GitHub Integration

wit provides first-class GitHub integration with OAuth authentication, making it easy to clone, push, and pull from GitHub repositories.

Authentication

OAuth Device Flow (Recommended)

The easiest way to authenticate with GitHub:

wit github login

This will:

Display a URL and a code
Open your browser to GitHub
You enter the code and authorize wit
wit securely stores your credentials

ℹ Starting GitHub authentication...

Please visit: https://github.com/login/device
Enter code: ABCD-1234

Waiting for authorization...
✓ Logged in as username (user@email.com)

Check Status

See your current authentication status:

wit github status

Output:

✓ Authenticated as username
  Email: user@email.com
  Token: ghp_xxxx...xxxx (hidden)
  Scopes: repo, user:email
  Authenticated: 2 hours ago

Logout

Remove stored credentials:

wit github logout

Get Token (For Scripts)

If you need the token for other tools:

wit github token

Be careful with this command - it outputs your token in plain text. Only use in secure environments.

Environment Variables

You can also authenticate using environment variables:

Variable	Description
`GITHUB_TOKEN`	GitHub personal access token
`GH_TOKEN`	Alternative (GitHub CLI compatible)
`WIT_GITHUB_CLIENT_ID`	Custom OAuth App client ID

# Using a personal access token
export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_your_token_here

# Now wit commands work without login
wit clone https://github.com/user/private-repo.git
wit push origin main

Creating a Personal Access Token

If you prefer tokens over OAuth:

Go to GitHub Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens
Click “Generate new token (classic)”
Select scopes:
- repo - Full control of private repositories
- user:email - Read user email (for commits)
Copy the token
Set it in your environment:

export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

How Authentication Works

Priority Order

wit checks for credentials in this order:

Environment variables (GITHUB_TOKEN, GH_TOKEN)
Stored OAuth credentials (from wit github login)
Git credential helpers (system keychain)

Credential Storage

OAuth credentials are stored in:

macOS/Linux: ~/.wit/github-credentials.json
Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.wit\github-credentials.json

The file is created with restricted permissions (readable only by you).

Author Information

When you authenticate with GitHub, wit automatically uses your GitHub profile for commit author information:

# Before: commits show as "Anonymous"
wit commit -m "message"  # Author: Anonymous <anonymous@example.com>

# After wit github login: uses your GitHub info
wit commit -m "message"  # Author: Your Name <your@email.com>

Common Workflows

Clone Private Repository

# First, authenticate
wit github login

# Then clone - authentication is automatic
wit clone https://github.com/yourcompany/private-repo.git

Push to GitHub

# Make changes
echo "hello" > file.txt
wit add file.txt
wit commit -m "Add file"

# Push (uses stored credentials)
wit push origin main

Fork Workflow

# Clone your fork
wit clone https://github.com/you/forked-repo.git
cd forked-repo

# Add upstream
wit remote add upstream https://github.com/original/repo.git

# Fetch upstream changes
wit fetch upstream

# Merge upstream into your branch
wit checkout main
wit merge upstream/main

# Push to your fork
wit push origin main

Troubleshooting

”401 Unauthorized”

Your credentials may have expired:

wit github logout
wit github login

“Permission denied”

Check if you have access to the repository:

wit github status

Make sure your token has the repo scope for private repositories.

Token Not Working

If using a personal access token, verify:

Token hasn’t expired
Token has correct scopes (repo, user:email)
Token is set correctly:

echo $GITHUB_TOKEN  # Should show your token

If the device flow fails:

Make sure you’re entering the code correctly
Try logging out and in again
Check your internet connection
As fallback, use a personal access token

Security Best Practices

Do:

Use OAuth login when possible (tokens are scoped and can be revoked)
Set restrictive token scopes
Rotate tokens periodically
Use wit github logout on shared machines

Don’t:

Commit tokens to repositories
Share tokens in plain text
Use tokens with more permissions than needed

Custom OAuth App

For enterprise deployments, you can use your own OAuth App:

Create an OAuth App at github.com/settings/developers
Set the client ID:

export WIT_GITHUB_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
wit github login

This is useful for:

Enterprise GitHub instances
Custom branding
Organizational control over OAuth scopes

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GitHub Integration

Authentication

OAuth Device Flow (Recommended)

Check Status

Logout

Get Token (For Scripts)

Environment Variables

Creating a Personal Access Token

How Authentication Works

Priority Order

Credential Storage

Author Information

Common Workflows

Clone Private Repository

Push to GitHub

Fork Workflow

Troubleshooting

”401 Unauthorized”

“Permission denied”

Token Not Working

Security Best Practices

Custom OAuth App

​Authentication

​OAuth Device Flow (Recommended)

​Check Status

​Logout

​Get Token (For Scripts)

​Environment Variables

​Creating a Personal Access Token

​How Authentication Works

​Priority Order

​Credential Storage

​Author Information

​Common Workflows

​Clone Private Repository

​Push to GitHub

​Fork Workflow

​Troubleshooting

​”401 Unauthorized”

​“Permission denied”

​Token Not Working

​OAuth Login Fails

​Security Best Practices

​Custom OAuth App

Authentication

OAuth Device Flow (Recommended)

Check Status

Logout

Get Token (For Scripts)

Environment Variables

Creating a Personal Access Token

How Authentication Works

Priority Order

Credential Storage

Author Information

Common Workflows

Clone Private Repository

Push to GitHub

Fork Workflow

Troubleshooting

”401 Unauthorized”

“Permission denied”

Token Not Working

OAuth Login Fails

Security Best Practices

Custom OAuth App