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Import from GitHub

Already have an app? Import its GitHub repository and Codalio analyzes the code and writes a PRD from it. You can then refine that PRD, plan new features and continue building with Codalio.

Import a repository​

  1. On the home page, open the Import from GitHub tab.
  2. Paste the repository in any of these forms:
    • github.com/org/repo
    • org/repo
    • https://github.com/org/repo
  3. Click Analyze repository.

Codalio creates a new project and starts the analysis. You'll see Analysis started, and progress appears on the project page.

Private repositories​

Public repositories can be analyzed straight away. For a private repository, Codalio needs access first, and walks you through it in two steps:

  1. Connect your GitHub account. Click Connect GitHub account and approve it on GitHub. You're brought back to Codalio.
  2. Install the Codalio GitHub App on the account or organization that owns the repository. Choose where to install it on GitHub.

Then click I've connected GitHub, retry analysis. See Connect GitHub for more about the GitHub App.

You can also start from a repository Codalio can already see: pick it from your list of accessible repositories and click Connect & Analyze to analyze it in a new project.

What the analysis does​

Codalio scans your repository in eight stages:

  1. Service discovery: finds the apps and services in the repository.
  2. Graph extraction: maps routes, actions and how they connect.
  3. Architecture analysis: works out how the system fits together.
  4. Data model extraction: finds your data models and their relationships.
  5. Integration analysis: identifies external services and APIs.
  6. Business logic extraction: captures the rules your app enforces.
  7. UX flow analysis: traces the journeys users take through the app.
  8. PRD synthesis: writes your PRD from everything it found.

Follow along in Pipeline stages. Expand a stage to read AI Thinking and see what the AI is focusing on. Analysis can take a few minutes depending on the size of the repository, and the chat is disabled while it runs.

When it's done, you'll see Repository analysis complete. Your PRD sections fill in from the code and you continue in the normal project page, with the PRD canvas and the rest of the lifecycle.

Stop and resume​

  • Stop analysis cancels the run. You can resume later from the project page.
  • Resume continues from the last completed stage, so finished stages aren't repeated.
  • If you run out of credits partway through, the analysis pauses (Analysis paused, out of credits). Click Add credits, then resume.

No prototype needed​

A project imported from GitHub skips the prototype step. The generated app mirrors your original repository's UI. Once your PRD is complete, continue straight to Build.

Supported repositories for continued building

Any repository can be analyzed to produce a PRD. To keep building inside an existing repository, it must have been created by Codalio or built on Codalio's framework. If it wasn't, Codalio says the repository's tech stack isn't supported. Choose a GitHub user or organization instead, and Codalio creates a new repository there.