Whether you're fine-tuning your project’s metadata or ensuring that your repository stays aligned with the latest standards, the Metadata Updater for FAIRsoft simplifies the process of adding or updating key metadata and citation files. Through the FAIRsoft Evaluator, you can edit and enhance your repository’s metadata, and with just a few clicks, submit these changes via a pull request. This process ensures your repository remains current, visible, and compliant with best practices.

Seamless Metadata Updates

The Metadata Updater for FAIRsoft works in conjunction with the FAIRsoft Evaluator to streamline the process of managing metadata in your GitHub repository. After you've reviewed and edited your metadata through the web interface, this app handles the entire process of updating your repository:

• Branch Creation: The app creates a new branch based on your repository’s main branch, ensuring that all changes are isolated and can be reviewed before merging.

• File Addition and Commit: Whether you’re adding a new CITATION.cff file or updating existing metadata, the app automatically adds these files to the new branch and commits the changes.

• Pull Request Creation: Once the changes are committed, the app generates a pull request, allowing you to review and merge the updates into your main branch.

Once your metadata is updated, it can be reviewed and approved through GitHub’s standard pull request workflow. This integration with GitHub ensures that all changes are transparent, traceable, and can be easily reviewed by your team.

Required Permissions

To perform these actions, the Metadata Updater for FAIRsoft requires write permissions to your repository, scoped specifically to affect only content and pull requests. Here’s why:

• Branch Management: The app needs to create a new branch from your main branch to ensure that the changes are tracked separately.

• File Handling: Write access is necessary for the app to add, update, and commit metadata files within the repository.

• Pull Requests: To propose these changes for review and integration, the app creates a pull request, which inherently requires write access.

These write permissions are essential for automating the process of updating your repository, ensuring that all changes are managed efficiently and securely.

Security and Privacy

We understand the importance of security and privacy in managing your repository. The Metadata Updater for FAIRsoft operates with the following principles:

• Scoped Permissions: The app only requests write permissions necessary to create branches, add files, and make pull requests. It does not have the ability to modify other aspects of your repository.

• No Unintended Changes: The app’s functionality is strictly limited to managing metadata and citation files in a new branch. It does nothing in other branches and cannot alter your codebase or modify other repository settings.

• User-Initiated Actions: All updates are initiated by you through the FAIRsoft Evaluator, ensuring that you remain in control of what changes are proposed to your repository.

No Data Retention

The Metadata Updater for FAIRsoft does not retain any data from your repository. Once the pull request is created, all temporary data used during the process is discarded, ensuring complete privacy. Your repository’s information remains secure, with no data stored or retained by our tools beyond the active session.

Additional Security Tip

If you are particularly concerned about security, you may choose to uninstall the Metadata Updater for FAIRsoft after the pull request has been successfully created. This ensures that the app’s write access to your repository is removed once its job is done, giving you peace of mind that no further changes can be made without your explicit action.