mgit

Manage multiple GitHub SSH profiles on a single machine. mgit wraps git — all unknown subcommands are forwarded transparently to git.

Installation

Quick install (Linux / macOS)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/protibimbok/mgit/master/scripts/install.sh | bash

To install into ~/.local/bin (no sudo). Override the location:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/protibimbok/mgit/master/scripts/install.sh | bash -s -- --install-dir ~/.local/bin

Then run mgit new to create your first profile.

Homebrew (macOS / Linux)

Homebrew 6.0+ requires trusting third-party taps before their code is loaded:

brew tap protibimbok/pkg-dist https://github.com/protibimbok/pkg-dist
brew trust protibimbok/pkg-dist
brew install mgit

apt (Debian / Ubuntu)

# One-time: install the signing key
curl -fsSL \
  https://github.com/protibimbok/pkg-dist/raw/master/public.gpg \
  | sudo gpg --dearmor \
  -o /usr/share/keyrings/protibimbok.gpg

# One-time: add the repository
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/protibimbok.gpg] \
  https://protibimbok.github.io/pkg-dist/apt stable main" \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/protibimbok.list

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mgit

pacman / AUR (Arch Linux)

yay -S mgit-bin
# or
paru -S mgit-bin

rpm (Fedora / RHEL / openSUSE)

Download the .rpm from the latest release:

sudo rpm -i mgit_linux_amd64.rpm

Alpine Linux

# Download the .apk from the latest release, then:
sudo apk add --allow-untrusted mgit_linux_amd64.apk

go install

go install github.com/protibimbok/mgit@latest

Windows

Prerequisites: Git for Windows (choose "Git from the command line and also from 3rd-party software"). mgit new generates SSH keys natively on Windows — you do not need ssh-keygen installed separately.

Quick install (PowerShell):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/protibimbok/mgit/master/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

Override install location:

$env:INSTALL_DIR = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\mgit"
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/protibimbok/mgit/master/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

Manual install: download mgit_windows_amd64.zip (or arm64) from the latest release, extract mgit.exe, and add it to your PATH.

Windows paths:

Purpose	Path
SSH keys	%USERPROFILE%\.ssh\mgit_<key>
SSH config	%USERPROFILE%\.ssh\config
Profiles	%APPDATA%\mgit\profiles.json

If git is missing, mgit prints install instructions instead of a generic "not found" error. On macOS and Linux, mgit new also needs ssh-keygen (usually pre-installed with OpenSSH).

---

Quick start

# 1. Create your first profile (generates SSH key + updates ~/.ssh/config)
mgit new

# 2. Add the printed public key to GitHub → Settings → SSH and GPG keys

# 3. Clone a repo using the profile key
mgit clone work:myorg/myrepo

# 4. In an existing repo, init and attach a profile
mgit init

# 5. Add a remote — mgit rewrites GitHub HTTPS or key: URLs to SSH
mgit remote add origin https://github.com/myorg/myrepo
mgit remote add origin work:myorg/myrepo

---

Commands

mgit new

Interactively creates a new SSH profile.

Prompts:
  Full name        → stored in profile, used for git config
  Email            → SSH key comment + git config
  Key              → short alias used in URLs (e.g. "work", "personal")
  Label            → display name (defaults to key)

Creates:
  ~/.ssh/mgit_<key>          private key (ed25519)
  ~/.ssh/mgit_<key>.pub      public key
  ~/.ssh/config entry:
      Host hub.<key>
        HostName github.com
        User git
        IdentityFile ~/.ssh/mgit_<key>
        IdentitiesOnly yes
  ~/.config/mgit/profiles.json entry

After running, copy the printed public key to GitHub.

---

mgit init

Initialises a git repo (if needed) and sets user.name / user.email from a profile. The chosen profile is remembered in the repo (git config mgit.profile), so running mgit init again, or any other mgit command in that repo, does not ask again.

mgit init          # auto-detects or asks once
mgit init work     # use (or switch to) a specific profile

---

mgit clone

Clones a repository using a profile key or an HTTPS URL.

