Connect a GitHub repository as a Source so Dosu can learn from your code and conversations, then put that knowledge to work in issues, pull requests, and discussions. This page covers what connecting GitHub gives you, how to install the Dosu GitHub App, and what Dosu does with the access you grant.
What connecting GitHub gives you#
GitHub is usually the first Source a team connects. Once a repository is connected, Dosu indexes the activity there and can use it as a knowledge base for both people and coding agents. With GitHub connected, Dosu can:
- Answer questions in GitHub issues and discussions, with citations back to the source.
- Keep documentation current as code changes through Self-Documenting PRs, which post an in-PR review comment with Accept, Edit, and Decline.
For a growing engineering organization, connecting at the organizational level gives Dosu a shared source of truth across many repositories and teams.
Availability and prerequisites#
GitHub is generally available and self-serve on all plans.
- Public repositories are available on every plan, including the free plan.
- Private repositories require a paid plan. See the pricing page or contact Dosu for current plan details.
- To connect a private repository, you must be the user who installed the GitHub App or a collaborator with Triage permission or higher. Collaborators with Read permission cannot connect private repositories.
How to connect#
- Install the Dosu GitHub App. Choose the account or organization where your repositories live.
- Choose which repositories to grant access to. You can grant access to all repositories in the account or organization, or grant access to specific repositories. For org-wide coverage, grant access to all repositories so new repos are picked up as they appear.
- Open or create a Library and add the repository as a Source inside it.
- Create an Agent for the repository so Dosu can respond on GitHub. Installing the app lets you set the appropriate level of access, and Dosu does not post anything to your repositories until an Agent exists.
After you install the app, Dosu syncs the repositories you grant access to and the collaborators on each, which Dosu uses for access control in the dashboard.
What Dosu does with it#
Dosu indexes the repositories you connect, including code files (Markdown, reStructuredText, and AsciiDoc are supported as document formats), issues, pull requests, discussions, and wikis. You can narrow what gets indexed with include and ignored file patterns on the Source, using glob syntax such as docs/** or src/**/*.ts.
From that knowledge, Dosu supports several behaviors on GitHub:
- Q&A: Dosu answers tagged questions in issues and discussions.
- Self-documenting PRs: a Monitor watches for code changes that make documentation stale and proposes updates in the pull request.
Each behavior is configured per Agent, and your team stays in control through Review and preview modes before anything is posted or published.
The 👀 (eyes) reaction#
When you mention @dosu on an issue, pull request, or discussion, Dosu adds a 👀 (eyes) reaction to your comment to confirm it has seen the message and is working on a response. The 👀 is an acknowledgment, not the answer itself, and Dosu removes it once the run finishes. Treat it as a live "working on it" signal rather than a permanent mark.
What you will typically see:
- 👀 showing. Dosu is processing your message right now.
- 👀 cleared, reply posted. Dosu finished and answered. This is the normal case.
- 👀 cleared, no reply. Dosu looked but decided not to post, for example the Agent is in Auto Draft mode, the reply was held for Review, or it judged it could not add value. This is expected, not an error.
- 👀 stuck with no reply. The run most likely failed before it could finish. Re-mention
@dosu, and if it keeps happening, reach out to Dosu.
The 👀 is a status signal, separate from the 👍 / 👎 reactions you add to Dosu's answers to tell it whether a response was helpful. On Slack, Dosu uses a ⏳ (hourglass) reaction for the same acknowledgment.
Notes and limits#
- Dosu cannot be installed on forked repositories. Forked repos show a "Forked repo" badge in the installation UI and cannot be selected.
- The GitHub App requests read access to repository contents and metadata, and read and write access to issues, pull requests, and discussions so Dosu can respond on those surfaces. Write access is used only when an Agent is configured to act.
- Managing access later (adding or removing repositories) is done from the GitHub App installation settings on GitHub.