Dependabot - Private "Registries"/"Dependencies"/"Repositories" is misleading
Author: Malix-LabsCreated Aug 31, 2026Updated Sep 9, 2026
Labelscontentdependabotneeds SME
Code of Conduct
- I have read and agree to the GitHub Docs project's Code of Conduct
What article on docs.github.com is affected?
What part(s) of the article would you like to see updated?
Dependabot sometimes cannot resolve private dependencies for some ecosystems (e.g. Nix, currently)
However, this is expressed in 3 different expressions:
- Private Registries
- Private Dependencies
- Private Repositories
Those can be misleading
For example:
I personally thought dependabot was completely not working for some ecosystems independently of private dependencies when the dependabot.yml file was inside of a private repository
Harmonizing the "Private *" term with a single word (probably "Private Dependencies", since it encompasses both registries and repositories) would have cleared up any confusion
Additional information
No response
Source: github/docs