# key:user/repo  →  git clone git@hub.<key>:<user>/<repo>
mgit clone work:myorg/myrepo
mgit clone personal:myname/dotfiles

# HTTPS URL → uses the profile if only one exists, otherwise asks once
mgit clone https://github.com/myorg/myrepo

# Extra git flags are forwarded
mgit clone work:myorg/myrepo --depth 1 --branch dev

---

mgit list

Lists all registered profiles.

KEY           LABEL             EMAIL                          SSH KEY
---           -----             -----                          -------
work          Work              me@company.com                 /home/me/.ssh/mgit_work
personal      Personal          me@gmail.com                   /home/me/.ssh/mgit_personal

---

mgit fix [remote]

Rewrites an existing GitHub HTTPS remote to SSH using a chosen profile. Default remote is origin.

mgit fix          # fixes origin
mgit fix upstream # fixes a different remote

---

mgit remote add (intercepted)

When you pass through to git, mgit remote add intercepts transformable URLs and rewrites them before git runs — same rules as mgit clone and mgit fix.

# HTTPS → uses the repo's profile (asks only if unknown) → git@hub.<key>:user/repo
mgit remote add origin https://github.com/myorg/myrepo

# key:user/repo shorthand → git@hub.<key>:user/repo
mgit remote add origin work:myorg/myrepo

# Already-SSH or non-GitHub URLs pass through unchanged
mgit remote add upstream git@github.com:other/repo.git

Supported URL forms:

Input	Result
https://github.com/user/repo	git@hub.<key>:user/repo (profile auto-detected, see below)
work:user/repo	git@hub.work:user/repo
git@hub.work:user/repo	unchanged

---

Profile auto-detection

Commands that need a profile (init, clone, fix, remote add) only ask when the answer is not already known. In order, mgit checks:

1. mgit.profile in the repo's local git config (written by init, clone, fix and remote add after a profile is chosen)
2. an existing git@hub.<key>: remote in the repo
3. the repo's local user.email, when it matches exactly one profile
4. whether only one profile exists

If none of these apply you are prompted once, and the answer is stored in the repo. mgit clone also writes user.name, user.email and mgit.profile into the new clone. To switch a repo to a different profile, run mgit init <key>, or use the key shorthand for remotes (mgit remote add origin work:user/repo).

---

Pass-through to git

Any other unrecognised subcommand is forwarded to git. Only remote add is intercepted today.

mgit status
mgit log --oneline -10
mgit push origin main
mgit stash pop

---

mgit remove [key]

Removes a profile, its SSH key pair, and its ~/.ssh/config block.

mgit remove work    # remove by key
mgit remove         # prompts if key not given

---

How it works

Each profile gets a Host alias in ~/.ssh/config that maps hub.<key> to github.com with the right identity file. URLs like git@hub.work:myorg/myrepo are resolved by SSH before git ever sees them.

mgit clone, mgit fix, and mgit remote add all accept GitHub HTTPS URLs or key:user/repo shorthands and rewrite them to git@hub.<key>:user/repo before git runs.

mgit clone work:myorg/myrepo
        │
        └─► git clone git@hub.work:myorg/myrepo
                               │
                        SSH resolves to:
                        HostName github.com
                        IdentityFile ~/.ssh/mgit_work

Profiles are stored in ~/.config/mgit/profiles.json.

---

Release setup (for maintainers)

Homebrew and apt distribution are managed centrally in protibimbok/pkg-dist. This repo only builds binaries and publishes GitHub Releases.

Required GitHub secrets (this repo)

Secret	Purpose	Required
GITHUB_TOKEN	Create GitHub Releases	Auto-provided
PKG_DIST_TOKEN	Trigger pkg-dist update after release	For Homebrew + apt
AUR_KEY	SSH private key for AUR updates	For AUR

Creating a release

git tag v1.0.0
git push origin v1.0.0

The release workflow builds binaries, publishes to GitHub Releases, updates AUR, and notifies pkg-dist to update Homebrew casks and the apt repository.

See pkg-dist for signing keys, apt repo setup, and GitHub Pages configuration.