-----------------------[ You already have a git server: ]-----------------------
Publication date: 2025-10-24
Last updated:     2026-01-26
 

If you have a git repository on a server with ssh access, you can just clone
it: 

    # This works.
    git clone ssh://username@hostname/path/to/repo
    

Once you've done some work, you can push your changes back to the origin
server. By default, git won't let you push to the branch that is currently
checked out, but this is easy to change: 

    # Run this on the remote server.
    git config receive.denyCurrentBranch updateInstead
    

This is a nice way to work on server-side files without SSH lag or error-prone
copying. If you need more then just a file server, git can run a shell script
when it receives a new push: 

    cat > .git/hooks/post-update <<EOF
    #!/bin/sh
    set -euo pipefail
    cd /path/to/site
    /path/to/generator
    EOF
    chmod a+x .git/hooks/post-update
     

You'll even get the script's output sent back to your computer's terminal.
. I've have git set up to this blog's site generator: It's very nice to
be able to type up posts locally, and then push them to the server. 

It's also backed up by default: If the server breaks, I've still got the
copy on my laptop, and if my laptop breaks, I can download everything from
the server.