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Making a GitHub App public or private

When setting up a GitHub App, you can make it public so that other GitHub users or organizations can install the app, or private so that you can only install it on the account that owns the app.

About visibility for GitHub Apps

You can make your GitHub App public or private. If you set your GitHub App to public, anyone on your GitHub Enterprise Server instance can install it, but the app is not available outside of your instance. If you set your GitHub App to private, it can only be installed on the account that owns the app.

If you want to make your app available to other GitHub Enterprise Server instances, then you need to use an app manifest. The GitHub Enterprise Server instance will create the app from the manifest and provide you with the required information. For more information, see "Creating a GitHub App from a manifest."

If it is important for other GitHub Enterprise Server users to be able to use your tool, consider using GitHub Actions instead of a GitHub App. Public actions are available on GitHub Enterprise Server instances with GitHub Connect. For more information, see "Enabling automatic access to GitHub.com actions using GitHub Connect" and "About GitHub Actions for enterprises."

For information about changing the visibility of a GitHub App, see "Modifying a GitHub App."

Public installation flow

Public GitHub Apps have a landing page with an Install button, so that other people can install the app in their repositories.

Private installation flow

Private GitHub Apps can only be installed on the user or organization account of the app owner. Limited information about the app will exist on a landing page for the app, but the Install button will only be available to organization owners and app managers for the organization that owns the app, or the personal account if the GitHub App is owned by an individual account.