About user access tokens
Note: User access tokens that expire are currently an optional feature and are subject to change. To opt in or out of the token expiration feature, see "Activating optional features for GitHub Apps." For more information, see "Expiring user-to-server access tokens for GitHub Apps."
A user access token is a type of OAuth token. Unlike a traditional OAuth token, the user access token does not use scopes. Instead, it uses fine-grained permissions. A user access token only has permissions that both the user and the app have. For example, if the app was granted permission to write the contents of a repository, but the user can only read the contents, then the user access token can only read the contents.
Similarly, a user access token can only access resources that both the user and app can access. For example, if an app is granted access to repository A
and B
, and the user can access repository B
and C
, the user access token can access repository B
but not A
or C
. You can use the REST API to check which installations and which repositories within an installation a user access token can access. For more information, see GET /user/installations
and GET /user/installations/{installation_id}/repositories
in "GitHub App installations."
When you make API requests with a user access token, the rate limits for user access tokens apply. For more information, see "Rate limits for GitHub Apps."
By default, the user access token expires after 8 hours. You can use a refresh token to regenerate a user access token. For more information, see "Refreshing user access tokens."
Users can revoke their authorization of a GitHub App. For more information, see "Token expiration and revocation." If a user revokes their authorization of a GitHub App, the app will receive the github_app_authorization
webhook. GitHub Apps cannot unsubscribe from this event. If your app receives this webhook, you should stop calling the API on behalf of the user who revoked the token. If your app continues to use a revoked access token, it will receive the 401 Bad Credentials
error. For more information about this webhook, see "Webhook events and payloads."
You should keep user access tokens and refresh tokens secure. For more information, see "Best practices for creating a GitHub App."
Using the web application flow to generate a user access token
If your app runs in the browser, you should use the web application flow to generate a user access token. For a tutorial about using the web application flow, see "Building a "Login with GitHub" button with a GitHub App."
-
Direct the user to this URL, and add any necessary query parameters from the following list of parameters:
http(s)://HOSTNAME/login/oauth/authorize
. For example, this URL specifies theclient_id
andstate
parameters:http(s)://HOSTNAME/login/oauth/authorize?client_id=12345&state=abcdefg
.Query parameter Type Description client_id
string
Required. The client ID for your GitHub App. The client ID is different from the app ID. You can find the client ID on the settings page for your app.
For user-owned apps, the settings page ishttps://github.com/settings/apps/APP-SLUG
.
For organization-owned apps, the settings page ishttps://github.com/organizations/ORGANIZATION/settings/apps/APP-SLUG
.
ReplaceAPP-SLUG
with the slugified name of your app andORGANIZATION
with the slugified name of your organization. For example,https://github.com/organizations/octo-org/settings/apps/octo-app
.redirect_uri
string
The URL in your application where users will be sent after authorization. This must be an exact match to one of the URLs you provided as a "Callback URL" in your app's settings and can't contain any additional parameters. state
string
When specified, the value should contain a random string to protect against forgery attacks, and it can also contain any other arbitrary data. login
string
When specified, the web application flow will prompt users with a specific account they can use for signing in and authorizing your app. allow_signup
boolean
Whether unauthenticated users will be offered an option to sign up for GitHub during the OAuth flow. The default is true
. Usefalse
when a policy prohibits signups. -
If the user accepts your authorization request, GitHub will redirect the user to one of the callback URLs in your app settings, and provide a
code
query parameter you can use in the next step to create a user access token. If you specifiedredirect_uri
in the previous step, that callback URL will be used. Otherwise, the first callback URL on your app's settings page will be used.If you specified the
state
parameter in the previous step, GitHub will also include astate
parameter. If thestate
parameter does not match thestate
parameter that you sent in the previous step, the request cannot be trusted, and the web application flow should be aborted. -
Exchange the
code
from the previous step for a user access token by making aPOST
request to this URL, along with the following query parameters:http(s)://HOSTNAME/login/oauth/access_token
Query parameter Type Description client_id
string
Required. The client ID for your GitHub App. The client ID is different from the app ID. You can find the client ID on the settings page for your app.
