Git It Together

Metadata is code. When you treat it that way, Git becomes the backbone of your BimlFlex practice. Modern Git workflows provide the discipline, collaboration, and automation data teams need. With Git at the center, metadata changes are versioned, peer reviewed, and tied directly to build and deployment pipelines. This article shows how to track the right artifacts, structure repositories, adopt branching strategies, and connect CI/CD pipelines so BimlFlex projects scale with both speed and safety.

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Why Git and Metadata Belong Together

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Metadata deserves the same discipline you give application code. By placing it in Git, you get traceability, collaboration, and a natural handoff to automation. Teams gain the ability to experiment safely, roll back instantly, and connect Git events to CI/CD triggers that keep deployments repeatable.

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• Version control provides a clean audit of change over time.
• Pull requests support collaboration and governance.
• Safe branching enables experimentation without production risk.

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Treating metadata as code ensures one source of truth for model-driven engineering.

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What to Track in Git for a BimlFlex Project

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Not every asset belongs in version control. Keep repositories lean by committing inputs to generation and excluding generated outputs. This makes builds reproducible and avoids clutter.

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• Metadata exports (JSON, XML, or scripts).
• BimlFlex configurations and environment settings without secrets.
• Custom scripts, transformations, or extensions.

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Keep generated assets out of Git. Use a .gitignore to filter them out and regenerate during builds.

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Example structure:

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/bimlflex/  

 config/  

 metadata/  

 templates/  

/pipelines/  

 github-actions/  

 azure-devops/  

/scripts/  

/docs/  

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This layout keeps metadata, automation scripts, and documentation cleanly separated.

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End-to-End Git Workflow for BimlFlex Projects

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A disciplined workflow ensures that changes move smoothly from design to production. Small teams benefit from the same steps that larger programs rely on.

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• Initialize a repo with folder structure and .gitignore.
• Commit baseline metadata and configuration.
• Create feature branches for each change, such as a new table or rule.
• Open pull requests for review and merge into the integration branch.

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With this loop—edit, review, generate, promote—teams scale their delivery without scaling complexity.

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Branching Strategies for Data Teams

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Branching strategy should reflect team size and governance. Trunk-based works for smaller, fast-moving groups. GitFlow supports larger programs with stricter controls. Hybrid models mix the two.

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Choosing a strategy upfront prevents drift and clarifies how changes should flow.

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CI and CD with BimlFlex and Git

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Commits become build signals, and pipelines generate and deploy artifacts the same way every time. GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, and similar runners integrate naturally. Builds call BimlFlex generation, package the outputs, and promote them through environments with approvals.

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Example GitHub Actions snippet:

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on: [push, pull_request]  

jobs:  

 build:  

   runs-on: ubuntu-latest  

   steps:  

     - uses: actions/checkout@v4  

     - name: Generate assets  

       run: dotnet tool run bimlflex build --config ./bimlflex/config --metadata ./bimlflex/metadata --out ./out  

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This pattern ensures builds are reproducible and deployments consistent.

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Collaboration and Governance Through Source Control

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Pull requests are where quality and governance live. Reviews allow peers to validate metadata changes, catch errors, and enforce standards. Approvals can be tied to sensitive domains, while commits provide version history for compliance and audit trails. Reverting to a previous state is as simple as rolling back a commit or redeploying a tagged release. By leaning on Git’s built-in governance, teams reduce friction and improve accountability.

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Best Practices for Git and BimlFlex

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• Write clear commit messages tied to tickets or change requests.
• Reuse metadata templates to solve classes of problems once.
• Lint and validate metadata with pre-merge checks.
• Tag releases and snapshot metadata for rollback points.
• Keep secrets out of Git; use secure variables or vaults in CI/CD.

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Following these practices keeps projects healthy and sustainable as they grow.

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Versioning Is the Backbone of Automation

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Treating metadata as code allows BimlFlex projects to scale with speed and safety. Git provides collaboration, traceability, and a natural integration point with CI/CD. By adopting a clear branching model, reviewing changes with pull requests, and letting pipelines handle generation, you build a foundation for reliable automation.

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See BimlFlex in action. Book a live demo today.