iagitbetter

iagitbetter is a python tool for preserving any git repository to the Internet Archive, An improved version of iagitup with support for all git providers, it downloads the complete repository, creates git bundles, uploads all files preserving structure, and archives to archive.org

• This project is heavily based off iagitup by Giovanni Damiola, credits to them (also credits to tubeup by Bibliotheca Anonoma for taking some stuff and modifying them)

Features

• Works with all git providers (GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, etc)
• Archive all repositories from a user or organization with options
• Self-hosted git instance support (GitLab, Gitea, Forgejo, Gogs, Gerrit, etc)
• Downloads and uploads the entire repository file structure
• Preserves provider directories like .github/, .gitlab/, .gitea/
• Download repository releases with assets from supported providers
• Clone and archive all branches of a repository with proper directory structure
• Automatically fetches repository metadata from git provider APIs (when available)
• API token authentication for repositories
• Includes stars, forks, programming language, license, topics, and more metadata
• Creates git bundles
• Archives repository wikis into git bundles
• Archives Git Large File Storage (LFS) objects automatically
• Uses the first commit date as the repo creation date
• Pass additional metadata using --metadata=<key:value>

Installation

Requires Python 3.9 or newer

pip install iagitbetter

The package makes a console script named iagitbetter once installed. You can also install from the source via cloning the repo and running pip install .

Configuration

ia configure

You'll be prompted to enter your Internet Archive account's email and password.

Usage

iagitbetter <url> [options]

Basic Arguments

• <url> – Git repository URL or user/organization profile URL to archive

Options

• --metadata=<key:value> – custom metadata to add to the IA item
• --all-files – upload all repository files in addition to git bundle (by default, only the bundle is uploaded)
• --include-wiki – clone and archive the repository wiki (if it exists)
• --quiet / -q – suppress verbose output
• --version – show version information
• --no-update-check – skip checking for updates
• --no-info-file – skip creating the repository info JSON file
• --no-repo-info – skip adding repository information to the Internet Archive item description

Release Options

• --releases [N] – download releases from the repository (GitHub, GitLab, Codeberg, Gitea). Optionally specify number of releases to download (e.g., --releases 5 for 5 most recent releases)
• --all-releases – download all releases (default: latest release only)
• --latest-release – download only the latest release (default when --releases is used)

Branch Options

• --all-branches – clone and archive all branches of the repository
• --branch <name> – clone and archive a specific branch of the repository

User/Org Archiving Options

• --skip-forks – skip forked repositories when archiving profiles
• --skip-archived – skip archived repositories when archiving profiles
• --skip-private – skip private repositories when archiving profiles
• --max-repos <number> – maximum number of repositories to archive from a profile

Self-Hosted Instance Options

• --git-provider-type {github,gitlab,gitea,bitbucket,gitee,gogs,sourceforge,gerrit,launchpad,gist} – specify the git provider type for self-hosted instances
• --api-url <url> – custom API URL for self-hosted instances (e.g., https://git.example.com/api/v1)
• --api-token <token> – API token for authentication with repositories
• --api-username <username> – username for Bitbucket App Passwords (used with --api-token for basic auth)

Supported Git Providers

See supportedproviders.md for detailed information about each provider

Automatic Metadata Collection

For supported providers, iagitbetter automatically fetches:

• Repository description
• Star count, fork count, watcher count
• Primary programming language
• License information
• Topics/tags
• Creation and last update dates
• Default branch name
• Repository size and statistics
• Homepage URL
• Issue and wiki availability
• User/organization avatar

Release Support

For providers that support releases (GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, etc), iagitbetter can:

• Download the latest release or all releases
• Include release assets and attachments
• Download source code archives (zip/tar.gz)
• Save release metadata and descriptions
• Organized releases in a {owner}-{repo}_releases/ folder

