Make Source of Truth Explicit When You Mirror a Repo

Mirrors reduce friction between a working checkout and a collaboration surface, but they also create a consistency hazard. A commit in one place is not automatically current everywhere else.

Write down the canonical repository, the mirror’s purpose, the refresh mechanism, and the comparison command. Treat generated or copied material as derived until the source relationship is verified.

When reconciling changes, preserve and inspect local work first, then compare against the authoritative branch. This prevents duplicate fixes and false release narratives.