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Authentication Guide

Git Genius uses two authentication layers. Keeping them separate is intentional.

1. GitHub API Authentication

Used for:

  • checking whether a GitHub repository exists
  • creating a repository on GitHub
  • validating the token and resolving the authenticated username

Sources:

  • local Git Genius token storage at ~/.git-genius/token
  • environment variable GIT_GENIUS_GITHUB_TOKEN

Environment-variable usage:

export GIT_GENIUS_GITHUB_TOKEN=your_token_here
git-genius

Recommended token scope:

  • repo

2. Git HTTPS Authentication

Used for:

  • git push
  • git pull
  • any Git operation that talks to GitHub over HTTPS

This is separate from the GitHub API token storage above. Git itself still needs a credential helper if you want to avoid repeated prompts.

Configure it from:

  • Tools -> Git Auth / Credential Helper

Available modes:

  • Memory cache
    • recommended default
    • keeps credentials for a limited time in memory
    • does not write plaintext credentials to disk
  • Persistent store
    • saves credentials to ~/.git-credentials
    • survives restarts
    • less secure because credentials are stored in plain text

Preloading Credentials

After configuring a credential helper, Git Genius can preload the current GitHub token into Git.

This helps future HTTPS pushes stop prompting for:

  • GitHub username
  • GitHub token/password

Recommended Setup

For most local machines:

  1. Configure a GitHub token in Setup
  2. Open Tools -> Git Auth / Credential Helper
  3. Choose Memory cache
  4. Preload the GitHub credentials into Git

For automation-heavy environments:

  1. Export GIT_GENIUS_GITHUB_TOKEN
  2. Run Git Genius
  3. Optionally save the env token locally if you want interactive reuse

Security Notes

  • Environment variables are good for automation and ephemeral sessions
  • Memory cache is safer than persistent plain-text storage
  • Persistent store is convenient but writes credentials to disk
  • Git Genius never embeds the token in the remote URL