S3 Git Server - Serverless Git Hosting on AWS

You are in the lookout for a free, serverless git server? Say no more! That’s exactly what S3 Git Server is, a fully managed Git hosting solution that runs entirely on AWS Lambda and S3.

Serverless Git Hosting

Traditional Git servers like GitLab, Gitea, or even pure Git require dedicated servers, databases, and ongoing maintenance. Even self-hosted solutions demand server provisioning and management, database setup and maintenance, storage configuration, security hardening, backup strategies, and scaling considerations. For small personal projects, this is just overkill. You just want to host some code repositories without the operational burden, but want full privacy and control over your data.

S3 Git Server is a serverless Git server that runs entirely on AWS Lambda with S3 as storage, designed for teams seeking Git hosting without infrastructure complexity. It offers zero maintenance by running on AWS Lambda so there are no servers to manage, is secure by default through IAM roles and API Gateway authentication, uses S3 for durable storage with automatic replication, auto-scales to handle any load thanks to Lambda’s serverless scaling, and is cost-effective since you pay only for what you use.

This solution is ideal for small development teams who want Git hosting without any DevOps overhead, personal or side projects needing private repositories, test environments that require isolated repositories, organizations looking to avoid the costs of enterprise Git solutions, and anyone already using AWS who wants to leverage their existing infrastructure with minimal setup.

Important Limitations

⚠️ Not for large repositories or binary-heavy projects. AWS Lambda has payload limits:

API Gateway: 10MB maximum request/response size
Lambda Function: 6MB maximum payload size

This means:

Large commits may fail if they exceed limits
Binary files and large repositories might cause issues
Not suitable for repositories with very large files or frequent large commits

Best for: Text-based code repositories, small to medium development projects, private repositories with normal development workflows.

Getting Started

1. Deploy the Infrastructure

The entire infrastructure is defined as code using Terraform:

cd terraform
terraform init
terraform plan
terraform apply

2. Get Your API Endpoint

terraform output api_gateway_url

3. Create Your First Repository

curl -X POST -u git:password123 https://your-api-gateway-url/repos/my-first-repo

4. Clone and Start Using

# Clone the repository
git clone https://git:password123@your-api-gateway-url/repos/my-first-repo

# Make changes and push
cd my-first-repo
echo "# My Project" > README.md
git add README.md
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git push origin main

Authentication & Security

The server uses HTTP Basic Authentication with configurable users. Default credentials are git:password123, but you should change these in production by modifying the git_users variable in terraform/terraform.tfvars.

The Lambda function runs with minimal IAM permissions, following the principle of least privilege.

How It Works Under the Hood

While I’ve been using GitHub and GitLab for years, I always felt the need to dig deeper into Git fundamentals. This project was my opportunity to learn Git internals by implementing the Git HTTP smart protocol from scratch in pure Python with no external dependencies:

Git Protocol Handler (git_protocol.py): Implements the Git HTTP smart protocol for clone, fetch, and push operations
S3 Storage Backend (s3_storage.py): Handles Git object storage and retrieval from S3
Authentication (auth.py): Manages user authentication and authorization
Lambda Function (lambda_function.py): Orchestrates the entire Git server logic

Git objects are stored compressed in S3, maintaining compatibility with standard Git clients while leveraging S3’s durability and cost-effectiveness.

Configuration & Customization

The Terraform configuration allows extensive customization:

# AWS region
region = "us-east-1"

# S3 bucket for Git repositories
bucket_name = "my-git-server-bucket"

# Lambda function name
function_name = "git-server-lambda"

# User credentials (change these!)
git_users = {
  "git"   = "your-secure-password"
  "admin" = "another-secure-password"
}

Whether you’re a startup looking to minimize infrastructure costs, a developer wanting personal Git hosting, or an organization needing internal Git services, S3 Git Server offers a compelling alternative to traditional Git hosting solutions.