01 · FoundationsLab 8 / 59
Challengegit
Professional Collaboration on GitHub — Challenge
Protect a branch, require review, and make the pipeline the thing that decides whether code can merge.
- Time
- 22 min
- Level
- Intermediate
- Objectives
- 4 objectives
- Cost
- Free
Where this fits in the platform
Already built
This lab adds
- A review workflow — the same one GitOps will depend on
Which lets you
—
Before you start
You will need
- A GitHub repository you own
- git 2.30+
You do not need these already — the lab environment below provides them.
You will be able to
- Configure branch protection that CI actually enforces
- Route review automatically with CODEOWNERS
- Write commit messages a release process can read
Cost — Free
— a GitHub account.
The goal#
Achieve the same outcome as Professional Collaboration on GitHub, from an empty starting point, without the steps.
Trunk-based development only works when main is always releasable. That is not a matter of discipline — it is a matter of configuration.
This lab makes the repository enforce it.
Hands-on environment
Run this lab in a real terminal, free and in your browser. The environment is temporary and yours alone — break it as much as you like.
Start the challengeOpens in Killercoda, in a new tab — keep this page open for the steps.
This is the guided lab's environment — the same machine, with its walkthrough on the left. Work from the task above and leave those steps alone until you are done, or you are reading the answers.
Run it on your own machine
Run this lab on your own machine. One command starts the environment, with everything the lab needs already installed:
You will need:
- git
git clone https://github.com/EgyKode/EgyKode-lab.git
cd EgyKode-lab
./egykode start
./egykode shellYou need Docker and Git installed. Everything else runs inside the environment. The first start downloads it and takes a few minutes; later starts are seconds.
Not sure what you already have? Run: npm run doctor — it checks and changes nothing.
Anything you tick here is your own record. EgyKode cannot see inside that terminal, so the success criteria stay self-assessed even when the environment checks your work for you.
What must be true when you are done
Step 1 of 3
What must be true when you are done#
- A direct push to the protected branch is rejected.
- A pull request cannot merge while its status check is failing.
- A CODEOWNERS entry requests the right reviewer automatically.
- You can explain why 'require branches to be up to date' matters.
Rules#
- Do not open the guided lab until you are finished, or until the same problem has held you up for 20 minutes.
- Documentation is allowed and encouraged.
- Verify every criterion with a command whose output you can read.
If you get stuck#
- What did you expect, exactly?
- What happened instead — the error text, not a paraphrase?
- Which layer is that error from?
- What is the smallest command that proves the layer below is fine?
You are done when
0 of 4
The concept behind it
Phase complete · 01 Foundations
You can now: You can administer a server, diagnose a connection, and recover work you thought you had destroyed.
Next phase
Lab 8 of 59 on the project path