![[IBN] The Repo Layout](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,quality=80,format=auto,width=720,onerror=redirect/uploads/asset/file/176199d5-27cf-40db-b553-65b735d4d8fb/ibn3.jpeg)
This is the third article in this [IBN] series. Make sure you check out the first and second parts before moving on to this one!
There’s a moment every serious network automation effort hits, which is usually right after the first few wins, where the whole thing starts to wobble.
It’s not because the compiler is wrong or because the deployer can’t push the config. It’s not even because engineers don’t want to use it.
It wobbles because the repository becomes a battlefield of mismatched concerns:
Engineers drop “quick fixes” into random directories because they’re under pressure
The model grows organically without boundaries
“Just one more exception” becomes the dominant design pattern
New teams can’t tell what’s safe to change and what will take down a region
And the repo stops being an interface… and starts being a warehouse
That’s why repo layout is not aesthetics. At scale, repo layout is governance.
A good IBN repo answers questions instantly:
Where is intent supposed to live?
Where are schemas, and how are they versioned?
Where are renderers, and how do we add new platforms without touching intent?
Where do simulations live, and how do they become part of CI gates?
Who approves what, and how do we automatically block unsafe merges?
Well.. my subscriber asked: “What does the repo layout look like?”
So let me try to be explicit and realistic here!
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