---
title: "Polyrepo"
slug: "polyrepo"
category: "glossary"
tags: ["glossary", "file-organization", "polyrepo", "repos", "tooling"]
status: "stable"
last_updated: 2026-05-14
summary: "Polyrepo is a strategy where each project or library has its own repository with independent history, CI pipeline, and release cycle."
related:
  [
    "[[comparisons/monorepo-vs-polyrepo]]",
    "[[glossary/monorepo]]",
    "[[file-organization/monorepo]]",
    "[[file-organization/project-structure]]",
    "[[tooling/github]]",
    "[[glossary/semantic-versioning]]",
  ]
---

## Overview

This page is the atomic definition. The deep-dive comparison lives at [[comparisons/monorepo-vs-polyrepo]].

## Definition

Polyrepo (also "multi-repo") is a repository strategy where each project, service, or library lives in its own version-controlled repository. Each repo has independent history, CI pipeline, dependency graph, and release cycle. Cross-project changes require coordinated PRs across multiple repos and version bumps via package registries. Polyrepo is the historical default for open-source ecosystems and for organizations with strong team boundaries.

## When it applies

Use polyrepo when teams are independent, projects ship on different cadences, and most changes stay inside one repo. Avoid it when frequent cross-project refactors expose the seams between repos.

## Example

A company ships its public API client SDK from `acme/api-client` and its server from `acme/api-server`. Each repo has its own CI, semver releases, and changelog. A breaking API change requires a PR to `api-server`, a release, then a follow-up PR to `api-client` to bump the dependency.

## Related concepts

- [[glossary/monorepo]] - the contrasting layout strategy.
- [[comparisons/monorepo-vs-polyrepo]] - the head-to-head comparison.
- [[file-organization/monorepo]] - the deep-dive on the monorepo side; sets context for the choice.
- [[file-organization/project-structure]] - the broader project layout discipline.
- [[glossary/semantic-versioning]] - the versioning scheme polyrepos rely on for coordination.

## Citing this term

> See [[glossary/polyrepo|Polyrepo]] (llmbestpractices.com/glossary/polyrepo).

## Related

- [[comparisons/monorepo-vs-polyrepo]]
- [[file-organization/monorepo]]
- [[file-organization/project-structure]]
- [[glossary/monorepo]]
- [[glossary/semantic-versioning]]