gitcredentials(7)
=================

NAME
----
gitcredentials - providing usernames and passwords to git

SYNOPSIS
--------
------------------
git config credential.https:example.com.username myusername
git config credential.helper "$helper $options"
------------------

DESCRIPTION
-----------

Git will sometimes need credentials from the user in order to perform
operations; for example, it may need to ask for a username and password
in order to access a remote repository over HTTP. This manual describes
the mechanisms git uses to request these credentials, as well as some
features to avoid inputting these credentials repeatedly.

REQUESTING CREDENTIALS
----------------------

Without any credential helpers defined, git will try the following
strategies to ask the user for usernames and passwords:

1. If the `GIT_ASKPASS` environment variable is set, the program
   specified by the variable is invoked. A suitable prompt is provided
   to the program on the command line, and the user's input is read
   from its standard output.

2. Otherwise, if the `core.askpass` configuration variable is set, its
   value is used as above.

3. Otherwise, if the `SSH_ASKPASS` environment variable is set, its
   value is used as above.

4. Otherwise, the user is prompted on the terminal.

AVOIDING REPETITION
-------------------

It can be cumbersome to input the same credentials over and over.  Git
provides two methods to reduce this annoyance:

1. Static configuration of usernames for a given authentication context.

2. Credential helpers to cache or store passwords, or to interact with
   a system password wallet or keychain.

STATIC CONFIGURATION
--------------------

Git can look for credential information in your git config files. Note
that it only makes sense to store usernames, not passwords, as git
config files are not encrypted or usually even protected by filesystem
permissions.

For a given credential request, git uses a unique token to represent the
context of a request. For example, a request to
`https://example.com/repo.git` would have the context
`https:example.com`. See `CONTEXT TOKENS` below for a full list.

To statically configure a username, set the configuration variable
`credential.$token.username`. For example, in this instance git will
prompt only for the password, not the username:

--------------------------------------------------------------
$ git config --global credential.https:example.com.username me
$ git push https://example.com/repo.git
Password:
--------------------------------------------------------------

CREDENTIAL HELPERS
------------------

Credential helpers are external programs from which git can request
usernames and passwords.

To use a helper, you must first select one to use. Git currently
includes the following helpers:

cache::

	Cache credentials in memory for a short period of time. See
	linkgit:git-credential-cache[1] for details.

store::

	Store credentials indefinitely on disk. See
	linkgit:git-credential-store[1] for details.

You may may also have third-party helpers installed; search for
`credential-*` in the output of `git help -a`, and consult the
documentation of individual helpers.  Once you have selected a helper,
you can tell git to use it by putting its name into the
credential.helper variable.

1. Find a helper.
+
-------------------------------------------
$ git help -a | grep credential-
credential-foo
-------------------------------------------

2. Read its description.
+
-------------------------------------------
$ git help credential-foo
-------------------------------------------

3. Tell git to use it.
+
-------------------------------------------
$ git config --global credential.helper foo
-------------------------------------------

If there are multiple instances of the `credential.helper` configuration
variable, each helper will be tried in turn, and may provide a username,
password, or nothing. Once git has acquired both a username and a
password, no more helpers will be tried.

CUSTOM HELPERS
--------------

You can write your own custom helpers to interface with any system in
which you keep credentials. See the documentation for git's
link:technical/api-credentials.html[credentials API] for details.

CONTEXT TOKENS
--------------

The full set of unique context tokens provided by git to credential
helpers is:

`$protocol:$hostname`::

	A network request to a specific host. `$protocol` is
	either `http` or `https`, and `$hostname` is the hostname
	provided to git (which may not be fully qualified).

`cert:$filename`::

	A password to decrypt a certificate on disk.

GIT
---
Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite