GitHub Codex Key

Use an SSH key dedicated to coding-agent GitHub operations. Keep the private key local, never print it, and only share the .pub public key when configuring GitHub.

Recommended Key Paths

Choose a local key path and keep it consistent. For example:

• Private key: ~/.ssh/<agent_github_key>
• Public key: ~/.ssh/<agent_github_key>.pub
• SSH host config: ~/.ssh/config

These names are examples. If you publish or share this skill, do not include machine-specific paths, account names, or private key contents.

Retrieve Public Key

When the user asks for the key to add to GitHub, show only the public key:

cat ~/.ssh/<agent_github_key>.pub

Test GitHub Authentication

Use:

ssh -T git@github.com

A successful authentication usually prints a message like:

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

The command may still exit nonzero because GitHub does not provide shell access.

Git Remote Usage

Prefer SSH remotes:

git clone git@github.com:OWNER/REPO.git
git remote set-url origin git@github.com:OWNER/REPO.git
git pull
git push

If Git does not pick the configured identity, force it for one command:

GIT_SSH_COMMAND="ssh -i ~/.ssh/<agent_github_key> -o IdentitiesOnly=yes" git push

If Auth Fails

1. Confirm the key files exist.

ls -l ~/.ssh/<agent_github_key> ~/.ssh/<agent_github_key>.pub

2. Confirm ~/.ssh/config has an entry similar to:

Host github.com
  HostName github.com
  User git
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/<agent_github_key>
  IdentitiesOnly yes

3. Add the public key to GitHub.

GitHub Settings -> SSH and GPG keys -> New SSH key

4. Retest with ssh -T git@github.com.

Safety Rules

• Never print, paste, upload, commit, or summarize private key contents.
• Never commit .ssh/, tokens, .env, or credential helper files.
• Use repository-specific deploy keys only when that access model is intended.