GitHub CLI

Auth Commands

Authenticate with GitHub from the command line. Learn to log in, manage tokens, and configure credentials for seamless interaction with GitHub repositories and APIs.

7 commands

Pro Tips

Use 'gh auth login -w' for web-based authentication - more secure than entering tokens in terminal.

Set 'GH_TOKEN' environment variable for CI/CD instead of interactive login.

Use 'gh auth status' to verify which account and scopes are currently authenticated.

Common Mistakes

Tokens stored by 'gh auth login' have broad access. Use fine-grained PATs for CI/CD with minimal scopes.

Commands

Login to GitHub

$ gh auth login

Authenticate with GitHub account interactively

Login with token

$ gh auth login --with-token < token.txt

Authenticate using a personal access token from file

Login via web browser

$ gh auth login --web

Authenticate using web browser flow

Logout from GitHub

$ gh auth logout

Remove authentication credentials

Refresh auth credentials

$ gh auth refresh

Refresh stored authentication credentials

Check auth status

$ gh auth status

View authentication status and active account

Print auth token

$ gh auth token

Print the auth token for the current account