Examples

Basic Repository Archiving

# Archive GitHub repository
iagitbetter https://github.com/user/repository

# Archive GitLab repository
iagitbetter https://gitlab.com/user/repository

# Archive BitBucket repository
iagitbetter https://bitbucket.org/user/repository

# Archive from any git provider
iagitbetter https://git.example.com/user/repository.git

# Archive from Gitee
iagitbetter https://gitee.com/user/repository

# Archive from Gogs instance
iagitbetter --git-provider-type gogs https://gogs.example.com/user/repository

# Archive from SourceForge
iagitbetter https://sourceforge.net/p/project/dog/

# Archive from GitHub Gist
iagitbetter https://gist.github.com/username/gist_id

User/Org Archiving

Archive all repositories from a user or organization profile:

# Archive all public repositories from a GitHub user
iagitbetter https://github.com/torvalds

# Archive all repositories from a GitLab organization
iagitbetter https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org

# Archive from Codeberg user
iagitbetter https://codeberg.org/username

# Archive from Gitea user
iagitbetter https://gitea.com/username

# Archive from Bitbucket workspace
iagitbetter https://bitbucket.org/atlassian

User/Org Archiving with Filters

# Skip forked repositories
iagitbetter https://github.com/username --skip-forks

# Skip archived repositories
iagitbetter https://github.com/username --skip-archived

# Skip private repositories
iagitbetter https://github.com/username --api-token TOKEN --skip-private

# Combine multiple filters
iagitbetter https://github.com/username --skip-forks --skip-archived

# Limit number of repositories to archive
iagitbetter https://github.com/username --max-repos 10

# Archive first 5 non-fork repositories
iagitbetter https://github.com/username --skip-forks --max-repos 5

User/Org Archiving with Additional Features

# Archive all repos with their releases
iagitbetter https://github.com/username --releases --all-releases

# Archive all repos with all branches
iagitbetter https://github.com/username --all-branches

# Combine profile archiving with multiple features
iagitbetter https://github.com/username --skip-forks --releases --all-branches

# Quiet mode for profile archiving
iagitbetter https://github.com/username --skip-forks --quiet

Self-Hosted User/Org Archiving

# Archive all repos from self-hosted GitLab user
iagitbetter https://gitlab.example.com/username \
  --git-provider-type gitlab \
  --api-token glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxxx

# Archive all repos from self-hosted Gitea organization
iagitbetter https://git.example.com/organization \
  --git-provider-type gitea \
  --api-token your_token_here

# Self-hosted with filters
iagitbetter https://gitlab.example.com/team \
  --git-provider-type gitlab \
  --api-token TOKEN \
  --skip-forks \
  --skip-archived \
  --max-repos 20

Self-Hosted Repositories

# Self-hosted GitLab (auto-detection)
iagitbetter https://gitlab.example.com/user/repository

# Self-hosted GitLab with API configuration
iagitbetter --git-provider-type gitlab \
  --api-url https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4 \
  https://gitlab.example.com/user/repository

# Self-hosted Gitea/Forgejo with authentication
iagitbetter --git-provider-type gitea \
  --api-token your_token_here \
  https://git.example.com/user/repository

# Private repository on self-hosted instance
iagitbetter --git-provider-type gitlab \
  --api-url https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4 \
  --api-token glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxxx \
  https://gitlab.example.com/user/private-repo

Release Archiving

# Archive repository with latest release
iagitbetter --releases https://github.com/user/repo

# Archive repository with specific number of releases (e.g., 5 most recent)
iagitbetter --releases 5 https://github.com/user/repo

# Archive repository with specific number of releases (e.g., 10 most recent)
iagitbetter --releases 10 https://github.com/user/repo

# Archive repository with all releases
iagitbetter --releases --all-releases https://github.com/user/repo

# Explicitly specify latest release only
iagitbetter --releases --latest-release https://github.com/user/repo

Branch Archiving

# Archive all branches of a repository
iagitbetter --all-branches https://github.com/user/repo

# Archive a specific branch
iagitbetter --branch test https://github.com/user/repo

# Archive all branches AND all releases
iagitbetter --all-branches --releases --all-releases https://github.com/user/repo