For user-owned apps, the settings page ishttps://github.com/settings/apps/APP-SLUG
.
For organization-owned apps, the settings page ishttps://github.com/organizations/ORGANIZATION/settings/apps/APP-SLUG
.
ReplaceAPP-SLUG
with the slugified name of your app andORGANIZATION
with the slugified name of your organization. For example,https://github.com/organizations/octo-org/settings/apps/octo-app
.client_secret
string
Required. The client secret for your GitHub App. You can generate a client secret on the settings page for your app. code
string
Required. The code you received in the previous step. redirect_uri
string
The URL in your application where users will be sent after authorization. This must be an exact match to one of the URLs you provided as a "Callback URL" when setting up your GitHub App and can't contain any additional parameters. repository_id
string
The ID of a single repository that the user access token can access. If the GitHub App or user cannot access the repository, this will be ignored. Use this parameter to restrict the access of the user access token further. -
GitHub will give a response that includes the following parameters:
Response parameter Type Description access_token
string
The user access token. The token starts with ghu_
.expires_in
integer
The number of seconds until access_token
expires. If you disabled expiration of user access tokens, this parameter will be omitted. The value will always be28800
(8 hours).refresh_token
string
The refresh token. If you disabled expiration of user access tokens, this parameter will be omitted. The token starts with ghr_
.refresh_token_expires_in
integer
The number of seconds until refresh_token
expires. If you disabled expiration of user access tokens, this parameter will be omitted. The value will always be15811200
(6 months).scope
string
The scopes that the token has. This value will always be an empty string. Unlike a traditional OAuth token, the user access token is limited to the permissions that both your app and the user have. token_type
string
The type of token. The value will always be bearer
. -
Use the user access token from the previous step to make API requests on behalf of the user. Include the user access token in the
Authorization
header of an API request. For example:curl --request GET \ --url "http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/user" \ --header "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ --header "Authorization: Bearer USER_ACCESS_TOKEN"
Using the device flow to generate a user access token
Note: The device flow is in public beta and subject to change.
If your app is headless or does not have access to a browser, you should use the device flow to generate a user access token. For example, CLI tools, simple Raspberry Pis, and desktop applications should use the device flow. For a tutorial that uses device flow, see "Building a CLI with a GitHub App."
The device flow uses the OAuth 2.0 Device Authorization Grant.
-
Send a
POST
request tohttp(s)://HOSTNAME/login/device/code
along with aclient_id
query parameter. The client ID is different from the app ID. You can find the client ID on the settings page for your app.- For user-owned apps, the settings page is
https://github.com/settings/apps/APP-SLUG
. - For organization-owned apps, the settings page is
https://github.com/organizations/ORGANIZATION/settings/apps/APP-SLUG
.
