Repositorio

A repository is a central storage location for digital objects, designed to preserve, organize, and provide access to items such as software code, data sets, documents, or binaries. Repositories include metadata, versioning, and access controls to support discovery, provenance, and preservation. They can be general-purpose or domain-specific.

In software development, a repository typically means a version-controlled store for source code. Distributed systems like Git maintain history locally and synchronize with remote repositories on platforms such as GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket. Repositories enable commits, branches, merges, and pull requests, supporting collaboration and release management.

Data repositories store datasets, metadata, and related documentation, aiding discovery, access, and long-term preservation. They emphasize data governance, licensing, privacy, and provenance, and often provide data catalogs and metadata standards to facilitate reuse.

Artifact repositories host binaries and build artifacts, including libraries and container images. Examples include Maven Central for Java artifacts, PyPI for Python packages, npm for JavaScript, and container registries. They support dependency management and reproducible builds.

In libraries and research institutions, institutional or digital repositories preserve scholarly outputs such as articles and theses and promote open access where possible. They rely on metadata standards, persistent identifiers, and governance policies to ensure long-term accessibility and reuse.

Interoperability and long-term viability are aided by metadata standards, access control models, and protocols for exchange, such as the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH), which enables discovery across repositories.