# Troubleshooting Repository Naming Conventions in Git: A Guide Using interviewstreet/hiring-agent > Fix Git repository naming convention issues like remote URL mismatches and import errors. Learn to standardize names and update references for seamless development with interviewstreet/hiring-agent. - Repository: [HackerRank/hiring-agent](https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent) - Tags: how-to-guide - Published: 2026-07-13 --- **Git repository naming convention violations cause remote URL mismatches, Python import errors, and CI/CD failures that you can resolve by standardizing on lowercase hyphen-separated names and updating both remote references and local import paths.** The `interviewstreet/hiring-agent` repository demonstrates effective repository naming conventions for open-source Python tools. When troubleshooting repository naming conventions in Git, understanding how this project structures its lowercase, hyphen-separated identity helps prevent authentication failures and module import errors across development environments. ## Understanding the Naming Convention in hiring-agent The Hiring Agent project follows a strict, conventional naming pattern that allows both humans and automation tools to parse its purpose correctly. According to the source code structure defined in [`README.md`](https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent/blob/main/README.md) (lines 20-34), the repository uses these standards: - **Repository name**: lowercase, hyphen-separated, short, and descriptive (`hiring-agent`) - **Top-level package**: matches the repository name with source files living directly under the repo root ([`score.py`](https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent/blob/main/score.py), [`evaluator.py`](https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent/blob/main/evaluator.py), [`pdf.py`](https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent/blob/main/pdf.py), [`github.py`](https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent/blob/main/github.py)) - **Directory layout**: functional grouping with `prompts/`, `cache/`, and `.git/` directories organized by concern - **Python modules**: single-file scripts without a `src/` wrapper, reflecting the project's script-style tool architecture ## Common Symptoms of Naming Convention Violations When a repository's name deviates from these conventions, specific failure patterns emerge: - **Remote URL mismatches** – The remote URL may contain unexpected capitalization or extra characters, causing authentication failures when Git attempts to fetch or push - **Import errors** – If the repo name is used as a Python import (e.g., `import hiring_agent`) but the folder name differs, the interpreter raises `ModuleNotFoundError` - **CI/CD confusion** – Pipeline scripts often rely on naming rules (e.g., `*_agent` for internal tooling), and mismatched names break automatic detection in deployment workflows ## Root Causes of Repository Naming Issues The most frequent sources of naming-related problems include: - **Accidental capitalization** (e.g., `Hiring-Agent`) – Git is case-sensitive on Linux, causing divergence between local clones and remote references - **Trailing spaces or special characters** (e.g., `hiring-agent `, `hiring_agent!`) – These characters are invisible in the GitHub UI but break URL resolution - **Inconsistent naming across forks** – Forks that rename the repository break relative import paths used by downstream scripts that depend on the canonical `hiring-agent` structure ## Step-by-Step Resolution Guide ### Verify Remote URL Configuration First, confirm that your local Git configuration references the exact canonical URL. Run the following command to inspect current remotes: ```bash git remote -v ``` The output should match the canonical GitHub URL exactly: ```bash origin https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent.git (fetch) origin https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent.git (push) ``` If the URL contains capitalization errors or typos, update it immediately: ```bash git remote set-url origin https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent.git ``` ### Standardize the Repository Name To rename the repository on GitHub, navigate to Settings → Repository name and change it to `hiring-agent`. After renaming the remote, update your local references: ```bash git fetch origin git branch -u origin/main main ``` Prune any stale references that might cache the old name: ```bash git fetch --prune origin ``` ### Update Python Import Paths If you must maintain a custom local folder name that differs from `hiring-agent`, create a shim module to preserve import compatibility. As implemented in the project's modular structure, you can add an [`__init__.py`](https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent/blob/main/__init__.py) file that dynamically loads the module: ```python # hiring_agent/__init__.py import importlib.util import sys import pathlib _path = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent / "score.py" spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location("hiring_agent", _path) module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec) sys.modules["hiring_agent"] = module spec.loader.exec_module(module) ``` This approach ensures that `import hiring_agent` resolves correctly even when the directory name differs from the repository name. ## Verification and Testing After resolving naming issues, verify that the repository functionality remains intact. The `hiring-agent` repository includes a smoke test in [`score.py`](https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent/blob/main/score.py) that validates the module loading: ```bash python score.py example_resume.pdf ``` Additionally, confirm that Python imports resolve correctly without errors: ```python python -c "import score; print('Score module loaded')" ``` Check that [`github.py`](https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent/blob/main/github.py) can still interact with the GitHub API using the corrected remote URL, and verify that [`config.py`](https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent/blob/main/config.py) (which holds the global `DEVELOPMENT_MODE` flag) remains unaffected by the naming changes. ## Summary - **Standardize on lowercase hyphen-separated names** (`hiring-agent`) to prevent case-sensitivity issues on Linux systems - **Verify remote URLs** using `git remote -v` to ensure exact matches with `https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent.git` - **Update upstream references** after remote renames with `git fetch origin` and `git branch -u origin/main main` - **Fix Python imports** by either renaming the directory to match the module name or implementing a shim [`__init__.py`](https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent/blob/main/__init__.py) loader - **Test functionality** by running `python score.py` to confirm that the script-style tool architecture remains operational ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How does Git handle case sensitivity in repository names? Git itself is case-sensitive on Linux and macOS (depending on filesystem configuration), while Windows is case-insensitive. This means that `Hiring-Agent` and `hiring-agent` are treated as different repositories on Linux, causing clone failures when the remote URL uses one casing and your local configuration uses another. Always use the exact lowercase `hiring-agent` format as specified in the `interviewstreet/hiring-agent` repository to avoid divergence. ### Why does my Python import fail after renaming a Git repository? Python's module system relies on the directory name matching the import statement. If you clone the repository into a folder named `Hiring-Agent` (with capital letters) but your code attempts `import hiring_agent`, the interpreter raises `ModuleNotFoundError` because the filesystem path does not match the expected module name. Either rename the directory to match the import, or use the shim module pattern shown in [`hiring_agent/__init__.py`](https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent/blob/main/hiring_agent/__init__.py) to map the import to the correct file path. ### How do I update my local clone after renaming a repository on GitHub? After renaming the repository on GitHub (for example, from `old-name` to `hiring-agent`), execute these commands in your local clone: ```bash git remote set-url origin https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent.git git fetch origin git branch -u origin/main main git fetch --prune origin ``` This sequence updates the remote URL, resets the upstream tracking branch, and removes stale references that might point to the old name. ### What naming convention does the interviewstreet/hiring-agent repository use? The repository uses lowercase, hyphen-separated kebab-case (`hiring-agent`) for both the repository name and the top-level package structure. This convention appears throughout the codebase, from the GitHub remote URL to the flat module structure where [`score.py`](https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent/blob/main/score.py), [`github.py`](https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent/blob/main/github.py), and [`config.py`](https://github.com/interviewstreet/hiring-agent/blob/main/config.py) reside directly in the root directory without a `src/` wrapper, following the project's script-style tool architecture.