diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/gitrepo/ManifestParserTest.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/gitrepo/ManifestParserTest.java
index 1005b39ec..5ed4268eb 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/gitrepo/ManifestParserTest.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/gitrepo/ManifestParserTest.java
@@ -87,9 +87,9 @@ public class ManifestParserTest {
 		for (RepoProject proj : parser.getProjects()) {
 			String msg = String.format(
 					"project \"%s\" should be included in unfiltered projects",
-					proj.path);
-			assertTrue(msg, results.contains(proj.path));
-			results.remove(proj.path);
+					proj.getPath());
+			assertTrue(msg, results.contains(proj.getPath()));
+			results.remove(proj.getPath());
 		}
 		assertTrue(
 				"Unfiltered projects shouldn't contain any unexpected results",
@@ -101,9 +101,9 @@ public class ManifestParserTest {
 		for (RepoProject proj : parser.getFilteredProjects()) {
 			String msg = String.format(
 					"project \"%s\" should be included in filtered projects",
-					proj.path);
-			assertTrue(msg, results.contains(proj.path));
-			results.remove(proj.path);
+					proj.getPath());
+			assertTrue(msg, results.contains(proj.getPath()));
+			results.remove(proj.getPath());
 		}
 		assertTrue(
 				"Filtered projects shouldn't contain any unexpected results",
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/gitrepo/ManifestParser.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/gitrepo/ManifestParser.java
index ec9fdfa4e..fa27948a6 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/gitrepo/ManifestParser.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/gitrepo/ManifestParser.java
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ public class ManifestParser extends DefaultHandler {
 				throw new SAXException(RepoText.get().invalidManifest);
 			currentProject.addCopyFile(new CopyFile(
 						rootRepo,
-						currentProject.path,
+						currentProject.getPath(),
 						attributes.getValue("src"), //$NON-NLS-1$
 						attributes.getValue("dest"))); //$NON-NLS-1$
 		} else if ("include".equals(qName)) { //$NON-NLS-1$
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ public class ManifestParser extends DefaultHandler {
 			throw new SAXException(e);
 		}
 		for (RepoProject proj : projects) {
-			String remote = proj.remote;
+			String remote = proj.getRemote();
 			if (remote == null) {
 				if (defaultRemote == null) {
 					if (filename != null)
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ public class ManifestParser extends DefaultHandler {
 					remoteUrl = remoteUrl + "/"; //$NON-NLS-1$
 				remoteUrls.put(remote, remoteUrl);
 			}
-			proj.setUrl(remoteUrl + proj.name)
+			proj.setUrl(remoteUrl + proj.getName())
 					.setDefaultRevision(defaultRevision);
 		}
 
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ public class ManifestParser extends DefaultHandler {
 
 	boolean inGroups(RepoProject proj) {
 		for (String group : minusGroups) {
-			if (proj.groups.contains(group)) {
+			if (proj.inGroup(group)) {
 				// minus groups have highest priority.
 				return false;
 			}
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ public class ManifestParser extends DefaultHandler {
 			return true;
 		}
 		for (String group : plusGroups) {
-			if (proj.groups.contains(group))
+			if (proj.inGroup(group))
 				return true;
 		}
 		return false;
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/gitrepo/RepoCommand.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/gitrepo/RepoCommand.java
index d258250fe..b39dd8a1f 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/gitrepo/RepoCommand.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/gitrepo/RepoCommand.java
@@ -379,10 +379,10 @@ public class RepoCommand extends GitCommand<RevCommit> {
 			try {
 				parser.read(inputStream);
 				for (RepoProject proj : parser.getFilteredProjects()) {
-					addSubmodule(proj.url,
-							proj.path,
+					addSubmodule(proj.getUrl(),
+							proj.getPath(),
 							proj.getRevision(),
-							proj.copyfiles);
+							proj.getCopyFiles());
 				}
 			} catch (GitAPIException | IOException e) {
 				throw new ManifestErrorException(e);
@@ -403,17 +403,17 @@ public class RepoCommand extends GitCommand<RevCommit> {
 			try (RevWalk rw = new RevWalk(repo)) {
 				Config cfg = new Config();
 				for (RepoProject proj : bareProjects) {
-					String name = proj.path;
-					String nameUri = proj.name;
+					String name = proj.getPath();
+					String nameUri = proj.getName();
 					cfg.setString("submodule", name, "path", name); //$NON-NLS-1$ //$NON-NLS-2$
 					cfg.setString("submodule", name, "url", nameUri); //$NON-NLS-1$ //$NON-NLS-2$
 					// create gitlink
 					DirCacheEntry dcEntry = new DirCacheEntry(name);
 					ObjectId objectId;
-					if (ObjectId.isId(proj.revision))
-						objectId = ObjectId.fromString(proj.revision);
+					if (ObjectId.isId(proj.getRevision()))
+						objectId = ObjectId.fromString(proj.getRevision());
 					else {
-						objectId = callback.sha1(nameUri, proj.revision);
+						objectId = callback.sha1(nameUri, proj.getRevision());
 					}
 					if (objectId == null)
 						throw new RemoteUnavailableException(nameUri);
@@ -421,9 +421,9 @@ public class RepoCommand extends GitCommand<RevCommit> {
 					dcEntry.setFileMode(FileMode.GITLINK);
 					builder.add(dcEntry);
 
