Git automation with OAuth tokens

manager Tue, 04/06/2021 - 15:55

You can use OAuth tokens to interact with GitHub via automated scripts.

Step 1: Get an OAuth token

Create a personal access token on your application settings page. For more information, see "Creating a personal access token."

Tips:

  • You must verify your email address before you can create a personal access token. For more information, see "Verifying your email address."
  • We recommend that you regularly review your authorized integrations. Remove any applications and tokens that haven't been used in a while. For more information, see "Reviewing your authorized integrations."

As a security precaution, GitHub automatically removes personal access tokens that haven't been used in a year.

Step 2: Clone a repository

Once you have a token, you can enter it instead of your password when performing Git operations over HTTPS.

For example, on the command line you would enter the following:

$ git clone https://github.com/username/repo.git
Username: your_username
Password: your_token

To avoid these prompts, you can use Git password caching. For information, see "Caching your GitHub credentials in Git."

Warning: Tokens have read/write access and should be treated like passwords. If you enter your token into the clone URL when cloning or adding a remote, Git writes it to your .git/config file in plain text, which is a security risk.

Further reading