Configuring Git command line and editor

We have a longer version of this in the installation instructions. But for clarity, we will review the most important parts here.

You don’t need to set these if you work only through the GitHub or GitLab web interface. If you use VS Code or other editors or integrated development environments, the editor might prompt you to set these up. If you use RStudio, you can carry out the configuration in RStudio (see the RStudio tab in the section Authenticating to GitHub or GitLab below).

These configuration settings are saved in a file called .gitconfig in your home directory. If this file exists, editors like VS Code will use this configuration.

If you want to see your configuration settings, you can use the command (--show-origin means it shows the file where each setting is defined):

$ git config --list --show-origin

Name and email address for Git commit metadata

Git commits carry metadata about the author and two things you will always need to define somewhere are:

$ git config --global user.name "Your Name"
$ git config --global user.email yourname@example.com

For the email address we recommend using the one associated with your GitHub or GitLab account. If you prefer not to expose your personal email address, you can instead use the privacy-preserving no-reply address provided by the service:

  • GitHub: Copy the exact address shown in your email settings.

  • GitLab: In your profile settings, select Use a private email as the commit email and copy the generated address.

The address may contain an account-specific ID, username, or other details, so do not try to construct it yourself. This allows the service to connect your contributions with your account without exposing your personal email address.

Note that these can, in theory, be anything: this is just data, not a registration or identity requirement.

Default branch name

The default branch name in Git has been master for a long time, but it is changing to main in many places. We recommend to set it to main for new repositories that you create locally:

$ git config --global init.defaultbranch main

Useful alias for the command line

We recommend to define an alias (shortcut) in Git, to be able to nicely visualize branch structure in the terminal without having to remember a long Git command:

$ git config --global alias.graph "log --all --graph --decorate --oneline"

We have an own section about aliases: Aliases and configuration.

Default text editor for commit messages

Git sometimes needs to start a text editor for you to enter messages (unless you create commits from inside an editor or on the web). This may have already been set to something (like VS Code), but if not nano is usually a safe choice:

$ git config --global core.editor nano

The installation instructions text editor page gives ways to set other editors, or do a web search for “git set editor to [editor name]”.

Authenticating to GitHub or GitLab: SSH or HTTPS or VS Code or RStudio?

How does the hosting service know who you are? We discuss here four options:

  • SSH is the classic method, using Secure Shell Protocol remote connection keys.

  • HTTPS works with the Git Credential Manager, which is an extra add-on that works easily in Windows and Mac.

  • VS Code editor can authenticate with GitHub using its own authentication method.

  • RStudio can handle authentication via HTTPS or SSH. Here, the RStudio instructions cover using HTTPS.

Read how to install them from the installation instructions.

Test which one you should use:

Try one of these commands, depending on where your repository is hosted:

GitHub:

$ ssh -T git@github.com

If it returns Hi USERNAME! You've successfully authenticated, ..., then SSH is configured and the following steps will work with the SSH cloning.

GitLab:

$ ssh -T git@gitlab.com

If it returns Welcome to GitLab, @USERNAME!, then SSH is configured and the following steps will work with SSH cloning.

From now on, if you know that SSH works, select SSH as the clone URL from the service hosting your repository. GitHub URLs start with git@github.com: and GitLab URLs start with git@gitlab.com:.

See our installation instructions to set up SSH access.