to updates for ecosystems that are not yet generally available.

There are currently no ecosystems in beta.

# Configure beta ecosystem

version: 2
enable-beta-ecosystems: true
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "beta-ecosystem"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"