Hiding GitHub token in .gitconfig

Question

I would like to store all of my dotfiles on GitHub, including .gitconfig which requires me to hide the GitHub token in the .gitconfig.

To do so I have a ".gitconfig-hidden-token" file which is the file I intend to edit and put under git that hides the token:

...
[github]
user = giuliop
token = --hidden--
...

And a shell script which I need to launch if I modify the ".gitconfig-hidden-token" file to create the ".gitconfig" file:

cp .gitconfig .gitconfig.backup
sed 's/--hidden--/123456789/' .gitconfig-hidden-token > .gitconfig

The drawback is the need to manually launch the script everytime I modidy the file. Is there a better, fully automated way to do this?

Solution 1

Add your .gitconfig with git add -N.

Then git add -p it, edit the hunk, replace the token with anything, and push that. No need for an extra file this way.

Addendum: on additional modifications of your file, use git add -p again, and edit the hunk so that your initial manipulation not be overwritten.

Solution 2

I just fixed this up for myself. The "proper" way to solve the issue is to split your gitconfig into two files, a public one with the alias/config/etc, and a private file that keeps your username and secrets. Like so...

From https://github.com/ddopson/dotfiles ...

.gitconfig:

[include]
  # For username / creds / etc
  path = ~/.gitconfig.local

[alias]
  ... 

.gitconfig.local:

[user]
  user = ddopson
  name = Dave Dopson
  email = [email protected]
  token = a123uber456secret789ceprivate000key78

[credential]
  helper = osxkeychain

.gitignore:

/.gitconfig.local

Solution 3

You can now include another file in your gitconfig. You could put your github section in that extra file. See this question: Is it possible to include a file in your .gitconfig

Solution 4

I made a script to update my dotfiles repo, it also redacts sensitive information such as my github token. I don't think the github token is used by GitHub anymore though, but correct me if I'm wrong.

You can view my script here.

View more solutions

Comments

[gws]

what happens if I edit the file subsequently and git add it forgetting the -p? I suppose the token would be published then

[fge]

@gws: indeed, but then you can (and should probably) use git diff --cached before committing, and in case of error, just git reset the file as well.

[Hedgehog]

I think the correct approach is to use include per the answer of @ddopson