GitHub

Log in to GitHub from authsome with OAuth2 PKCE or the device code flow. Tokens are stored locally and refreshed automatically.

GitHub is a bundled OAuth2 provider in authsome. The default flow is browser-based PKCE; the device code flow is supported for headless setups. Tokens are stored in the local encrypted vault and refreshed transparently before expiry.

At a glance

Provider name	github
Display name	GitHub
Auth type	OAuth2
Default flow	pkce
Device code supported	Yes
DCR supported	No
Default scopes	repo, read:user
Proxy host	api.github.com
Env var (access_token)	GITHUB_ACCESS_TOKEN
Env var (refresh_token)	GITHUB_REFRESH_TOKEN
Provider docs	docs.github.com/…

Prerequisites

GitHub does not support Dynamic Client Registration, so you need to register an OAuth app once. This is a one-time setup per app, not per developer.

1. Open GitHub developer settings

   Visit github.com/settings/developers.

2. Click 'New OAuth App'

   The button sits at the top right of the OAuth Apps list.

3. Fill the registration form

   Field	Value
   Application name	Anything memorable, e.g. authsome (local)
   Homepage URL	http://localhost:3000 (any URL works; GitHub doesn’t validate it for OAuth functionality)
   Application description	Optional
   Authorization callback URL	http://127.0.0.1:7998/auth/callback/oauth
   Enable Device Flow	☑ check it on

   The Authorization callback URL must be exactly http://127.0.0.1:7998/auth/callback/oauth. Authsome’s PKCE flow listens only on this address; any other value will fail with redirect_uri_mismatch at login time.

   Click Register application.

4. Copy the Client ID and generate a Client Secret

   GitHub now shows your new app’s settings.

   1. Copy the Client ID.
   2. Click Generate a new client secret and copy the secret immediately.

   Save the Client Secret somewhere safe (a password manager) before navigating away. GitHub shows the secret only once. If you lose it, you’ll need to generate another one and update your authsome connection.

   Authsome will prompt for both values on first login through a secure local browser form. You will not paste them into a terminal.

Authsome's local bridge form, where you paste the Client ID and Client Secret on first login

Log in

authsome login github

What happens:

1. Client credential collection (first time only)

   Authsome opens a local form at http://127.0.0.1:7998. Paste the client_id and client_secret. They are encrypted and stored in your vault, then reused on every subsequent login.

2. Authorization redirect

   A second browser window opens to https://github.com/login/oauth/authorize. Approve the requested scopes.

3. Token exchange

   GitHub redirects to http://127.0.0.1:7998/auth/callback/oauth with an authorization code. Authsome exchanges it for an access token and stores the encrypted record.

4. Confirmation

   The terminal prints Successfully logged in to github (default).

Verify:

authsome get github --field status
# → connected

Headless setup (SSH, CI)

For machines without a local browser, use the device code flow:

authsome login github --flow device_code

Authsome prints a verification URL and a short user code. Open the URL on any device, enter the code, approve the app, and authsome’s poll completes.

Device code uses GitHub’s public OAuth client, so you can skip the OAuth app registration entirely for personal use. See Headless setup for the full flow.

Custom scopes

The bundled definition requests repo and read:user. Override at login time:

authsome login github --scopes "repo,read:user,workflow,gist"

The granted scopes are stored on the connection and visible in authsome get github.

For the full list of GitHub OAuth scopes, see GitHub’s scopes documentation.

GitHub Enterprise

For self-hosted GitHub Enterprise, pass the base URL of your instance:

authsome login github --base-url https://github.acme.com

The base URL is saved on the connection and reused for every token refresh. The bundled definition uses {base_url} placeholders for the authorization, token, and device code endpoints, so substitution is automatic.

Multiple accounts

Personal and work GitHub on the same machine:

authsome login github --connection personal
authsome login github --connection work

Read either side:

authsome get github --connection work
authsome export github --connection personal --format env

Pass --connection <name> on login and on every read command to keep two or more accounts on the same provider side by side. See Multiple connections per provider for the full pattern.

Use the token

Run the agent under the proxy (recommended).

Proxy (recommended)

authsome run -- python my_agent.py

eval "$(authsome export github --format env)"
echo $GITHUB_ACCESS_TOKEN

Under the proxy, authsome sets GITHUB_ACCESS_TOKEN=authsome-proxy-managed in the child’s environment and injects the real token into outbound requests to api.github.com. The child process never sees the actual value. Refresh tokens are never exported.

Override the bundled definition

To change scopes or point at GitHub Enterprise by default, drop a custom JSON at ~/.authsome/providers/github.json. The user-registered file always wins over the bundled one.

authsome inspect github > ~/.authsome/providers/github.json
# edit scopes, base_url, or anything else
authsome list   # source now shows "custom" for github

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
redirect_uri_mismatch at github.com	OAuth app callback URL is wrong	Set it to http://127.0.0.1:7998/auth/callback/oauth exactly.
Browser opens but the form is blank	Daemon not running or port held	authsome doctor and check that port 7998 is free.
Bad credentials after a successful login	Token revoked at GitHub	authsome login github --force to re-authenticate.
Refresh fails after long idle	GitHub access tokens do not expire by default; refresh is rarely needed	If the connection shows expired, run authsome login github --force.

For deeper diagnostics, see OAuth callbacks and Token refresh.

What’s next

Run agents with the proxy

Inject the access token into outbound requests without exposing it.

Multiple connections per provider

Keep two or more accounts on the same provider side by side.

OAuth providers

All bundled OAuth providers.