Replace
APP-SLUG
with the slugified name of your app andORGANIZATION
with the slugified name of your organization. For example,https://github.com/organizations/octo-org/settings/apps/octo-app
. - For user-owned apps, the settings page is
-
GitHub will give a response that includes the following query parameters:
Response parameter Type Description device_code
string
A verification code that is used to verify the device. This code is 40 characters long. user_code
string
A verification code that your application should display so that the user can enter the code in a browser. This code is 8 characters with a hyphen in the middle. For example, WDJB-MJHT
.verification_uri
string
The URL where users need to enter their user_code
. The URL is:http(s)://HOSTNAME/login/device
.expires_in
integer
The number of seconds before the device_code
anduser_code
expire. The default is 900 seconds (15 minutes).interval
integer
The minimum number of seconds that must pass before you can make a new access token request ( POST http(s)://HOSTNAME/login/oauth/access_token
) to complete the device authorization. If you make a request before this interval passes, then you will hit the rate limit and receive aslow_down
error. The default is 5 seconds. -
Prompt the user to enter the
user_code
from the previous step athttp(s)://HOSTNAME/login/device
.If the user does not enter the code before the
expires_in
time passes, the code will be invalid. In this case, you should restart the device flow. -
Poll
POST http(s)://HOSTNAME/login/oauth/access_token
along with theclient_id
,device_code
, andgrant_type
query parameters (described below) until the device and user codes expire or the user has successfully authorized the app by entering theuser_code
.Query parameter Type Description client_id
string
Required. The client ID for your GitHub App. device_code
string
Required. The device verification code you received in the previous step. grant_type
string
Required. The grant type must be urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:device_code
.repository_id
string
The ID of a single repository that the user access token can access. If the GitHub App or user cannot access the repository, this will be ignored. Use this parameter to restrict the access of the user access token further. Do not poll this endpoint at a higher frequency than the frequency indicated by
interval
. If you do, you will hit the rate limit and receive aslow_down
error. Theslow_down
error response adds 5 seconds to the lastinterval
.Until the user enters the code, GitHub will respond with a 200 status and an
error
response query parameter.Error name Description authorization_pending
This error occurs when the authorization request is pending and the user hasn't entered the user code yet. The app is expected to keep polling the POST http(s)://HOSTNAME/login/oauth/access_token
at a frequency no faster than the frequency specified byinterval
.slow_down
When you receive the slow_down
error, 5 extra seconds are added to the minimuminterval
or timeframe required between your requests usingPOST http(s)://HOSTNAME/login/oauth/access_token
. For example, if the starting interval required at least 5 seconds between requests and you get aslow_down
error response, you must now wait a minimum of 10 seconds before making a new request for a token. The error response includes the newinterval
that you must use.expired_token
If the device code expired, then you will see the token_expired
error. You must make a new request for a device code.unsupported_grant_type
The grant type must be urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:device_code
and included as an input parameter when you poll the OAuth token requestPOST http(s)://HOSTNAME/login/oauth/access_token
.incorrect_client_credentials
For the device flow, you must pass your app's client ID, which you can find on your app settings page. The client ID is different from the app ID and client secret. incorrect_device_code
The device_code
provided is not valid.access_denied
When a user clicks cancel during the authorization process, you'll receive an access_denied
error, and the user won't be able to use the verification code again. -
Once the user has entered the
user_code
, GitHub will give a response that includes the following query parameters:Response parameter Type Description access_token
string
The user access token. The token starts with ghu_
.expires_in
integer
The number of seconds until access_token
expires. If you disabled expiration of user access tokens, this parameter will be omitted. The value will always be28800
(8 hours).refresh_token
string
The refresh token. If you disabled expiration of user access tokens, this parameter will be omitted. The token starts with ghr_
.refresh_token_expires_in
integer
The number of seconds until refresh_token
expires. If you disabled expiration of user access tokens, this parameter will be omitted. The value will always be15811200
(6 months).scope
string
The scopes that the token has. This value will always be an empty string. Unlike a traditional OAuth token, the user access token is limited to the permissions that both your app and the user have. token_type
string
The type of token. The value will always be bearer
. -
Use the user access token from the previous step to make API requests on behalf of the user. Include the user access token in the
Authorization
header of an API request. For example:curl --request GET \ --url "http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/user" \ --header "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ --header "Authorization: Bearer USER_ACCESS_TOKEN"
Generating a user access token when a user installs your app
If you select Request user authorization (OAuth) during installation in your app settings, GitHub will start the web application flow immediately after a user installs your app.
You can generate a user access token with this method regardless of whether the app is installed on a user account or an organization account. However, if the app was installed on an organization account, you will need to use the web application flow or device flow to generate a user access token for other users in the organization.
