Set git config values for all child folders

I know that it's possible to set per-repo configs which override the user-level config (i.e. /path/to/my/repo/.gitconfig overrides ~/.gitconfig). Is it possible to set git configs which override the user-level settings for all child folders of a given folder? I.e., I have

|--topLevelFolder1
|--\
|   ---.gitconfig_override
|--\
|   ---childFolder1
|       \---[...]
|--\
|   ---childFolder2
|       \---[...]

And I want the settings defined in .gitconfig_override to apply in childFolder1 and childFolder2.

My motivation for this is as follows: I have a work laptop which I also use in my spare time for personal projects. All my work code is nested within a single folder. When I push to work git repos, I need to do so with my work persona - work login instead of name, and work email. When I push to my own personal (github) repos, I want to do so with my real name and personal email.

Other possible solutions I've thought of (and problems):

• Create separate users for "work" and "play", set their user-level settings appropriately, and log in as the appropriate user when I switch context (hassle, plus I could easily forget to switch)
• Create a script that searches for git repos inside "workFolder", and adds/updates their .gitconfig files to hold the appropriate details (if I create a repo and forget to run the script before pushing, I will push as the wrong person)
• "hack" git such that every time it creates a repo, it checks the filepath and, if appropriate, updates the .gitconfig file (complicated, messy, and almost certainly The Wrong Way To Do It - plus, I wouldn't have the first clue how to go about it!)

I checked this question, which only seems to contain solutions for single repos, not multiple. Hopefully someone will see this question who missed that one!

As mentioned by NateEag's edit, git's Conditional Includes are perfect for this. Since that answer's the one for people on git < 2.13, here's one for those who have newer versions.

First, create a new config file somewhere with the settings you want to take effect in the sub-folders - using the original question's folders, let's say it's at ~/topLevelFolder1/.gitconfig_include

In ~/.gitconfig, add:

[includeIf "gitdir:~/toplevelFolder1/"]
    path = ~/topLevelFolder1/.gitconfig_include

Any subfolder of ~/topLevelFolder1 will now include the config in ~/toplevelFolder1/.gitconfig_include - there isn't a need to manually change the .git/config in each subfolder's repo. (This doesn't override whatever's in the subfolder config - it just adds to it, as "include" implies.)

Notes:

• This setting should be located after the config you want to override in ~/.gitconfig because includeIf will be overridden again by any config that comes after it.
• This setting includes the file only if you are in a repository under the given path. It's ignored if you're in any non-repository sub-path.
• The trailing forward slash (/) in the gitdir condition is important.
• git config --list is good for testing this. You'll see any overrides below includeIf lines in the output. You can also check specific entries with, e.g., git config --get user.email
• On Git for Windows, specify paths relative to your user directory with ~/ and absolute paths with the Windows-style drive, like C:/ using forward slashes only. Backslashes and Unix-style mount points like /c/ don't work. Furthermore, in the includeIf part, you must specify the path with the correct case as the comparisons are case sensitive.

EDIT: Git 2.13 introduced conditional includes, which are designed to solve this exact problem.

My original answer is preserved below, for history's sake (and users stuck on older versions of git).

====================================

The exact behavior you desire is not supported, based on reading the gitconfig manpage.

However, as of git 1.7.12, Git reads config data from four different sources, two of which are user-specific:

$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config and ~/.gitconfig. Entries in ~/.gitconfig override entries in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config.

That means you can store your personal gitconfig at $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config and put machine-specific overrides in ~/.gitconfig. Something like

[user]
    email = [email protected]

in ~/.gitconfig should cover your email case.

Note that if $XDG_CONFIG_HOME isn't set git will look for ~/.config/git/config.

This works well for me, since I only ever have two personal repos on work machines (my emacs config and my dotfiles). If you add personal repos to your work machines frequently, this may not be good enough for you.

In that case, custom wrappers around git init and git clone would be your best bet.

Any binary on your $PATH whose name matches 'git-*' can be called as a git command, so you'd just need a pair of shell scripts that call the original command with all passed args, then copy the correct config file into .git/config.

You can use direnv command to set environment variables that apply to all child folders. You can be anywhere in that directory hierarchy. If the git setting you are trying to set can be controlled by an environment variable, then you are in luck.

Read the direnv basic page http://direnv.net/ to set it up for your shell. For zsh, it was as simple as to stick this line at the bottom of my .zshrc and restart the shell.

eval "$(direnv hook zsh)"

Check if the git setting you want, can be controlled by an environment variable. It seems you want to control author.email for a particular directory-tree, which is controlled by environment variable, GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL. Note, environment variables take precedence over config. A complete list of environment variables git supports are here: https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Internals-Environment-Variables

As, direnv's page specifies, create a file named, .envrc at the root of the hierarchy; in your case, topLevelFolder1

For example:

echo export [email protected] > .envrc

"Allow" the envrc: direnv allow . That's it!

Every time you jump into the hierarchy, direnv will find the said .envrc file and load it.

$ cd ~/topLevelFolder1/childFolder1/project_name
direnv: loading ../../../.envrc
direnv: export +GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL

$ echo ${GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL}
[email protected]

Jump out of the directory structure and direnv will unload those variables

cd ~
direnv: unloading

The [include] section in git config (.git/config, ~/.gitconfig ...) is what you are looking for.

[include]
    path = /path/to/foo.inc ; include by absolute path
    path = foo ; expand "foo" relative to the current file
    path = ~/foo ; expand "foo" in your $HOME directory

See detailed answered question: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1557183/is-it-possible-to-include-a-file-in-your-gitconfig#9733277

See git-config Documentation: http://git-scm.com/docs/git-config#_includes

EDIT

Add in childFolder1/.git/config and childFolder2/.git/config:

[include]
    path = ../.gitconfig_override