Rename a Git repository in your project

Azure DevOps Services | Azure DevOps Server 2022 - Azure DevOps Server 2019

Visual Studio 2019 | Visual Studio 2022

You can rename a Git repository in a project from your web browser. After you rename the repo, each member of your team should take a few steps to re-enable their dev machines to connect to the repo on the server.

Prerequisites

• To rename a repository, you must have Rename Repository permissions on your Git repo.

• If you want to use az repos update command to rename a repository, be sure to follow the steps in Get started with Azure DevOps CLI.

Rename the repository

Browser

1. From the web portal, select Repos, Files.

   

2. From the repo drop-down, select Manage repositories.

   

3. Select the name of the repository from the Repositories list, choose the ... menu, and then choose Rename repository.

   

4. Rename the repository by typing the repo's new name and selecting Rename.

   

Azure DevOps CLI

You can use az repos update to update the default branch or rename a repository.

az repos show --repository
                [--default-branch]
                [--detect {false, true}]
                [--name]
                [--org]
                [--project]
                [--subscription]

Parameters

Parameter	Description
repository	Name or ID of a repository.
default-branch	Specify the default branch to be set for the repository. Example: 'refs/heads/live' or 'live'.
detect	Automatically detect organization. Accepted values: false, true.
name	New name for the repository.
org, organization	Azure DevOps organization URL. You can configure the default organization by using az devops configure -d organization=<ORG_URL>. Required if not configured as default or picked up via git config. Example: https://dev.azure.com/MyOrganizationName/.
project, p	Name or ID of the project. You can configure the default project using az devops configure -d project=<NAME_OR_ID>. Required if not configured as default or picked up via git config.
subscription	Name or ID of subscription. You can configure the default subscription using az account set -s <NAME_OR_ID>.

Example

The following command renames the contosoREPO to contosoFabrikam for the default configuration az devops configure --defaults organization=https://dev.azure.com/fabrikamprime project="Fabrikam Fiber".

az repos show --repository contosoREPO --output table
ID                                    Name         Default Branch    Project
------------------------------------  -----------  ----------------  --------------
30954ce5-417b-4930-b8d2-8b6cac934a34  contosoREPO  main              Fabrikam Fiber

For more details, enter the following command:

az repos update --repository contosoREPO --name contosoFabrikam
{
  "defaultBranch": "refs/heads/main",
  "id": "30954ce5-417b-4930-b8d2-8b6cac934a34",
  "isDisabled": false,
  "isFork": null,
  "name": "contosoFabrikam",
  "parentRepository": null,
  "project": {
    "abbreviation": null,
    "defaultTeamImageUrl": null,
    "description": "Guidance and source control to foster a vibrant ecosystem for Fabrikam Fiber applications and extensions.",
    "id": "56af920d-393b-4236-9a07-24439ccaa85c",
    "lastUpdateTime": "2021-05-24T21:52:14.95Z",
    "name": "Fabrikam Fiber",
    "revision": 438023732,
    "state": "wellFormed",
    "url": "https://dev.azure.com/fabrikamprime/_apis/projects/56af920d-393b-4236-9a07-24439ccaa85c",
    "visibility": "private"
  },
  "remoteUrl": "https://fabrikamprime@dev.azure.com/fabrikamprime/Fabrikam%20Fiber/_git/contosoFabrikam",
  "size": 1627,
  "sshUrl": "git@ssh.dev.azure.com:v3/fabrikam/Fabrikam%20Fiber/contosoFabrikam",
  "url": "https://dev.azure.com/fabrikamprime/56af920d-393b-4236-9a07-24439ccaa85c/_apis/git/repositories/30954ce5-417b-4930-b8d2-8b6cac934a34",
  "validRemoteUrls": null,
  "webUrl": "https://dev.azure.com/fabrikamprime/Fabrikam%20Fiber/_git/contosoFabrikam"
}

Update the Git remotes on your dev machines

Git uses remote references to fetch and push changes between your local copy of a repository and the remote version that is stored on the server. After a Git repository or project has been renamed, you should update your remote references. Update your references to that the remote repository URL contains the project and the repository name.

Each member of your team must update their local Git repos to continue connecting from their dev machines to the repo in the project. The instructions below show how to update the remotes for the Fabrikam Mobile repo that was renamed to Fabrikam.

Get the new URL for the repo

1. Select Repos, Files.

   

2. Select Clone in the upper-right corner of the Files window and copy the clone URL.

   

Update your remote in Visual Studio

To update your remote:

1. In the Git menu from the menu bar, select Manage Remotes.

2. In the Options dialog, select the remote to edit, then select Edit.

   

3. Replace the fetch and push remote references with the URL that you copied from the remote repo.

4. Select Save and then OK to close the Options dialog.

Visual Studio 2019 version 16.8 and later versions provides a Git version control experience while maintaining the Team Explorer Git user interface. To use Team Explorer, uncheck Tools > Options > Preview Features > New Git user experience from the menu bar. You can exercise Git features from either interface interchangeably.

To update your remote from Visual Studio Team Explorer:

1. Connect to the repo.

   

2. Open the project settings.

   

3. Open the repo settings.

   

4. Edit the fetch and push remote references and paste the URL that you copied from the remote repo.

   

Q&A

Q: Can I rename my repo again? Can I reuse an old repo name?

A: Yes

Related articles

• Set Git repository settings and policies