-
When a user installs your app, GitHub will redirect the user to
http(s)://HOSTNAME/login/oauth/authorize?client_id=CLIENT_ID
, whereCLIENT_ID
is the client ID of your app. -
If the user accepts your authorization request, GitHub will redirect the user to the first callback URL in your app settings, and provide a
code
query parameter.If you want to control which callback URL is used, do not select Request user authorization (OAuth) during installation. Instead, direct users through the full web application flow and specify the
redirect_uri
parameter. -
Exchange the
code
from the previous step for a user access token by making aPOST
request to this URL, along with the following query parameters:http(s)://HOSTNAME/login/oauth/access_token
Query parameter Type Description client_id
string
Required. The client ID for your GitHub App. The client ID is different from the app ID. You can find the client ID on the settings page for your app.
For user-owned apps, the settings page ishttps://github.com/settings/apps/APP-SLUG
.
For organization-owned apps, the settings page ishttps://github.com/organizations/ORGANIZATION/settings/apps/APP-SLUG
.
ReplaceAPP-SLUG
with the slugified name of your app andORGANIZATION
with the slugified name of your organization. For example,https://github.com/organizations/octo-org/settings/apps/octo-app
.client_secret
string
Required. The client secret for your GitHub App. You can generate a client secret on the settings page for your app. code
string
Required. The code you received in the previous step. redirect_uri
string
The URL in your application where users will be sent after authorization. This must be an exact match to one of the URLs you provided as a "Callback URL" when setting up your GitHub App and can't contain any additional parameters. repository_id
string
The ID of a single repository that the user access token can access. If the GitHub App or user cannot access the repository, this will be ignored. Use this parameter to restrict the access of the user access token further. -
GitHub will give a response that includes the following parameters:
Response parameter Type Description access_token
string
The user access token. The token starts with ghu_
.expires_in
integer
The number of seconds until access_token
expires. If you disabled expiration of user access tokens, this parameter will be omitted. The value will always be28800
(8 hours).refresh_token
string
The refresh token. If you disabled expiration of user access tokens, this parameter will be omitted. The token starts with ghr_
.refresh_token_expires_in
integer
The number of seconds until refresh_token
expires. If you disabled expiration of user access tokens, this parameter will be omitted. The value will always be15811200
(6 months).scope
string
The scopes that the token has. This value will always be an empty string. Unlike a traditional OAuth token, the user access token is limited to the permissions that both your app and the user have. token_type
string
The type of token. The value will always be bearer
. -
Use the user access token from the previous step to make API requests on behalf of the user. Include the user access token in the
Authorization
header of an API request. For example:curl --request GET \ --url "http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/user" \ --header "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ --header "Authorization: Bearer USER_ACCESS_TOKEN"
Using a refresh token to generate a user access token
By default, user access tokens expires after 8 hours. If you receive a user access token with an expiration, you will also receive a refresh token. The refresh token expire after 6 months. You can use this refresh token to regenerate a user access token. For more information, see "Refreshing user access tokens."
GitHub strongly encourages you to use user access tokens that expire. If you previously opted out of using user access tokens that expire but want to reenable this feature, see "Activating optional features for GitHub Apps".
