How to Share Code Between Projects With Git Submodules

Copy-pasted shared code becomes several diverging copies. A submodule keeps one source of truth. Here is how to use it without the usual pain.

How to fix it

1. Extract to its own repo

Move the shared code into a dedicated repository so it has one canonical home.

2. Pin the submodule

Add it as a submodule pinned to a specific commit so projects update on purpose, not by surprise.

3. Document the update flow

Write down how to bump the pinned commit so teammates do not fight unexpected submodule changes.

Catching the ones you can't reproduce

The hardest version of this to fix is the one you can't reproduce — it only happens on a player's hardware, OS, driver, or save state, under conditions that simply aren't present on your machine. A report that says “it crashed” or “it froze” gives you nothing to act on, so the bug survives release after release while quietly costing you players.

Automatic error capture closes that gap. Each failure arrives with its full stack trace, the device and OS, the build number, and a breadcrumb trail of what the player did right before it broke, so even a failure you have never seen becomes a specific, reproducible issue. Fold identical failures into one signature ranked by how many players each hits, and your worklist sorts itself worst-first instead of arriving as a stream of vague complaints.

This is where a tool like Bugnet earns its place. Its SDK captures every error automatically with the full stack trace plus device, OS, memory, build, and game-state context, folds duplicates into one grouped issue with an occurrence count, and ties each to the build it first appeared on — so you fix the problem that hurts the most players first and confirm it is gone when its signature disappears from the next release.