The full power of Git, without the friction: A conversation with Netlify CTO Dana Lawson

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Dana Lawson CTO

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Netlify has embarked on an ambitious effort that brings version control in-house as a core part of the platform. Netlify Source is new, native Git infrastructure designed to give every project the protections and capabilities of version control, without requiring a separate repository or GitHub account.

There are some big questions in front of the technical community around Git and version control.

Is Git still the right foundation for software development in an age when agents can generate extraordinary volumes of code? Should conversations, prompts, context, and agent traces live alongside the code itself? As more people begin building software without traditional development backgrounds, how much of the underlying machinery should they need to understand?

Dana Lawson is especially well positioned to weigh in.

Before becoming CTO at Netlify, Dana worked at GitHub. Today, she sits at the intersection of version control, deployment, AI-assisted development, and the infrastructure required to make all of those systems work together.

That intersection has become particularly relevant as Netlify undertakes something ambitious: bringing Git infrastructure directly into the Netlify platform.

With Netlify Source , projects created through Agent Runners can have source control built in from the beginning. Builders do not need to create a GitHub account, connect a repository, learn Git commands, or manage the mechanics of commits and branches before they can begin creating. The source is safely stored and versioned behind the scenes, while remaining available whenever it is needed.

Even for experienced developers, this removes steps and allows faster experimentation. For a new generation of builders, it makes the protections and capabilities of version control available without requiring them to first become Git experts.

Note: Connecting Netlify to an external Git provider remains a core feature. Netlify Source adds a foundation for simpler ways to bring version control into projects.

We sat down with Dana to talk about why Netlify brought Git in-house, whether Git is ready for the age of agents, and what source control means when the most important artifact may no longer be the code alone.

First, tell us a little about yourself and your role at Netlify.

Dana Lawson: I’m Dana Lawson, the CTO here at Netlify. Currently, the entire R&D organization rolls up to me. Everything you interact with, touch, see, feel, change, and love at Netlify is something my organization is responsible for making real.

It’s pretty awesome, pretty exciting, and pretty overwhelming all at once. But we love what we’re doing.

Netlify Source is intentionally not very visible to customers. What is it doing behind the scenes?

Dana: Netlify Source shouldn’t create more work for you. You shouldn’t have to deal with the friction that has historically come with pulling, pushing, and creating a codebase.

We want to make it as easy as possible for builders everywhere to safely change what they need to change without worrying about the mechanics. That is something Netlify has always done: simplify the coding process for everyone.

Bringing Git infrastructure onto the Netlify platform was an ambitious step. What motivated the team to take it on?

Dana: We’ve seen Netlify’s user base expand significantly.

Historically, we served traditional developers who often came from computer science backgrounds. Now, we’re seeing an emerging type of builder who still needs the same practices as a traditional software developer but isn’t necessarily an expert in software development. They’re experts in the experiences they want to create.

We wanted to bring those software practices and principles to this new group of builders.

A code repository has always been part of the system, alongside builds, content delivery, and the rest of the platform. But many of these new builders aren’t accustomed to the traditional path. GitHub may be completely foreign to them. Even the concept of Git may be foreign.

The workflows Git enables, however, are something they absolutely need.

As we introduced a more complete, end-to-end experience on Netlify, we knew people needed a simple way to create full-stack applications. Traditionally, you might come to Netlify with a separate frontend, a content management system behind it, and a Git repository connecting everything. Content might be changed through the repository or through another interface.

With Netlify and Agent Runners, you don’t necessarily have to go into a content management system. You don’t have to go directly into a database. We make it seamless to create full-stack, end-to-end experiences.

Those experiences still require platform primitives and mechanical operations underneath them. But we don’t want to turn everyone into an expert in those mechanics. We want to enable...