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Authentication

git-spice is offline-first. It does not require authentication for local stacking operations. However, once you want to push or pull changes to/from a GitHub repository, you will need to authenticate with GitHub.

This page covers the authentication options for git-spice.

Logging in

To authenticate with GitHub, run:

gs auth login

This will present you with a list of authentication methods.

See Authentication methods for details on what to expect from each method, or skip on to Pick an authentication method.

Authentication methods

git-spice provides several ways to authenticate with GitHub.

OAuth

With OAuth authentication, you will take the following steps:

  1. Authenticate yourself on github.com in your browser.
  2. Authorize git-spice to act on your behalf on the current device only.
$ gs auth loginSelect an authentication method: OAuth 1. Visit https://github.com/login/device 2. Enter code: ABCD-1234The code expires in a few minutes.It will take a few seconds to verify after you enter it.

Two options are available for OAuth:

  • OAuth: grants access to all repositories, public and private.
  • OAuth: Public repositories only: grants access to public repositories only.

For more granular control, use GitHub App authentication.

Note

For private repositories owned by organizations, you will need a member with administrative access to the repository to allow installation of the git-spice OAuth App. If that is not an option, use a Personal Access Token.

GitHub App

With GitHub App authentication, you will take the following steps:

  1. Authenticate yourself on github.com in your browser.
  2. Authorize git-spice to act on your behalf on the current device only.
  3. Install the git-spice GitHub App on the repositories you want to use git-spice with.
$ gs auth loginSelect an authentication method: GitHub App 1. Visit https://github.com/login/device 2. Enter code: ABCD-1234The code expires in a few minutes.It will take a few seconds to verify after you enter it.

Important: Authentication alone does not grant any access. You must install the GitHub App to access repositories with git-spice.

Note

For private repositories owned by organizations, you will need a member with administrative access to the repository to allow installation of the git-spice GitHub App. If that is not an option, use a Personal Access Token.

Personal Access Token

To use a Personal Access Token with git-spice, you will generate a Personal Access Token on GitHub and enter it in the prompt.