Supported endpoints for user access tokens
Check Runs
- Create a check run
- Get a check run
- Update a check run
- List check run annotations
- List check runs in a check suite
- List check runs for a Git reference
Check Suites
- Create a check suite
- Get a check suite
- Rerequest a check suite
- Update repository preferences for check suites
- List check suites for a Git reference
Codes Of Conduct
Deployment Statuses
Deployments
Events
Feeds
Git Blobs
Git Commits
Git Refs
Git Tags
Git Trees
Gitignore Templates
Installations
Issue Assignees
Issue Comments
- List issue comments
- Create an issue comment
- List issue comments for a repository
- Get an issue comment
- Update an issue comment
- Delete an issue comment
Issue Events
Issue Timeline
Issues
- List issues assigned to the authenticated user
- List assignees
- Check if a user can be assigned
- List repository issues
- Create an issue
- Get an issue
- Update an issue
- Lock an issue
- Unlock an issue
Labels
- List labels for an issue
- Add labels to an issue
- Set labels for an issue
- Remove all labels from an issue
- Remove a label from an issue
- List labels for a repository
- Create a label
- Get a label
- Update a label
- Delete a label
- Get labels for every issue in a milestone
Licenses
Markdown
Meta
Milestones
Organization Hooks
- List organization webhooks
- Create an organization webhook
- Get an organization webhook
- Update an organization webhook
- Delete an organization webhook
- Ping an organization webhook
Organization Members
- List organization members
- Check organization membership for a user
- Remove an organization member
- Get organization membership for a user
- Set organization membership for a user
- Remove organization membership for a user
- List public organization members
- Check public organization membership for a user
- Set public organization membership for the authenticated user
- Remove public organization membership for the authenticated user
Organization Outside Collaborators
- List outside collaborators for an organization
- Convert an organization member to outside collaborator
- Remove outside collaborator from an organization
Organization Pre Receive Hooks
- List pre-receive hooks for an organization
- Get a pre-receive hook for an organization
- Update pre-receive hook enforcement for an organization
- Remove pre-receive hook enforcement for an organization
Organization Team Projects
- List team projects
- Check team permissions for a project
- Add or update team project permissions
- Remove a project from a team
Organization Team Repositories
- List team repositories
- Check team permissions for a repository
- Add or update team repository permissions
- Remove a repository from a team
Organization Teams
Organizations
- List organizations
- Get an organization
- Update an organization
- List organization memberships for the authenticated user
- Get an organization membership for the authenticated user
- Update an organization membership for the authenticated user
- List organizations for the authenticated user
- List organizations for a user
Project Collaborators
- List project collaborators
- Add project collaborator
- Remove project collaborator
- Get project permission for a user
Projects
- List organization projects
- Create an organization project
- Get a project
- Update a project
- Delete a project
- List project columns
- Create a project column
- Get a project column
- Update a project column
- Delete a project column
- List project cards
- Create a project card
- Move a project column
- Get a project card
- Update a project card
- Delete a project card
- Move a project card
- List repository projects
- Create a repository project
Pull Comments
- List review comments on a pull request
- Create a review comment for a pull request
- List review comments in a repository
- Get a review comment for a pull request
- Update a review comment for a pull request
- Delete a review comment for a pull request
Pull Request Review Events
Pull Request Review Requests
- List requested reviewers for a pull request
- Request reviewers for a pull request
- Remove requested reviewers from a pull request
Pull Request Reviews
- List reviews for a pull request
- Create a review for a pull request
- Get a review for a pull request
- Update a review for a pull request
- List comments for a pull request review
Pulls
- List pull requests
- Create a pull request
- Get a pull request
- Update a pull request
- List commits on a pull request
- List pull requests files
- Check if a pull request has been merged
- Merge a pull request (Merge Button)
Reactions
- Delete a reaction
- List reactions for a commit comment
- Create reaction for a commit comment
- List reactions for an issue
- Create reaction for an issue
- List reactions for an issue comment
- Create reaction for an issue comment
- List reactions for a pull request review comment
- Create reaction for a pull request review comment
- List reactions for a team discussion comment
- Create reaction for a team discussion comment
- List reactions for a team discussion
- Create reaction for a team discussion
- Delete a commit comment reaction
- Delete an issue reaction
- Delete a reaction to a commit comment
