copit 0.3.0

Copy reusable source code from GitHub repos, HTTP URLs, and ZIP archives into your project

copit

Copy reusable source code from GitHub repos, HTTP URLs, and ZIP archives into your project.

Inspired by shadcn/ui — instead of installing opaque packages, copit copies source code directly into your codebase. The code is yours: readable, modifiable, and fully owned. No hidden abstractions, no dependency lock-in. Override anything, keep what you need.

Use cases

• Quickly copy and own code — Pull files from GitHub repos, HTTP URLs, or ZIP archives directly into your project. No forks, no submodules — just your own copy to read, modify, and maintain.

• Build frameworks with injectable components — Create a core library as a traditional package, then offer optional components that users copy into their projects via copit. Think of how shadcn/ui is built on top of Tailwind and Radix UI: the base libraries are installed as dependencies, while UI components are copied in and fully owned. Apply the same pattern to any ecosystem — a LangChain-style core as a library, with community integrations (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) as injectable source code that users can customize freely.

Installation

Standalone (recommended)

# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/huynguyengl99/copit/main/install.sh | bash

You can specify a version or install directory:

COPIT_VERSION=v0.1.0 curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/huynguyengl99/copit/main/install.sh | bash

# Custom install location
INSTALL_DIR=/usr/local/bin curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/huynguyengl99/copit/main/install.sh | bash

From PyPI

pip install copit
# or
uv pip install copit

From Cargo

cargo install copit

Uninstall

If installed via the standalone script:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/huynguyengl99/copit/main/uninstall.sh | bash

If installed to a custom directory:

INSTALL_DIR=/usr/local/bin curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/huynguyengl99/copit/main/uninstall.sh | bash

For PyPI: pip uninstall copit. For Cargo: cargo uninstall copit.

Quick start

# Initialize a copit.toml in your project
copit init

# Copy a file from a GitHub repo
copit add github:serde-rs/serde@v1.0.219/serde/src/lib.rs

# Copy a file from a raw URL
copit add https://raw.githubusercontent.com/serde-rs/serde/refs/heads/master/LICENSE-MIT

# Copy from a ZIP archive
copit add https://example.com/archive.zip#src/utils.rs

Usage

copit init

Creates a copit.toml config file in the current directory with a default target directory (vendor).

copit add <source>...

Fetches source code and copies it into your project.

Usage: copit add [OPTIONS] [SOURCES]...

Arguments:
  [SOURCES]...  Source(s) to add (e.g., github:owner/repo@ref/path, https://...)

Options:
      --to <TO>      Target directory to copy files into
      --overwrite    Overwrite existing files without prompting
      --skip         Skip existing files without prompting
      --backup       Save .orig copy of new version for excluded modified files
      --freeze       Pin this source so update and update-all skip it
      --no-license   Skip copying license files

Source formats

Format	Example
GitHub	github:owner/repo@ref/path/to/file (alias: gh:)
HTTP URL	https://example.com/file.txt
ZIP archive	https://example.com/archive.zip#inner/path

copit update <path>...

Re-fetches specific tracked source(s) by path (as shown in copit.toml). Always overwrites non-excluded files.

# Re-fetch a specific tracked source
copit update vendor/mylib

# Re-fetch with a new version
copit update vendor/mylib --ref v2.0

# Re-fetch with backup for excluded modified files
copit update vendor/mylib --backup

Options:

• --ref <version> — Override the version ref for this update (updates the source string and ref field)
• --backup — Save .orig copy of new version for excluded modified files
• --overwrite — Overwrite existing files without prompting
• --skip — Skip existing files without prompting
• --freeze — Pin this source so update and update-all skip it
• --unfreeze — Unpin this source so it can be updated again

copit update-all

Re-fetches all tracked sources in copit.toml.

# Re-fetch all tracked sources
copit update-all

# Re-fetch all with backup for excluded modified files
copit update-all --backup

Options:

• --ref <version> — Override the version ref (errors if multiple sources are tracked)
• --backup — Save .orig copy of new version for excluded modified files
• --overwrite — Overwrite existing files without prompting
• --skip — Skip existing files without prompting

copit licenses-sync

Reorganizes license files to match the current (or a new) licenses_dir configuration — moving between centralized and side-by-side layouts.

# Move all license files into a centralized directory
copit licenses-sync --licenses-dir licenses

# Move licenses back to side-by-side (next to each source)
copit licenses-sync --no-dir

# Re-sync based on current config
copit licenses-sync

Options:

• --licenses-dir <DIR> — Move licenses into a centralized directory and set licenses_dir in config
• --no-dir — Move licenses back to side-by-side and remove licenses_dir from config
• --dry-run — Preview what would be moved without making changes

copit remove <path>... (alias: rm)

Removes previously copied files from disk and their entries from copit.toml.

# Remove a specific file
copit remove vendor/lib.rs

# Remove multiple files
copit rm vendor/lib.rs vendor/utils.rs

# Remove all tracked sources
copit rm --all

Config file

copit.toml tracks your project's target directory and all copied sources:

target = "vendor"

[[sources]]
path = "vendor/prek-identify"
source = "github:j178/prek@master/crates/prek-identify"
ref = "master"
commit = "abc123def456..."
copied_at = "2026-03-07T08:46:51Z"
excludes = ["Cargo.toml", "src/lib.rs"]

Root-level fields:

• overwrite/skip/backup: Project defaults. Priority: CLI flags > per-source > root-level > false.
• licenses_dir: Centralized directory for license files. When set, licenses go to {licenses_dir}/{relative_path}/ (mirroring the target structure) instead of next to the source.

Per-source ([[sources]]) fields:

• ref: The user-specified version string (branch/tag/sha)
• commit: Resolved commit SHA from GitHub API (optional, GitHub sources only)
• excludes: List of relative paths (within source folder) to skip on re-add. With --backup, the new version is saved as <file>.orig.
• frozen: Pin this source so it's skipped during update and update-all.
• no_license: Skip copying license files for this source (set via --no-license on add, respected by update/update-all).
• overwrite/skip/backup: Per-source overrides.

See Configuration for full details.

License

MIT