Advanced Usage

# Archive with custom metadata
iagitbetter --metadata="collection:software,topic:python" https://github.com/user/repo

# All files mode (upload repository files and bundle)
iagitbetter --all-files https://github.com/user/repo

# Archive repository with wiki
iagitbetter --include-wiki https://github.com/user/repo

# Quiet mode with all features
iagitbetter --quiet --all-branches --releases --all-releases --include-wiki https://github.com/user/repo

# Self-hosted with all features
iagitbetter --git-provider-type gitlab \
  --api-token glpat-xxxxxxxxxxxxx \
  --all-branches \
  --releases --all-releases \
  --include-wiki \
  https://gitlab.example.com/user/repo

Profile Archiving Details

When you provide a user or organization profile URL (e.g., https://github.com/username), iagitbetter will:

1. Automatically recognize the URL as a user/org rather than a repository
2. Query the git provider's API to get all repositories for that user/org
3. Filter repositories based on the options (--skip-forks, --skip-archived, etc)
4. Archive each repository of user/org individually
5. Provide a summary of what was archived and if there was any failures

Profile Archiving Output

The tool provides detailed progress information:

PROFILE ARCHIVING MODE
Username/Organization: torvalds
Git Provider: github

Fetching repositories from profile...
   Found 25 repositories for torvalds
   Filtered out 5 forked repositories
   
Will archive 20 repositories

Repository 1/20: torvalds/linux
   Repository: torvalds/linux
   Git Provider: github
   Will archive: Repository files, Default branch
...
Successfully archived: torvalds/linux
   URL: https://archive.org/details/torvalds-linux-20671005120000

PROFILE ARCHIVING SUMMARY
Username/Organization: torvalds
Total repositories found: 25
Repositories archived: 20
  Successful: 20
  Failed: 0

Successfully archived repositories:
  torvalds/linux
    https://archive.org/details/torvalds-linux-20241005120000
  torvalds/subsurface
    https://archive.org/details/torvalds-subsurface-20241005120100
  ...

Repository Structure Preservation

When using the --all-files flag, iagitbetter preserves the complete repository structure when uploading to Internet Archive. For example, if your repository contains:

README.md
.github/
  └── workflows/
      └── lint.yml
src/
  ├── main.py
  └── utils/
      └── helper.py
docs/
  └── guide.md
tests/
  └── test_main.py

The archive will contain all files exactly as shown, including the .github/ directory with workflows

With --all-branches

When using --all-branches, the structure becomes:

README.md
.github/workflows/lint.yml
src/main.py
src/utils/helper.py
docs/guide.md
tests/test_main.py
{repo-name}-{owner}_branches/
  └── develop/
      ├── README.md
      ├── .github/workflows/ci.yml
      ├── src/main.py
      └── ...
  └── feature/
      ├── README.md
      ├── src/main.py
      └── ...
{owner}-{repo}.bundle

With --releases

When using --releases, a releases directory is added:

README.md
.github/workflows/ci.yml
src/main.py
docs/guide.md
{owner}-{repo}_releases/
  └── v1.0.0/
      ├── v1.0.0.release_info.json
      ├── v1.0.0.source.zip
      └── v1.0.0.source.tar.gz
{owner}-{repo}.bundle

By default, only the git bundle is uploaded to Internet Archive.

If you use the --all-files flag, all repository files will be uploaded in addition to the bundle, preserving the directory structure as shown above.

