a generic method for storing repo configuration data in git

read-repo-config.sh

#!/bin/bash
#
# parse configuration options from a file in the current repository.
# Designed to be invoked from git hook scripts.
#
# Sample usage: toggle automatic branch building, per-branch
#
# config file looks like:
# BranchName=option1[,option2...]
#

# be sure $newrev and $target_branch are defined, then:

config_filename='repo.cfg'
get_config_options() {
    cfg_hash=$(git ls-tree $newrev | grep "$config_filename" | cut -d' ' -f 3 | cut -f 1 )
    if [[ "$cfg_hash" != "" ]] ; then
opts=$( git cat-file blob "$cfg_hash" | egrep -i "^\s*${target_branch}=" | cut -d= -f 2 )
        autobuild=$( echo "$opts" | grep '\<autobuild\>' )
    fi
}

# in your post-receive hook...
get_config_options
if [[ $autobuild ]]; then
    # trigger a build...
fi