A command-line utility to easily work with multiple git accounts.

Automatically use the correct SSH key and user profile for git operations without having to remember any extra steps. Once configured, it just works. Easy peasy 🍋

No more cases of mistaken identity or "Permission Denied" when trying to access a repo when you have multiple git accounts.

The following configuration was done on MacOS

Installation

npm i -g git-multi-profile

Global install is important here since this will be used outside the scope of any individual NodeJS project

Set up

# Download shell script
curl -Lo git-clone https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AdaptableBytes/git-multi-profile/main/shell-scripts/git-clone

# Make available as shell command
sudo cp git-clone /usr/local/bin && sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/git-clone

Config

Create a new config file in user home directory with your account info.

This file is used exclusively by git-multi-profile so there is no risk for conflicts or disrupting existing git functionality.

~/.git-profiles.json

{
  "personal": {
    "name": "Name or Username",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "hostprefix": "personal"
  },
  "work": {
    "name": "Name or Username",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "hostprefix": "work"
  }  
}

Add/Create SSH Keys

If you don't already have SSH keys configured for your git accounts, create an SSH key for each profile you set up in ~/.git-profiles.json

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa_personal -C "[email protected]"

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa_work -C "[email protected]"

Add your SSH Key to your Github account

Github Doc

Configure Local SSH Key Mapping

Open ~/.ssh/config file. Add entries as follows (one for each profile you set up in ~/.git-profiles.json)

Host personal.github.com
  HostName github.com
  User git
  AddKeysToAgent yes
  UseKeychain yes
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_personal

Host work.github.com
  HostName github.com
  User git
  AddKeysToAgent yes
  UseKeychain yes
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_work  

Usage

Use the following command in place of the usual git clone command

git-clone {PROFILE} {GIT_REPO_SSH_URL}

This will perform a git clone operation for the specified repo and update the local .git/config with the profile user

Example

git-clone work [email protected]:MyCompany/some-repo.git

From the command-line, you are using the shell script command, not the NodeJS library directly

Additional Resources

• Add SSH Key to Gitlab https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ssh/README.html#adding-an-ssh-key-to-your-gitlab-account

• Add SSH Key to BitBucket https://support.atlassian.com/bitbucket-cloud/docs/set-up-an-ssh-key/

FAQ

What does git-multi-profile do with SSH keys?

Nothing. The core functionality is performed by git and ssh. git-multi-profile is a thin wrapper that maps the hostname to a configured git profile and then invokes git which in turn uses ssh for communication

Will git-multi-profile work with Bitbucket, Gitlab, other?

Yes. This works with any git provider assuming they are utilizing the standard protocols

Help! The command says "cloning..." but just hangs.

This is likely because you don't have the Git provider in your ssh known-hosts file, and an ssh prompt is waiting for input. This is annoying, but a necessary security check.

To solve this you could run ssh command to the hostname like so (of course enter the actual git provider hostname and port, which is usually 22):

ssh [email protected] -p 2022

which will generate the prompt like this:

The authenticity of host '[source.developers.google.com]:2022 ([xx.xx.xx.255]:2022)' can't be established.
ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:AGmEpqXNMqsRPIviwyk4J4HM0lEylomDBKOWZsBb434.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?

Say "yes" which will add the host to your known-hosts file.