Build unreleased features in a private shadow of your open-source repo, running the same CI. Publish with one gated command, after a leak scan and with a person’s approval.
Teams building unannounced features on an open-source project end up running a private mirror by hand. That works until someone makes a mistake.
Anyone can see a branch pushed to a public repo, and its CI runs, too.
A fork of a public repository is always public, so a fork can’t keep anything private.
A push to the wrong remote, a committed secret, or CI that has drifted from the real repo: the feature goes out early, or arrives broken.
Each feature lives in a private shadow repo that mirrors your public one. Its CI runs there just as it would on the public repo.
Rebase on public main, run the full CI, and scan every commit for secrets, internal files and private notes.
Publish exactly what was scanned as a normal public pull request. A person approves it with a one-time code typed at their own terminal.
Every commit headed for public is scanned, both tree and message, using gitleaks’ default rules. It also catches .ghostbranch/ files, BEGIN-INTERNAL blocks and any names you list in block_patterns. A person can waive a finding by its id, but no flag skips the scan.
CI runs in your shadow repo exactly as it would on the public one, without adding branches or runs to the public repo’s history.
Keep every commit, squash them into one, or publish curated groups.
A git hook in your checkout stops private work from being pushed to the public remote by mistake.
ghostbranch guard installChecks your tools, token, repo pair, guard and state, and tells you which command fixes each problem.
Every command can return a stable, versioned JSON envelope containing ok, data and a next step, which says whether a person is needed.
Claude Code, Codex and other agents can start, gate and plan a feature through the JSON contract. Publishing waits for a person: a one-time code typed at their own console (6 characters, valid for 5 minutes, 3 tries), or an agent grant they made earlier. Run ghostbranch guide to print the shipped agent guide.
{
"schema_version": "0.15",
"command": "promote",
"ok": false,
"exit_code": 5,
"data": { … },
"next": [{
"command": ["ghostbranch", "apply", "20261012T093000Z-4f2a9c"],
"why": "publish the plan: a person runs this in their own terminal and types the code it shows (or allows agents first with ghostbranch agents allow)",
"needs_human": true,
"needs_input": []
}],
"error": {
"code": "APPROVAL_REQUIRED",
"message": "publishing needs a person to type a code at a console, or an agent grant (ghostbranch agents allow); plan 20261012T093000Z-4f2a9c is saved"
}
}Homebrew
Placeholder: the Homebrew tap isn’t published yet.
Scoop / winget
Placeholder: the Scoop bucket and winget package aren’t published yet.
npm
Placeholder: the npm package isn’t published yet.
Install script
Placeholder: the install script isn’t published yet.
Go
Works once the repository is public.
Then run ghostbranch init in your repo. It asks a few questions and sets everything up.
It asks only what it can’t work out on its own. After a summary and a final confirmation, it installs the guard, runs doctor and walks you through your first feature. Flags or --json skip the prompts.
Ghostbranch is free and open source. Sponsoring it pays for the time spent building and fixing it, the CI that tests every change, the website’s domain and, later, code signing, so your computer can tell that a download really came from us. If it saves you work, please consider chipping in.
Sponsorships go through the personal GitHub Sponsors page of Ayush (@ayushguptax), who builds and maintains Ghostbranch, until Ghostbranch’s organisation finishes its tax setup. Every penny goes into Ghostbranch.
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