Multiple GitHub Accounts

Two scripts that switch this machine between a personal GitHub account and an other GitHub account.

Each run updates git identity, HTTPS credentials, and (if installed) GitHub CLI auth so git clone, git push, and git pull use the selected profile.

Scripts

Script	Profile
switch-personal.sh	Personal GitHub account
switch-other.sh	Other GitHub account

Shared logic lives in lib/github-switch.sh. Do not run that file directly.

First-time setup

Create a classic personal access token (ghp_...) for each account. Recommended scopes: repo, plus workflow and gist if you need them.

chmod +x switch-personal.sh switch-other.sh
./switch-personal.sh
./switch-other.sh

Each script asks for:

• Git commit name
• Git commit email
• GitHub username
• Classic PAT (input is hidden)

Credentials are saved under ~/.config/github-account-switcher/ with mode 600. Tokens are never printed and are not stored in this repo.

Daily use

./switch-personal.sh    # switch to personal
./switch-other.sh       # switch to other

After a switch, the script prints the active user.name, user.email, and github.user.

Update a saved profile

./switch-personal.sh --setup
./switch-other.sh --setup

This re-prompts for name, email, username, and token, then switches to that profile.

What a switch changes

• git config --global user.name
• git config --global user.email
• git config --global github.user
• GitHub HTTPS credentials for github.com and gist.github.com (macOS Keychain via osxkeychain, or store on Linux)
• ~/.netrc entries for github.com, gist.github.com, and api.github.com
• gh auth login when the GitHub CLI is installed
• SSH remotes (git@github.com: and ssh://git@github.com/) rewritten to HTTPS so the PAT is used

To keep SSH remotes as SSH instead of rewriting them to HTTPS:

FORCE_GITHUB_HTTPS=0 ./switch-personal.sh

Where credentials are stored

~/.config/github-account-switcher/
  personal.env    # personal name, email, username, token
  other.env       # other name, email, username, token
  active          # last profile switched to

This directory is 700. Profile files are 600. They are outside the repo on purpose.

Requirements

• macOS or Linux
• git
• Interactive terminal for first-time setup
• A PAT starting with ghp_ (classic) or github_pat_ (fine-grained)

gh is optional. HTTPS + PAT is enough for clone, push, and pull.

Security

• Do not commit tokens, .env files, or ~/.netrc
• .gitignore already ignores *.env and accounts/
• Do not paste PATs into chat, issues, or pull requests
• Revoke a token on GitHub if it leaks, then re-run the matching script with --setup