Use it when your goal in software development and repositories is clear and you can limit it to the data and actions it actually needs.
Github Auth
GitHub auth setup: HTTPS tokens, SSH keys, gh CLI login
What does it add to Hermes?
GitHub auth setup: HTTPS tokens, SSH keys, gh CLI login
Github Auth is a skill related to software development and repositories. It helps the agent understand code or work with a software project instead of only giving generic advice.
This plain-language explanation is based on the publisher description. The original text remains visible for verification.
Do not add it merely to experiment when Hermes already has a simpler path, or when you cannot review its source and permissions.
Best for users who want a repeatable way of working inside Hermes.
Try it on a disposable repository with read-only access and ask for a summary of one file with its path.
GitHub auth setup: HTTPS tokens, SSH keys, gh CLI login
This entry was indexed from Hermes Bundled Skills. Our explanation interprets the type and domain without inventing a capability not present upstream.
The source is official or editorially reviewed, but you still need to review permissions and version compatibility.
Inspect, install, then test.
- 01Open the source
Match the publisher, license, and description to your need. Check the real update history.
- 02Review permissions and secrets
Never paste a secret value into this site. Use environment-variable names and grant the smallest scope.
- 03Copy setup only after review
The controls below copy text. They do not execute commands on your device.
- 04Test with a non-sensitive task
Inspect the visible tools, then exclude write or delete tools you do not need.
Already installed with Hermes.
This skill ships with Hermes and loads when the agent decides it is relevant. There is nothing to install; read the definition below so you know what it will do.
Open the official page ↗Exactly what Hermes loads when this skill runs.
Reproduced from the official documentation. Read it before enabling the skill: this text becomes the agent's instructions.
GitHub auth setup: HTTPS tokens, SSH keys, gh CLI login.
Skill metadata
A lookup table. Do not read it all; find the row that applies to you.
| Source | Bundled (installed by default) |
| Path | skills/github/github-auth |
| Version | 1.1.0 |
| Author | Hermes Agent |
| License | MIT |
| Platforms | linux, macos, windows |
| Tags | GitHub, Authentication, Git, gh-cli, SSH, Setup |
| Related skills | github-pr-workflow, github-code-review, github-issues, github-repo-management |
Reference: full SKILL.md
Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.
This skill sets up authentication so the agent can work with GitHub repositories, PRs, issues, and CI. It covers two paths:
git(always available) — uses HTTPS personal access tokens or SSH keysghCLI (if installed) — richer GitHub API access with a simpler auth flow
Detection Flow
Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.
When a user asks you to work with GitHub, run this check first:
# Check what's available
git --version
gh --version 2>/dev/null || echo "gh not installed"
# Check if already authenticated
gh auth status 2>/dev/null || echo "gh not authenticated"
git config --global credential.helper 2>/dev/null || echo "no git credential helper"Decision tree:
- If
gh auth statusshows authenticated → you're good, useghfor everything - If
ghis installed but not authenticated → use "gh auth" method below - If
ghis not installed → use "git-only" method below (no sudo needed)
---
Method 1: Git-Only Authentication (No gh, No sudo)
Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.
This works on any machine with git installed. No root access needed.
Option A: HTTPS with Personal Access Token (Recommended)
This is the most portable method — works everywhere, no SSH config needed.
Step 1: Create a personal access token
Tell the user to go to: https://github.com/settings/tokens
- Click "Generate new token (classic)"
- Give it a name like "hermes-agent"
- Select scopes:
repo(full repository access — read, write, push, PRs)workflow(trigger and manage GitHub Actions)read:org(if working with organization repos)- Set expiration (90 days is a good default)
- Copy the token — it won't be shown again
Step 2: Configure git to store the token
# Set up the credential helper to cache credentials
# "store" saves to ~/.git-credentials in plaintext (simple, persistent)
git config --global credential.helper store
# Now do a test operation that triggers auth — git will prompt for credentials
# Username: <their-github-username>
# Password: <paste the personal access token, NOT their GitHub password>
git ls-remote https://github.com/<their-username>/<any-repo>.gitAfter entering credentials once, they're saved and reused for all future operations.
Alternative: cache helper (credentials expire from memory)
# Cache in memory for 8 hours (28800 seconds) instead of saving to disk
git config --global credential.helper 'cache --timeout=28800'Alternative: set the token directly in the remote URL (per-repo)
# Embed token in the remote URL (avoids credential prompts entirely)
git remote set-url origin https://<username>:<token>@github.com/<owner>/<repo>.gitStep 3: Configure git identity
# Required for commits — set name and email
git config --global user.name "Their Name"
git config --global user.email "their-email@example.com"Step 4: Verify
# Test push access (this should work without any prompts now)
git ls-remote https://github.com/<their-username>/<any-repo>.git
# Verify identity
git config --global user.name
git config --global user.emailOption B: SSH Key Authentication
Good for users who prefer SSH or already have keys set up.
