diff --git a/README.adoc b/README.adoc
index b41d012..ba5f9aa 100644
--- a/README.adoc
+++ b/README.adoc
@@ -6,3 +6,7 @@ supporting documentation. More details can be found in the
 link:CHARTER.adoc[Doc SIG Charter].
 
 For complex tasks, a projects dir contains more information.
+
+== Details
+
+* the git repo tool manifest POC project needs it's xml files at the top level of a git repo so that's why they are cluttering up things.
diff --git a/_common.xml b/_common.xml
new file mode 120000
index 0000000..3f259d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_common.xml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+projects/rvi-repo-manifest/generated/_common.xml
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/all-rvi-orgs.xml b/all-rvi-orgs.xml
new file mode 120000
index 0000000..87f944a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/all-rvi-orgs.xml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+projects/rvi-repo-manifest/generated/all-rvi-orgs.xml
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/projects/rvi-repo-manifest/README.adoc b/projects/rvi-repo-manifest/README.adoc
index 00ce7a5..952b1dd 100644
--- a/projects/rvi-repo-manifest/README.adoc
+++ b/projects/rvi-repo-manifest/README.adoc
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ Similarly to cloning a single repo, the first step in using `repo` is to link:ht
 [source, bash]
 ----
 mkdir rvi-repos && cd rvi-repos
-repo init -u https://github.com/riscv-admin/docs-sig -m projects/rvi-repo-manifest/generated/all-rvi-orgs.xml -g all,-riscv-android-src
+repo init -u https://github.com/riscv-admin/docs-sig -g all,-riscv-android-src
 ----
 
 === Pros and cons
diff --git a/riscv-admin.xml b/riscv-admin.xml
new file mode 120000
index 0000000..0ee9434
--- /dev/null
+++ b/riscv-admin.xml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+projects/rvi-repo-manifest/generated/riscv-admin.xml
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/riscv-android-src.xml b/riscv-android-src.xml
new file mode 120000
index 0000000..38952cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/riscv-android-src.xml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+projects/rvi-repo-manifest/generated/riscv-android-src.xml
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/riscv-collab.xml b/riscv-collab.xml
new file mode 120000
index 0000000..36a8f3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/riscv-collab.xml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+projects/rvi-repo-manifest/generated/riscv-collab.xml
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/riscv-non-isa.xml b/riscv-non-isa.xml
new file mode 120000
index 0000000..d714049
--- /dev/null
+++ b/riscv-non-isa.xml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+projects/rvi-repo-manifest/generated/riscv-non-isa.xml
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/riscv-software-src.xml b/riscv-software-src.xml
new file mode 120000
index 0000000..c52ac48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/riscv-software-src.xml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+projects/rvi-repo-manifest/generated/riscv-software-src.xml
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/riscv.xml b/riscv.xml
new file mode 120000
index 0000000..540d305
--- /dev/null
+++ b/riscv.xml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+projects/rvi-repo-manifest/generated/riscv.xml
\ No newline at end of file