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Ali nazari
Ali nazari

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Dependabot: Your GitHub Wingman

If you've done any sort of web development projects, chances are you're using some really cool open-source libraries that your code depends on to get the job done

node_modules meme

Problem is, once you go pass a handful of these libraries, it can become time consuming to track updates, security patches, and new releases for all the libraries that you may be using.

outdated dependency meme

The solution is 💡:

Dependabot

Dependabot is a tool within GitHub that you can use to manage your dependencies automatically, including updates, patching, and keeping your repository up-to-date.

Dependabot is easy to use and you can set it up using a configuration file in your repository

maintain dependencies meme

It supports plenty of languages and it can even update your Dockerfile if you are into building Docker containers

How to use ? 🤔

All you need to do is create a file named dependabot.yml inside the .github directory.

dependabot file

Dependabot for python:

if you use python language and pip as your dependency manager tool the dependabot.yml setup would be something like this :

dependabot for python

With the interval key, you can decide how often your project’s dependencies get checked.

Using the dependency-type key, you can choose which dependencies to keep an eye on. For instance, we only focus on the production environment’s dependencies.

Dependabot for PHP:

if you still use PHP and composer as your dependency manager tool the dependabot.yml setup would be something like this :

dependabot for PHP

Normally, Dependabot looks for manifest files on the main branch and creates pull requests for version updates there.

If you want to use a different branch for manifest files and pull requests, just specify it with target-branch

Dependabot for JavaScript:

For JavaScript enthusiasts, the configuration would look something like this:

dependabot for JavaScript

As you can see, with the _ignore _ option, we can choose to overlook specific dependencies.

This option is super handy because sometimes we just don’t want a certain dependency to change its version. So, we can just pop its name into the *ignore * option and voilà! 🧙🏻‍♂️

For further information about GitHub Dependabot, please visit: link

What do you think about Dependabot? Let me know if I’ve missed anything important about this tool! 🤗

If you like this post, check out some of my other writings :

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