How it works

Repository Analysis

1. iagitbetter parses the git URL to identify the provider and repository details
2. For self-hosted instances, it detects or uses the specified provider type
3. It attempts to fetch additional metadata from the provider's API (if supported)
4. Repository information is extracted including owner, name, and provider details

Profile Analysis (Profile Archiving Mode)

1. Detects profile URL format (username/org)
2. Queries the git provider's API to fetch all repositories
3. Applies filters based on command-line options
4. Archives each repository individually
5. Generates summary report

Repository Download

1. The git repository is cloned to a temporary directory using GitPython
2. If --all-branches is specified, all remote branches are fetched and separate directories are created for each non-default branch
3. The first commit date is extracted for the creation date
4. A git bundle is created with all branches and tags
5. If Git LFS is detected, LFS objects are automatically fetched and archived into a tarball
6. User/organization avatar is downloaded if available

Branch Processing (when --all-branches is used)

1. All remote branches are fetched from the repository
2. For each non-default branch, a separate directory named {repo-name}-{owner}_branches/{branch-name} is created
3. Each branch is checked out and its files are copied to the respective branch directory
4. The default branch files remain in the root directory
5. This creates a clear separation of branches in the archive

Release Processing (when --releases is used)

1. Release information is fetched from the provider's API
2. Latest release or all releases are downloaded based on options
3. Source code archives (zip/tar.gz) are downloaded
4. Release assets and attachments are downloaded
5. Release metadata is saved as JSON files
6. All content is organized in a {owner}-{repo}_releases/ directory structure

Internet Archive Upload

1. Comprehensive metadata is prepared including:
   • title: {owner} - {repo}
   • identifier: {owner}-{repo}-{timestamp}
   • Original repository URL and git provider information
   • First commit date as the creation date
   • API-fetched metadata (stars, forks, language, etc)
   • Branch, releases, and wiki information
2. All repository files are uploaded preserving directory structure
3. Provider directories like .github/, .gitlab/, .gitea/ are preserved
4. Branches are included (if archived with --all-branches)
5. Release files are included (if requested)
6. The git bundle is included
7. Wiki bundle is included (if archived with --include-wiki)
8. User/organization avatar is included
9. README.md is converted to HTML for the item description

Archive Format

• Identifier: {owner}-{repo}-{timestamp}
• Title: {owner} - {repo}
• Date: First commit date
• Files: Complete repository structure, branches (if requested), releases (if requested), wiki bundle (if requested), and git bundle

Repository Restoration

To restore a repository from the archive:

# Download the git bundle
wget https://archive.org/download/{identifier}/{owner}-{repo}.bundle

# Clone from the bundle (includes all branches if archived with --all-branches)
git clone {owner}-{repo}.bundle {repo-name}

# Or restore using git
git clone {owner}-{repo}.bundle
cd {repo-name}

# List all available branches (if --all-branches was used)
git branch -a

# Check out a specific branch
git checkout branch-name

Release Information

When releases are archived, they can be found in the {owner}-{repo}_releases/ directory of the archive, Each release includes:

• {version}.release_info.json - Complete release metadata
• {version}.source.zip - Source code archive
• {version}.source.tar.gz - Source code tarball
• binaries

Key Improvements over iagitup

• Works with any git provider (public and self-hosted)
• Archive all repositories from a user or org
• Self-hosted git instance support with authentication
• Uploads the entire repository file structure
• Preserves provider directories (.github/, .gitlab/, .gitea/)
• Can archive all branches of a repository
• Automatically fetches repository information from APIs
• Downloads user/organization avatars
• Uses first commit date for historical accuracy
• Leverages git provider APIs for comprehensive metadata

Requirements

• Python 3.9+
• Git
• Internet Archive account and credentials
• Required dependencies in the requirements.txt file

Troubleshooting

Authentication Issues

• Ensure your API token has the correct permissions
• For self-hosted instances, verify the API URL is correct
• Check that the token hasn't expired

API Metadata Fetching

• If metadata isn't fetched, the repository will still be archived
• Use --git-provider-type to help with provider detection
• Some self-hosted instances may have APIs disabled

Private Repositories

• Always use --api-token for private repositories
• Ensure the token has read access to the repository
• For self-hosted instances, you may need both --api-url and --api-token

Profile Archiving Issues

• Rate Limiting: Public APIs have rate limits (use --api-token to increase limits)
• Large Profiles: Use --max-repos to limit the number of repositories
• Failed Repositories: Individual repository failures won't stop the entire process
• Time Consumption: Archiving many repositories takes significant time