GitHub Authentication in WSL

GitHub Authentication in WSL

By default, the git client in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) will prompt me for credentials each time I access Github. The following steps will make the auth information sticky:

Create a Personal Access Token If Not Already

  • Sign in to Github
  • Create a (fine-grained as recommended) Personal Access Token under Settings > Developer Settings > Personal access tokens > Fine-grained tokens (https://github.com/settings/personal-access-tokens)
  • Copy the token (“github_pat_....“) and save it somewhere. It’s one of those annoying security phenomena when they show me something ONCE and ONCE ONLY.

Verify Git and Git Credential Manager

  • Open up a Windows terminal. Find where git is:
C:\Users\van>where git
D:\Program Files\Git\cmd\git.exe
  • Ensure that git-credential-manager.exe exists in the git installation (currently under mingw64\bin\, though subject to change of course, when they feel like it):
C:\Users\van>dir "D:\Program Files\Git\mingw64\bin\git-credential-manager.exe"
...
03/17/2025  06:08 AM           139,712 git-credential-manager.exe
               1 File(s)        139,712 bytes

Configure Use of Git Credential Manager in WSL

  • Open up a WSL terminal.
  • Tell git to use the credential manager (use /mnt/d to indicate D: drive, for example, and use / instead of \ for path separator):
$ git config --global credential.helper "/mnt/d/Program\ Files/Git/mingw64/bin/git-credential-manager.exe"
  • Confirm that the setting is done:
$ cat ~/.gitconfig
[credential]
        helper = /mnt/d/Program\\ Files/Git/mingw64/bin/git-credential-manager.exe

The next time I enter the credentials, they will be stored for the future.

By the way, the token is used as the password.

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