[Feature Request] Allow dynamic insertion (templating) of basic variables (user/org/repo/branch name) into markdown

[vincerubinetti]

Please upvote 👍 so this has a better chance of getting some attention.

Related Stack Overflow: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40196198/automatic-link-to-github-pages-url-from-readme-md

When you are making a repo that is meant to be forked or templated, you often want to write the readme instructions in a way that is generic so that when a user clones it, they see instructions/links/etc that match their own org and repo. One major example would be linking to a GitHub Pages site in the readme, like Once you enable GitHub Pages, your site should be live at <user>.github.io/<repo>. But there are many other cases where this would be useful, like linking to the .dev editor, or more cleanly linking to another assumed repo in the same org.

The variables I can imagine would be most useful are org_name, repo_name, current_branch, pages_url (could be github.io or custom domain).

There is a GitHub Action here that fills this need, but it has to be run any time there is a change, and also needs to make a new commit: https://github.com/marketplace/actions/dynamic-readme

I'm sure this has been requested before somewhere, but I could not find it.

[itcarroll]

This is my most upvoted question on SO!

Could it be done with an enhancement to autolinking? Since Username/Repository#Issue is already a valid shortlink in conversations, and custom autolinking exists, it's hard to believe .md files could not be outfitted with these "variables".

[ossanna16]

Hi there @vincerubinetti and welcome to our community! Thank you for your suggestion 🙂

[abernier]

It is even more useful for template/forked repos, where for instance, badges links need to be org/user relative, eg for jdoe/superfun:

[Edit me on Codesandbox](https://codesandbox.io/s/github/jdoe/superfun)

would make a lot of sense being able to dynamically print jdoe and superfun in the md link

[abernier]

or even for Github workflow status badges

https://github.com/<OWNER>/<REPOSITORY>/actions/workflows/<WORKFLOW_FILE>/badge.svg