-					for (CopyFile copyfile : proj.copyfiles) {
+					for (CopyFile copyfile : proj.getCopyFiles()) {
 						byte[] src = callback.readFile(
-								nameUri, proj.revision, copyfile.src);
+								nameUri, proj.getRevision(), copyfile.src);
 						objectId = inserter.insert(Constants.OBJ_BLOB, src);
 						dcEntry = new DirCacheEntry(copyfile.dest);
 						dcEntry.setObjectId(objectId);
@@ -495,7 +495,7 @@ public class RepoCommand extends GitCommand<RevCommit> {
 			List<CopyFile> copyfiles) throws GitAPIException, IOException {
 		if (repo.isBare()) {
 			RepoProject proj = new RepoProject(url, name, revision, null, null);
-			proj.copyfiles.addAll(copyfiles);
+			proj.addCopyFiles(copyfiles);
 			bareProjects.add(proj);
 		} else {
 			SubmoduleAddCommand add = git
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/gitrepo/RepoProject.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/gitrepo/RepoProject.java
index dfd4f1bba..1fff1c353 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/gitrepo/RepoProject.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/gitrepo/RepoProject.java
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.channels.FileChannel;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Set;
@@ -62,14 +64,14 @@ import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository;
  * @since 4.0
  */
 public class RepoProject implements Comparable<RepoProject> {
-	final String name;
-	final String path;
-	final String revision;
-	final String remote;
-	final Set<String> groups;
-	final List<CopyFile> copyfiles;
-	String url;
-	String defaultRevision;
+	private final String name;
+	private final String path;
+	private final String revision;
+	private final String remote;
+	private final Set<String> groups;
+	private final List<CopyFile> copyfiles;
+	private String url;
+	private String defaultRevision;
 
 	/**
 	 * The representation of a copy file configuration.
@@ -82,10 +84,13 @@ public class RepoProject implements Comparable<RepoProject> {
 
 		/**
 		 * @param repo
+		 *            the super project.
 		 * @param path
 		 *            the path of the project containing this copyfile config.
 		 * @param src
+		 *            the source path relative to the sub repo.
 		 * @param dest
+		 *            the destination path relative to the super project.
 		 */
 		public CopyFile(Repository repo, String path, String src, String dest) {
 			this.repo = repo;
@@ -108,7 +113,8 @@ public class RepoProject implements Comparable<RepoProject> {
 				FileOutputStream output = new FileOutputStream(destFile);
 				try {
 					FileChannel channel = input.getChannel();
-					output.getChannel().transferFrom(channel, 0, channel.size());
+					output.getChannel().transferFrom(
+							channel, 0, channel.size());
 				} finally {
 					output.close();
 				}
@@ -120,10 +126,15 @@ public class RepoProject implements Comparable<RepoProject> {
 
 	/**
 	 * @param name
+	 *            the relative path to the {@code remote}
 	 * @param path
+	 *            the relative path to the super project
 	 * @param revision
+	 *            a SHA-1 or branch name or tag name
 	 * @param remote
+	 *            name of the remote definition
 	 * @param groups
+	 *            comma separated group list
 	 */
 	public RepoProject(String name, String path, String revision,
 			String remote, String groups) {
@@ -162,15 +173,70 @@ public class RepoProject implements Comparable<RepoProject> {
 		return this;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Get the name (relative path to the {@code remote}) of this sub repo.
+	 *
+	 * @return {@code name}
+	 */
+	public String getName() {
+		return name;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Get the path (relative path to the super project) of this sub repo.
+	 *
+	 * @return {@code path}
+	 */
+	public String getPath() {
+		return path;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Get the revision of the sub repo.
 	 *
-	 * @return revision if set, or default revision.
+	 * @return {@code revision} if set, or {@code defaultRevision}.
 	 */
 	public String getRevision() {
 		return revision == null ? defaultRevision : revision;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Getter for the copyfile configurations.
+	 *
+	 * @return Immutable copy of {@code copyfiles}
+	 */
+	public List<CopyFile> getCopyFiles() {
+		return Collections.unmodifiableList(copyfiles);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Get the url of the sub repo.
+	 *
+	 * @return {@code url}
+	 */
+	public String getUrl() {
+		return url;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Get the name of the remote definition of the sub repo.
+	 *
+	 * @return {@remote}
+	 */
+	public String getRemote() {
+		return remote;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Test whether this sub repo belongs to a specified group.
+	 *
+	 * @param group
+	 * @return true if {@code group} is present.
+	 */
+	public boolean inGroup(String group) {
+		return groups.contains(group);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Add a copy file configuration.
 	 *
@@ -180,7 +246,16 @@ public class RepoProject implements Comparable<RepoProject> {
 		copyfiles.add(copyfile);
 	}
 
-	String getPathWithSlash() {
+	/**
+	 * Add a bunch of copyfile configurations.
+	 *
+	 * @param copyfiles
+	 */
+	public void addCopyFiles(Collection<CopyFile> copyfiles) {
+		this.copyfiles.addAll(copyfiles);
+	}
+
+	private String getPathWithSlash() {
 		if (path.endsWith("/")) //$NON-NLS-1$
 			return path;
 		else