Authenticating to GitHub with Personal Access Tokens

GitHub is a web-based platform for version control and collaboration that lets developers work together on projects from anywhere. One feature that makes Git authentication both secure and flexible is the personal access token (PAT). In this post, I explain how to create and use personal access tokens, an excellent way to access and update Git repositories over HTTPS.

What Is a GitHub Personal Access Token (PAT)?

A GitHub personal access token (PAT) is a credential that authenticates Git operations and API requests in place of your account password. It is a unique string that grants scoped access to your account, repositories, and other services without exposing your login credentials. You can create a token with specific permissions and revoke it anytime, giving you fine-grained control over your account’s security.

I like using personal access tokens instead of passwords when authenticating to GitHub in the command line or with the API. You can pull and push, do commits and do any repository manipulations you need with the personal access tokens expressly set up for your application and required level of access.

How to Create a GitHub Personal Access Token

To have a simple setup, I have my remote repository named “origin”, wherein I push my code updates. This is a traditional setup; however, you can call it as you like. I stick with the “origin”.

Please note that should you already have the “origin” defined in your Git client, you might first delete the “origin”. Alternatively, you skip this step and define another alias for your remote repository.

git remote remove origin

If git remote add origin later returns error: remote origin already exists, the alias is still defined. Remove it first with git remote remove origin, then re-add it. See my dedicated post Git: “origin already exists” and how to manage remotes for the full fix.

To create a personal access token, go to the GitHub website and log in to your account.

Next, we go to the GitHub developer settings page, which is available just below your user icon in the dropdown menu “Settings”. Follow to the left panel to see “Developer Settings” and “Personal access tokens”.

GitHub Developer Settings under your profile icon

Choosing the token type, setting its scopes and expiry, and generating the token follow below.

How to Use a Personal Access Token to Push to GitHub

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Conclusion: Personal Access Tokens for Secure GitHub Authentication

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References

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