gitprofile

A cross-platform CLI tool that helps developers manage multiple Git SSH identities and per-repository authors safely. No global Git config changes, no silent remote rewrites.

Why gitprofile?

Working with multiple Git accounts (work, personal, clients) can be confusing. gitprofile makes it simple:

• ✅ Repository-scoped authors only – Never touches global git config user.*
• ✅ Explicit SSH identities – Use aliases like github-work instead of guessing
• ✅ Clear instructions – Always shows you exactly how to clone and push
• ✅ Safe by default – No silent changes, everything requires confirmation

Installation

npm install -g @john-daniels/gitprofile

Requirements:

• Node.js 18 or higher
• git installed
• ssh-keygen available (usually pre-installed on macOS/Linux)

Quick Start

1. Create your first profile

gitprofile init

This will:

• Generate a new SSH key (e.g., ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work)
• Ask for your author name and email
• Optionally add an SSH alias to ~/.ssh/config
• Show you your public key to add to GitHub/GitLab

2. Use your profile

After setup, gitprofile shows you exactly how to use it:

Clone a repository:

git clone git@github-work:ORG/REPO.git

Update an existing repository:

git remote set-url origin git@github-work:ORG/REPO.git

Set author for current repository:

gitprofile set author

Commands

gitprofile (no args)

Shows a high-level overview of available commands.

gitprofile init

Create a new Git profile (SSH key + author). Interactive prompts guide you through:

• Profile nickname (e.g., work, personal)
• Author name and email
• Git provider (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket)
• Whether to add SSH alias to ~/.ssh/config
• Whether to apply author to current repository (if in a Git repo)

gitprofile list

List all configured profiles with their details:

• Nickname
• Author name and email
• SSH alias
• SSH key path
• Provider

gitprofile set author

Apply an existing profile's author to the current Git repository. Only modifies local repository config, never global.

gitprofile help

Show detailed help explaining:

• Core concepts (SSH identity vs Git author)
• How configuration works
• Where files are stored

gitprofile doctor

Run diagnostics to check:

• Git installation
• SSH directory and keys
• ssh-agent status

How It Works

SSH Identity vs Git Author

These are two separate concepts that gitprofile keeps clear:

• SSH alias (e.g., github-work) – Controls which account you authenticate as when talking to GitHub/GitLab
• Git author (name + email) – Controls who commits are attributed to inside a repository

You can use different combinations:

• Same SSH identity, different authors per repo
• Different SSH identities, same author
• Any combination that makes sense for your workflow

Configuration Storage

• Profiles: ~/.gitprofile/config.json (per-machine, per-user)
• SSH keys: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_<nickname> (standard SSH location)
• SSH aliases: ~/.ssh/config (only appended when you create profiles)

Important: gitprofile never modifies:

• Global Git config (~/.gitconfig)
• Existing SSH keys
• Git remotes (you update those yourself)

First-Time Bootstrap

On first run, gitprofile scans your system for existing SSH keys and SSH config entries. If found, it offers to import them as profiles. This is completely optional and safe – no files are modified during bootstrap.

Examples

Work and Personal Profiles

# Create work profile
gitprofile init
# Nickname: work
# Author: Jane Doe <jane@company.com>
# Provider: github

# Create personal profile
gitprofile init
# Nickname: personal
# Author: Jane Doe <jane@gmail.com>
# Provider: github

Now you can clone work repos with git@github-work:... and personal repos with git@github-personal:....

Per-Repository Authors

cd ~/projects/work-repo
gitprofile set author
# Select: work

cd ~/projects/personal-repo
gitprofile set author
# Select: personal

Each repository now has its own author config, independent of global settings.

Platform Support

• ✅ macOS
• ✅ Linux
• ✅ Windows (with Git Bash or WSL)

Safety Guarantees

• ❌ No global Git mutations – Only repository-local config changes
• ❌ No silent remote rewrites – You control your remotes manually
• ✅ Every destructive action requires confirmation
• ✅ All output is copy-paste friendly

Troubleshooting

SSH alias not working?

Make sure ~/.ssh/config has the Host block. Run gitprofile init again and say "yes" when asked to add the SSH alias, or add it manually:

Host github-<nickname>
    HostName github.com
    User git
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_<nickname>
    IdentitiesOnly yes

Can't clone with alias?

Verify your SSH key is added to your Git provider (GitHub/GitLab). The public key is shown after gitprofile init.

Check everything

Run gitprofile doctor to see diagnostics for Git, SSH, and ssh-agent.

Contributing

Contributions welcome! See CONTRIBUTORS.md for guidelines.

License

MIT License – see LICENSE for details.

Support

Found a bug or have a feature request? Open an issue on GitHub.