[TovaBecker]

Why

• Renaming repos/old.yml to repos/new.yml doesn't rename the repo (Can not rename repo #843).
• On 3.0.0, a removed config file, a replayed merge commit, or a stale full sync follows GitHub's rename redirect and renames the repo back (3.0.0: renamed repos get renamed back to their old name (removed config files and stale full-sync names follow GitHub's rename redirect) #1123).

Approach

• The push handler reads the net diff (compareCommitsWithBasehead). A renamed repo file renames the repo once, before anything else syncs. If the diff can't be read, the push is skipped with an error.
• A repo that GitHub reaches through a redirect is skipped with a warning unless its config asks for the current name.
• A rename that can't happen fails the check: the name is taken, the old name redirects elsewhere, the file still sets another repository.name, or one of the names is restricted. A rename never creates a repo.
• The PR dry run shows the rename as a repository.name change with before and after values, together with every other change in the renamed file. It reads all PR files, not only the first 30. A taken name links to the repo that has it.
• The README notes that GitHub matches renames by file similarity, so a small file with large edits shows up as removed plus added.

Validation

• Unit tests: 1050 passed (1015 before). Integration tests: 107 passed. No new standard findings.
• Tested manually with a local app: a rename, a stale file, a replayed merge, a full sync, BLOCK_REPO_RENAME_BY_HUMAN, a rename with other changes in the file, and the three error cases.

Closes #843
Closes #1123

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[Copilot]

🟡 Changes recommended

Unresolved issues can apply settings to unrelated or renamed repositories, rename repositories back using stale identities, and bypass disabled repository management.

4 open issues

• Rejected rename still affects full-sync reconciliation · New
• Archive-disabled sync can rename a repository via stale listing · New
• Child-only sync applies settings under a stale repository name · New
• Rename bypasses the repository-disable policy · New

What changed in this PR

This PR adds config-file-driven repository renames and guards against stale names undoing renames during synchronization, addressing #843 and #1123.

Changes:

• Detects renames from push comparisons and paginated PR file lists.
• Adds rename validation, dry-run previews, and redirect checks before synchronization.
• Adds regression coverage and documents GitHub’s file-similarity-based rename detection.

File	Description
test/​unit/​lib/​settings.test.js	Tests app-installation deltas against the previous config path.
test/​unit/​lib/​settings-rename.test.js	Covers renames, rejected operations, previews, and stale redirects.
test/​unit/​index-rename.test.js	Tests push comparisons, rename detection, and PR pagination.
test/​integration/​plugins/​repository.test.js	Aligns repository mocks with live-name checks.
test/​integration/​plugins/​milestones.test.js	Aligns milestone test mocks with live-name checks.
README.md	Explains rename-detection limitations and dry-run verification.
lib/​settings.js	Coordinates renames, config mapping, and redirect protection.
index.js	Uses push comparisons and paginated PR files to identify changes.

_{Review effort: Balanced}

[lhoupert]

One case still renames the repo back with this PR: a full sync with archive in disable_plugins. isRenamedAway uses the repo the archive plugin fetched; with that plugin disabled nothing fetches it, the check passes, and the repository plugin sends name: old-name.

#1142 is a smaller fix for #1123 only. It runs the same check inside the repository plugin, right after its own repos.get, so it does not depend on another plugin and adds no request. It leaves the rename-by-file feature to this PR; the guard could equally be taken in here instead.