- Delete a pull request comment reaction
- Delete team discussion reaction
- Delete team discussion comment reaction
Repositories
- List organization repositories
- Create a repository for the authenticated user
- Get a repository
- Update a repository
- Delete a repository
- Compare two commits
- List repository contributors
- List forks
- Create a fork
- List repository languages
- List repository tags
- List repository teams
- Transfer a repository
- List public repositories
- List repositories for the authenticated user
- List repositories for a user
- Create repository using a repository template
Repository Activity
- List stargazers
- List watchers
- List repositories starred by a user
- Check if a repository is starred by the authenticated user
- Star a repository for the authenticated user
- Unstar a repository for the authenticated user
- List repositories watched by a user
Repository Branches
- List branches
- Get a branch
- Get branch protection
- Update branch protection
- Delete branch protection
- Get admin branch protection
- Set admin branch protection
- Delete admin branch protection
- Get pull request review protection
- Update pull request review protection
- Delete pull request review protection
- Get commit signature protection
- Create commit signature protection
- Delete commit signature protection
- Get status checks protection
- Update status check protection
- Remove status check protection
- Get all status check contexts
- Add status check contexts
- Set status check contexts
- Remove status check contexts
- Get access restrictions
- Delete access restrictions
- List teams with access to the protected branch
- Add team access restrictions
- Set team access restrictions
- Remove team access restriction
- List user restrictions of protected branch
- Add user access restrictions
- Set user access restrictions
- Remove user access restrictions
- Merge a branch
Repository Collaborators
- List repository collaborators
- Check if a user is a repository collaborator
- Add a repository collaborator
- Remove a repository collaborator
- Get repository permissions for a user
Repository Commit Comments
- List commit comments for a repository
- Get a commit comment
- Update a commit comment
- Delete a commit comment
- List commit comments
- Create a commit comment
Repository Commits
Repository Community
Repository Contents
- Download a repository archive
- Get repository content
- Create or update file contents
- Delete a file
- Get a repository README
- Get the license for a repository
Repository Event Dispatches
Repository Hooks
- List repository webhooks
- Create a repository webhook
- Get a repository webhook
- Update a repository webhook
- Delete a repository webhook
- Ping a repository webhook
- Test the push repository webhook
Repository Invitations
- List repository invitations
- Update a repository invitation
- Delete a repository invitation
- List repository invitations for the authenticated user
- Accept a repository invitation
- Decline a repository invitation
Repository Keys
Repository Pages
- Get a GitHub Pages site
- Create a GitHub Pages site
- Update information about a GitHub Pages site
- Delete a GitHub Pages site
- List GitHub Pages builds
- Request a GitHub Pages build
- Get GitHub Pages build
- Get latest pages build
Repository Pre Receive Hooks
- List pre-receive hooks for a repository
- Get a pre-receive hook for a repository
- Update pre-receive hook enforcement for a repository
- Remove pre-receive hook enforcement for a repository
Repository Releases
- List releases
- Create a release
- Get a release
- Update a release
- Delete a release
- List release assets
- Get a release asset
- Update a release asset
- Delete a release asset
- Get the latest release
- Get a release by tag name
Repository Stats
- Get the weekly commit activity
- Get the last year of commit activity
- Get all contributor commit activity
- Get the weekly commit count
- Get the hourly commit count for each day
Root
Search
Statuses
- Get the combined status for a specific reference
- List commit statuses for a reference
- Create a commit status
Team Discussions
- List discussions
- Create a discussion
- Get a discussion
- Update a discussion
- Delete a discussion
- List discussion comments
- Create a discussion comment
- Get a discussion comment
- Update a discussion comment
- Delete a discussion comment
Topics
User Emails
- List email addresses for the authenticated user
- Add email address(es)
- Delete email address(es)
- List public email addresses for the authenticated user
User Followers
- List followers of a user
- List the people a user follows
- Check if a person is followed by the authenticated user
- Follow a user
- Unfollow a user
- Check if a user follows another user
User Gpg Keys
- List GPG keys for the authenticated user
- Create a GPG key for the authenticated user
- Get a GPG key for the authenticated user
- Delete a GPG key for the authenticated user
- List gpg keys for a user
User Public Keys
- List public SSH keys for the authenticated user
- Create a public SSH key for the authenticated user
- Get a public SSH key for the authenticated user
- Delete a public SSH key for the authenticated user
- List public keys for a user