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GitHub authentication

Zide connects to GitHub to provide issue tracking, pull requests, releases, actions, and other features.

You can authenticate Zide with OAuth, which is recommended, or a personal access token.

Authenticate with OAuth

To authenticate Zide with OAuth, complete the following steps.

  1. Click File > Settings.
  2. In Settings, click Providers.
  3. In Providers, click Add Account.
  4. In the Add Account dialog, click GitHub.
  5. In the Connect to GitHub dialog, copy the one-time code.
  6. Click Open in browser to open the GitHub verification page.
  7. In GitHub, click Continue.
  8. Enter the copied code, then click Continue.
  9. Click Authorize Zide-Software.
  10. In Zide, click Done. Zide is now connected to your GitHub account.

Authenticate Zide with a personal access token

To authenticate Zide with a personal access token, complete the following steps.

  1. Click File > Settings.
  2. In Settings, click Providers.
  3. In Providers, click Add Account.
  4. In the Add Account dialog, click GitHub.
  5. In the Connect to GitHub dialog, click Use Personal Access Token instead.
  6. In the Connect to GitHub — Personal Access Token dialog, enter the base URL of your GitHub instance in the Instance URL field. The default URL is github.com.
  7. Enter your personal access token in the Personal Access Token field. To generate a personal access token, see the Creating a personal access token (classic) GitHub documentation.
  8. Click Done. Zide is now connected to your GitHub account.

Zide validates the token format and checks it against the GitHub API to confirm the token has the required repo scope.

Tokens

Tokens are stored securely in the native keychain of the following operating systems:

  • Windows: Data Protection API
  • macOS: Keychain
  • Linux: Secret Service or pass

Account metadata such as the username, avatar URL, and auth method is stored in Zide’s local SQLite database. Tokens remain in the operating system’s secure credential store.

OAuth tokens with expiration dates are refreshed automatically in the background. Personal access tokens do not expire unless they are revoked manually on GitHub.

Reconnect required

An account’s token lives in the OS keychain while the rest of the account lives in Zide’s database. If the keychain is unavailable when you connect an account (on Linux, a locked or stopped Secret Service is the usual cause), Zide shows the keychain error and does not add the account. Reconnecting an existing account the same way leaves that account exactly as it was, still using its previous token.

If a token is removed from the keychain outside Zide, the account is marked Reconnect required in Settings > Providers. Zide does not authenticate with an account in that state; click Reconnect to store a working token again.