Local GitHub Config
With awesome tools like GitNub and GitX adding GitHub integration, it would be great if you didn’t have to keep re-entering you username and API token. So let’s settle on…
With awesome tools like GitNub and GitX adding GitHub integration, it would be great if you didn’t have to keep re-entering you username and API token.
So let’s settle on a standard, pioneered by GitNub:
$ git config --global github.user defunkt $ git config --global github.token 6ef8395fecf207165f1a82178ae1b984
(Remember to replace @defunkt@ and @6ef8395fecf207165f1a82178ae1b984@ with your own username and token.)
Applications and scripts can easily access this information:
$ git config --global github.user defunkt
You can also access ~/.gitconfig directly.
I just pushed out new versions of my gist script and the gist.el mode which use this method. Check the code for examples in Ruby and Emacs Lisp.
If you’re a developer, please adopt this method of storing GitHub data. Your users will thank you!
Written by
Related posts
GitHub availability report: January 2026
In January, we experienced two incidents that resulted in degraded performance across GitHub services.
Pick your agent: Use Claude and Codex on Agent HQ
Claude by Anthropic and OpenAI Codex are now available in public preview on GitHub and VS Code with a Copilot Pro+ or Copilot Enterprise subscription. Here’s what you need to know and how to get started today.
What the fastest-growing tools reveal about how software is being built
What languages are growing fastest, and why? What about the projects that people are interested in the most? Where are new developers cutting their teeth? Let’s take a look at Octoverse data to find out.