html_url,issue_url,id,node_id,user,user_label,created_at,updated_at,author_association,body,reactions,issue,issue_label,performed_via_github_app
https://github.com/simonw/datasette/issues/639#issuecomment-558687342,https://api.github.com/repos/simonw/datasette/issues/639,558687342,MDEyOklzc3VlQ29tbWVudDU1ODY4NzM0Mg==,21148,jacobian,2019-11-26T15:40:00Z,2019-11-26T15:40:00Z,CONTRIBUTOR,"A bit of background: the reason `heroku git:clone` brings down an empty directory is because `datasette publish heroku` uses the [builds API](https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/build-and-release-using-the-api), rather than a `git push`, to release the app. I originally did this because it seemed like a lower bar than having a working `git`, but the downside is, as you found out, that tweaking the created app is hard. 

So there's one option -- change `datasette publish heroku` to use `git push` instead of `heroku builds:create`.

@pkoppstein - what you suggested seems like it ought to work (you don't need maintenance mode, though). I'm not sure why it doesn't.

You could also look into using the [slugs API](https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/platform-api-deploying-slugs) to download the slug, change `metadata.json`, re-pack and re-upload the slug.

Ultimately though I think I think @simonw's idea of reading `metadata.json` from an external source might be better (#357). Reading from an alternate URL would be fine, or you could also just stuff the whole `metadata.json` into a Heroku config var, and write a plugin to read it from there. 

Hope this helps a bit!","{""total_count"": 0, ""+1"": 0, ""-1"": 0, ""laugh"": 0, ""hooray"": 0, ""confused"": 0, ""heart"": 0, ""rocket"": 0, ""eyes"": 0}",527670799,updating metadata.json without recreating the app,