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GitHub

Essential setup and configuration for working with GitHub repositories.

SSH Key Setup

SSH key generation and keychain management are covered in the Shell section. Follow that guide first to:

  1. Generate your SSH key with a passphrase
  2. Configure SSH permissions
  3. Set up SSH keychain to cache your passphrase

After completing the Shell setup, come back here to push your key to GitHub.

Add SSH Key to GitHub

The fastest way to add your SSH key to GitHub is using the GitHub CLI:

  1. Install GitHub CLI
# On Ubuntu/WSL
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gh

# On macOS
brew install gh

# Or download from https://github.com/cli/cli/releases
  1. Authenticate with GitHub
gh auth login

Follow the prompts: - Select "GitHub.com" - Select "SSH" for git protocol - Use your existing SSH key - Authorize GitHub CLI to manage SSH keys

  1. Automatic SSH key upload

GitHub CLI will automatically detect your SSH key and upload it to your GitHub account during gh auth login.

  1. Verify setup
gh auth status

You should see confirmation of your authenticated account.

Option 2: Manual GitHub Web Interface

If you prefer the web interface:

  1. Display your public key:
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

  1. Copy the entire output

  2. Go to GitHub Settings → SSH and GPG keys → New SSH key

  3. Paste your public key and give it a descriptive title (e.g., "My Laptop")

  4. Click "Add SSH key"

Test SSH Connection

Verify your SSH setup works with GitHub:

ssh -T git@github.com

You should see:

Hi YOUR_USERNAME! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

Basic Git Workflow

Clone a Repository

git clone git@github.com:USERNAME/repository.git
cd repository

Create and Switch Branches

git checkout -b feature/my-feature

Make Changes and Commit

git add .
git commit -m "Describe your changes"

Push to GitHub

git push origin feature/my-feature

Create a Pull Request

After pushing, visit your repository on GitHub and create a pull request to merge your branch.

Cloning Your First Repository

Your first GitHub repository can be cloned locally:

git clone git@github.com:YOUR_USERNAME/your-repo.git
cd your-repo

Then you can run Claude Code inside:

claude .