Manually Importing Private Repositories¶
Warning
This guide is for users of Read the Docs for Business. If you are using GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket, we recommend connecting your account and importing your project from https://readthedocs.com/dashboard/import instead of importing it manually.
If you are using an unsupported integration, or don’t want to connect your account, you’ll need to do some extra steps in order to have your project working.
Manually import your project using an SSH URL
Allow access to your project using an SSH key
Setup a webhook to build your documentation on every commit
Table of contents
Importing your project¶
Fill the Repository URL field with the SSH form of your repository’s URL, e.g
git@github.com:readthedocs/readthedocs.org.git
Fill the other required fields
Click Next
Giving access to your project with an SSH key¶
After importing your project the build will fail, because Read the Docs doesn’t have access to clone your repository. To give access, you’ll need to add your project’s public SSH key to your VCS provider.
Copy your project’s public key¶
You can find the public SSH key of your Read the Docs project by:
Going to the Admin tab of your project
Click on SSH Keys
Click on the fingerprint of the SSH key (it looks like
6d:ca:6d:ca:6d:ca:6d:ca
)Copy the text from the Public key section
Note
The private part of the SSH key is kept secret.
Add the public key to your project¶
GitHub¶
For GitHub, you can use deploy keys with read only access.
Go to your project on GitHub
Click on Settings
Click on Deploy Keys
Click on Add deploy key
Put a descriptive title and paste the public SSH key from your Read the Docs project
Click on Add key
GitLab¶
For GitLab, you can use deploy keys with read only access.
Go to your project on GitLab
Click on Settings
Click on Repository
Expand the Deploy Keys section
Put a descriptive title and paste the public SSH key from your Read the Docs project
Click on Add key
Bitbucket¶
For Bitbucket, you can use access keys with read only access.
Go your project on Bitbucket
Click on Repository Settings
Click on Access keys
Click on Add key
Put a descriptive label and paste the public SSH key from your Read the Docs project
Click on Add SSH key
Azure DevOps¶
For Azure DevOps, you can use SSH key authentication.
Go your Azure DevOps page
Click on User settings
Click on SSH public keys
Click on New key
Put a descriptive name and paste the public SSH key from your Read the Docs project
Click on Add
Others¶
If you are not using any of the above providers, Read the Docs will still generate a pair of SSH keys. You’ll need to add the public SSH key from your Read the Docs project to your repository. Refer to your provider’s documentation for the steps required to do this.
Webhooks¶
To build your documentation on every commit, you’ll need to manually add a webhook, see VCS Integrations. If you are using an unsupported integration, you may need to setup a custom integration using our generic webhook.