Skip to content

Prepare Fork

Fork LoopWorkspace

Feeling confident? Planning to build more than one app? Click to see more.

If you are already feeling overwhelmed - skip this tip.

If you plan to build more that one app, you will making a fork of each repository associated with each app, and then you must add the 6 Secrets to each repository. It is not hard but it can get tiresome.

There is a way to enter the 6 Secrets only one time for all your repositories, but this requires setting up a free GitHub organization. This is also not hard, but it modifies some of displays you see on GitHub. If you are interested, refer to Use a GitHub Organization Account

Section Summary (click to open/close)

Fork https://github.com/LoopKit/LoopWorkspace into your account.

To skip the detailed instructions, click on Configure Secrets

Existing Fork

If you already have a fork of LoopWorkspace, click on Already Have LoopWorkspace to decide what to do. That section provides links to return you to these instructions.

  1. Click this link https://github.com/LoopKit/LoopWorkspace to open the LoopWorkspace repository owned by LoopKit
  2. Review the highlighted locations of the graphic below (yours won't look quite like this yet, but the Fork button is in the same place)
  3. At the upper right side of the screen, click on the word Fork
  4. Now your screen should look like the graphic below

    • Your username will be automatically filled in as the owner (Owner)
    • LoopWorkspace is the repository name (Repository Name)
    • Leave the selection that says "Copy the main branch only" checked
    • Click on the green Create fork button

    fork information for LoopWorkspace

Successful Fork

After creating the  fork, your screen should be similar to the next graphic - it will say main for the branch instead of dev because this graphic was prepared before the release of Loop 3. You may or may not see the messages you are told to dismiss in the next two bullets. No worries if you don't see them.

  • Near the top right, click on the close button (x) to dismiss the Successfully fetched message
  • In the middle, click on the Dismiss button to remove the "Your branch is not protected" message

after creating the fork LoopWorkspace

Carefully compare your screen to the graphic below paying attention to the highlighted sections.

  • Note that your username is now showing
  • The comment under your username indicates where the  fork  came from (that is a clickable link)
  • The branch that is selected is main
  • The message says "This branch is up to date with LoopKit/LoopWorkspace:main"

after creating the fork LoopWorkspace

Configure Secrets

Section Summary (click to open/close)

These Secrets are the same for any repository for which you use GitHub Browser Build.

  • They are added once for a repository and work for all branches of that repository
  • They must be added to any other repository, such as LoopCaregiver, for which you also use GitHub Browser Build

For each of the following Secrets, tap on "New repository secret", then add the name of the secret, along with the value you recorded for it:

  • TEAMID
  • FASTLANE_ISSUER_ID
  • FASTLANE_KEY_ID
  • FASTLANE_KEY
  • GH_PAT
  • MATCH_PASSWORD

To skip the detailed instructions, click on Validate Secrets.

Prepare to Enter Secrets

Log into GitHub.

  1. Return to your forked copy of LoopWorkspace

    • Click on your personal icon at the upper right to see the dropdown menu and select "Your repositories"

    dropdown-menu

  2. Click on LoopWorkspace to open that repository

  3. Click on the Settings Icon near the top right of your LoopWorkspace

    • If you don't see ⚙️ Settings, make your browser wider or scroll to the right
    • If you still don't see ⚙️ Settings, then you are not on your fork or you need to sign in to your GitHub account
    • After you click on ⚙️ Settings, your screen should look like the graphic below

      settings screen

  4. On the left side, find the Secrets and variables dropdown and choose Actions

    • After you select Actions, your screen should look like the graphic below

      action secrets and variables screen

Enter the Secrets

  1. Tap on the green button at the top right of your screen labeled New repository secret (highlighted above)
    • A new screen appears as shown in the first graphic below
    • Do not do anything until reading the sub-bullets, examining the graphics, and proceeding to the next section where each Secret name is provided for you to copy and paste
      • Under Name *, click on YOUR_SECRET_NAME and paste one of the 6 secret names, as directed in Enter Each Secret
      • Click inside the Secret * box and paste the value for that secret
      • Once you click on Add Secret, the secret will be added
      • The second graphic below shows TEAMID added and ready for save

dialog for entering a new secret

teamid secret ready to be saved

Enter Each Secret

Enter the name of each Secret found in Save Your Information and your value for that Secret.

  • Once you save a secret value, you will not be able to view what you entered, so check carefully before you hit Add Secret
    • You can replace the value for any secret later - but you can't view the saved value
  • Be especially careful with your TEAMID
    • If TEAMID is incorrect, the initial Actions will succeed but Build Loop will fail and you will have some clean-up to do

You can copy the names of the Secrets by hovering to the right of each word below until you see the copy button (). Click on the button to copy the Secret name and paste it into GitHub where you see YOUR_SECRET_NAME. This avoids spelling errors.

TEAMID
FASTLANE_ISSUER_ID
FASTLANE_KEY_ID
FASTLANE_KEY
GH_PAT
MATCH_PASSWORD

  • For the FASTLANE_KEY value, copy the entire contents from
    -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
    through
    -----END PRIVATE KEY-----
  • For MATCH_PASSWORD value - if you did not already make up a password and save it with your other Secrets, do it now
    • The MATCH_PASSWORD must be the same for any repository using this method (Other Apps)

Once all six Secrets have been added to your LoopWorkspace, your screen should look similar to the graphic below.

  • Check that all of your Secrets are spelled correctly
  • If one is misspelled, delete it and add a New repository secret with the correct name

all secrets entered

Next Step

The next step is to Validate Secrets and Add Identifiers.

Already Have LoopWorkspace?

Some people may already have a copy (fork) of LoopWorkspace.

If your copy (fork) is not from LoopKit, follow the Delete and Start Fresh directions.

If your copy (fork) is from LoopKit:

  • Open your LoopWorkspace repository (https://github.com/username/LoopWorkspace) where you use your GitHub username in the URL
  • Review the graphic in the Configure: Successful Fork section
    • Make sure all the items highlighted by red rectangles are correct with the possible exception of your fork being up to date
  • If you see a message that your fork is not up to date - tap on the Sync fork button and follow the instructions
  • Continue with Validate Secrets and Add Identifiers

Delete and Start Fresh

If your fork is not from LoopKit:

  • Delete your LoopWorkspace repository
    • Instructions to delete a repository are found at GitHub Docs
  • Return to Fork LoopWorkspace and follow all the instructions