Show HN: Kite – Copy Files from Git Repos (No, That's It)

Fork your infrastructure. Don't worship it.

Try it now:

Kite is not a package manager. It's a code forking tool.

A CLI tool for copying infrastructure code without the guilt trip.

Docker setups, app configs. Terraform modules. The stuff that lives in your team's repos but nobody can find because it's Slack message 47 on June 12th.

You don't install templates. You copy them. Then you break them. Like adults.

Every team has the same ritual:

1. Someone writes a killer Docker setup
2. It gets buried in Slack / a random repo / Steve's brain
3. You find it 6 months later, copy-paste it, ship it
4. Three months pass
5. Nobody remembers where it came from or how it works

Welcome to infrastructure archaeology.

Sure, "proper" solutions exist. Package managers. Git submodules. Registry systems. Terraform modules that do 80% of what you need. They all meant well. But here's what actually happens: you copy Steve's folder, rename a few variables, and ship it before standup.

Kite doesn’t fix it — it embraces it, and gives you a shovel.

For those who need a little hand-holding despite the rules, here's an example registry: https://github.com/Moq77111113/kite-registry.

That's it. That's the whole tool.

No daemons. No agents. No "syncing with the mothership."

Result:

Real files. Not symlinks. Not "immutable dependencies." Not "please don't touch this."

Code you can read, edit, and completely destroy at 3 AM if you want.

• Sure, you could use a package manager.
• You could even git sparse-checkout that one folder you actually need.
• You could add a submodule too — if you enjoy existential pain.
• And yes, you could even build your own shadcn registry.

And it's ok!

But sometimes you just want to grab cleanRestart.sh, or steves-business.py — drop them in your repo, tweak two lines, and move on with your life.

That’s what Kite is for. No build step. No dependency graph. No ceremony. Just a bunch of scripts that actually do things.

1. No vendor lock-in — Git repos, not proprietary registries
2. No magic — It's cp -r with a web UI
3. No worship — Edit the code. It's yours. Break it on purpose.
4. No hand-holding — If you can't vim it, you don't need it
5. No documentation guilt — if it works, you’ll document it tomorrow (maybe)

Kite assumes you're an adult who understands that forking code is how things actually get done.

Install:

Use:

✅ Browse kits in a wholesome UI (because command lines are for cowards)
✅ Copy them as real files you can actually edit
✅ Git-based registries (your repo = your source of truth)
✅ Self-hosted (no SaaS, no tracking, no "phone home")
✅ Works with any text files (Docker, Terraform, CI, shell scripts, Steve's notes, whatever)

❌ A package manager pretending to solve your problems
❌ "Enterprise ready" (aka bloated and slow)
❌ Trying to abstract away complexity you need to understand
❌ Here to hold your hand while you cargo-cult best practices

It’s cp -r with opinions and a search bar. Everything else is coping.

It's just a Git repo with folders:

Each kit has a kite.yaml:

Push to Git. Point Kite at it. Ship.

"Finally, a tool that admits we all copy-paste code. This is how we actually work." — @DevOpsSteve

"I've been doing this manually for years. Kite just made it 10x faster." — @SarahFromSlack

"Package managers promised to solve this. They lied. Kite delivers." — @InfraArchaeologist

V0 (now): CLI + web UI + Git registries

V0.5: Template variables, better search, CI integration

V1: Web registry hosting, user accounts, kit ratings

V2: Analytics, offline mode, maybe a t-shirt

And more, if you ask nicely.

PRs welcome. Issue reports welcome. Philosophical debates about package management welcome.

What we need:

• Tests (of course)
• Docs
• Fixing my terrible Go code
• Error messages that tell the truth
• Coffee funds

MIT. Copy it. Fork it. Sell it to Oracle. Whatever.

shadcn/ui — proved that copy-paste is a legitimate design pattern
Every over-engineered tool ever — endless motivation
YAML — a constant reminder that pain is the price of simplicity
Caffeine and Stack Overflow's copy button — powering infrastructure since 2008
LLMs — for making me realize how much I miss writing READMEs

It's what happens when you stop pretending you don't copy code.

If you've ever searched Slack for 30 minutes looking for "that one docker-compose file Sarah wrote," this tool is for you.