What’s the recommended way to authenticate GitHub API requests using tokens or OAuth?

[Suhebdevtechnosys]

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When I connect my app or script to GitHub’s API, what’s the proper way to prove that I am allowed to access data or perform actions?

[kisueer]

When you connect to the GitHub API, there isn’t a single “one size fits all” way to authenticate. The method really depends on what kind of app or script you’re writing.

• For personal scripts or CLI tools: the simplest option is a fine-grained personal access token (PAT). These are better than the old classic tokens because you can restrict them to only the repos and scopes you actually need. You just stick the token in the Authorization header, for example:

  curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" https://api.github.com/user

  This is great for one-off automation or cron jobs you run under your own account.

• For apps that act on behalf of users: use OAuth2. With OAuth, users log in with their GitHub account, and your app gets a short-lived token tied to their permissions. This way you don’t hard-code or share tokens, and the app always works under the right user’s access.

• For org-wide or multi-repo integrations: GitHub recommends using a GitHub App. A GitHub App authenticates with a JWT, then exchanges that for an installation token scoped only to the repos/orgs where it’s installed. This is more secure and easier to manage than passing around a single PAT, especially if multiple teams or repos are involved.

So the general rule is:

• PATs → personal automation and scripts
• OAuth → apps with user sign-in
• GitHub Apps → proper integrations or bots

That way you’re following GitHub’s security best practices and you won’t run into problems later with tokens being over-scoped

[github-actions[bot]]

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