Step 1: Check for existing SSH keys
ls -la ~/.ssh/id_*.pub 2>/dev/null || echo "No SSH keys found"Step 2: Generate a key if needed
# Generate an ed25519 key (modern, secure, fast)
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "their-email@example.com" -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 -N ""
# Display the public key for them to add to GitHub
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pubTell the user to add the public key at: https://github.com/settings/keys
- Click "New SSH key"
- Paste the public key content
- Give it a title like "hermes-agent-<machine-name>"
Step 3: Test the connection
ssh -T git@github.com
# Expected: "Hi <username>! You've successfully authenticated..."Step 4: Configure git to use SSH for GitHub
# Rewrite HTTPS GitHub URLs to SSH automatically
git config --global url."git@github.com:".insteadOf "https://github.com/"Step 5: Configure git identity
git config --global user.name "Their Name"
git config --global user.email "their-email@example.com"---
Method 2: gh CLI Authentication
Settings you configure once. Change one at a time so you can see what each does. Set THEIR_TOKEN in your environment, not in the chat.
If gh is installed, it handles both API access and git credentials in one step.
Interactive Browser Login (Desktop)
gh auth login
# Select: GitHub.com
# Select: HTTPS
# Authenticate via browserToken-Based Login (Headless / SSH Servers)
echo "<THEIR_TOKEN>" | gh auth login --with-token
# Set up git credentials through gh
gh auth setup-gitVerify
gh auth status---
Using the GitHub API Without gh
Settings you configure once. Change one at a time so you can see what each does. Set GITHUB_TOKEN, HERMES_HOME in your environment, not in the chat.
When gh is not available, you can still access the full GitHub API using curl with a personal access token. This is how the other GitHub skills implement their fallbacks.
Setting the Token for API Calls
# Option 1: Export as env var (preferred — keeps it out of commands)
export GITHUB_TOKEN="<token>"
# Then use in curl calls:
curl -s -H "Authorization: token $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
https://api.github.com/userExtracting the Token from Git Credentials
If git credentials are already configured (via credential.helper store), the token can be extracted:
# Read from git credential store
uv run python3 "${HERMES_HOME:-$HOME/.hermes}/skills/github/github-auth/scripts/git-credential-token.py"Helper: Detect Auth Method
Use this pattern at the start of any GitHub workflow:
# Try gh first, fall back to git + curl
if command -v gh &>/dev/null && gh auth status &>/dev/null; then
echo "AUTH_METHOD=gh"
elif [ -n "$GITHUB_TOKEN" ]; then
echo "AUTH_METHOD=curl"
elif _hermes_env="${HERMES_HOME:-$HOME/.hermes}/.env"; [ -f "$_hermes_env" ] && grep -q "^GITHUB_TOKEN=" "$_hermes_env"; then
export GITHUB_TOKEN=$(grep "^GITHUB_TOKEN=" "$_hermes_env" | head -1 | cut -d= -f2 | tr -d '\n\r')
echo "AUTH_METHOD=curl"
elif grep -q "github.com" ~/.git-credentials 2>/dev/null; then
export GITHUB_TOKEN=$(uv run python3 "${HERMES_HOME:-$HOME/.hermes}/skills/github/github-auth/scripts/git-credential-token.py")
echo "AUTH_METHOD=curl"
else
echo "AUTH_METHOD=none"
echo "Need to set up authentication first"
fi---
Troubleshooting
A troubleshooting section. Find the symptom that matches yours rather than reading it end to end.
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
git push asks for password | GitHub disabled password auth. Use a personal access token as the password, or switch to SSH |
remote: Permission to X denied | Token may lack repo scope — regenerate with correct scopes |
fatal: Authentication failed | Cached credentials may be stale — run git credential reject then re-authenticate |
ssh: connect to host github.com port 22: Connection refused | Try SSH over HTTPS port: add Host github.com with Port 443 and Hostname ssh.github.com to ~/.ssh/config |
| Credentials not persisting | Check git config --global credential.helper — must be store or cache |
| Multiple GitHub accounts | Use SSH with different keys per host alias in ~/.ssh/config, or per-repo credential URLs |
gh: command not found + no sudo | Use git-only Method 1 above — no installation needed |