GitID

GitID is a CLI for creating, listing, inspecting, and switching Git SSH identities on one machine.

It is designed for people who regularly work across personal, work, and client repositories and want a simple way to manage SSH aliases without manually editing remotes every time.

GitID edits ~/.ssh/config, creates ed25519 SSH keys, and updates repository remotes to use your selected SSH host alias. It can also manage repository-local git config user.name and git config user.email per identity.

Caution: GitID modifies SSH configuration. Back up ~/.ssh before using it for the first time.

Installation

npm install -g gitid

Quick Start

Create an identity:

gitid new personal --name "Jane Doe" --email jane@example.com

List configured identities:

gitid list

Switch the current repository to a different SSH identity:

gitid use personal

Show the public key so you can add it to GitHub or another Git provider:

gitid show personal

Store or update the git author used when that identity is selected:

gitid set personal --name "Jane Doe" --email jane@example.com

Enable shell tab completion:

gitid completion zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_gitid"
autoload -Uz compinit && compinit

Commands

gitid new <identity>

Creates a new ed25519 SSH identity and adds a matching Host entry to ~/.ssh/config. You can also set git author metadata during creation with --name and --email.

Example:

gitid new work

gitid list

Lists the SSH host aliases GitID can manage from your SSH config.

If GitID detects an outdated or broken config entry, it prints a repair prompt showing the Host block you should restore.

gitid current

Prints the SSH identity currently used by the repository in your current working directory.

gitid use <identity>

Updates the current repository's origin remote to use the selected SSH alias. If the identity has managed git author settings, GitID applies them to the current repository's local git config.

GitID preserves nested repository paths and supports remotes with or without the .git suffix.

Example:

gitid use work

To skip author metadata for a one-off switch:

gitid use work --skip-author

gitid show <identity>

Reads the matching IdentityFile from ~/.ssh/config and prints the public key contents.

Example:

gitid show work

gitid set <identity>

Stores git author metadata for an identity so gitid use <identity> can apply it to the current repository.

Examples:

gitid set work --name "Jane Doe" --email jane@example.com
gitid set work --clear-email

--clear-name and --clear-email tell GitID to unset the local repo value for that field the next time the identity is applied.

gitid completion <bash|zsh>

Prints a shell completion script that adds tab completion for commands, shells, and identity aliases.

Examples:

gitid completion bash >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

mkdir -p ~/.zsh/completions
gitid completion zsh > ~/.zsh/completions/_gitid
fpath=(~/.zsh/completions $fpath)
autoload -Uz compinit && compinit

SSH Config Compatibility

GitID now handles several older real-world config cases more safely:

• exact alias matching instead of substring matching
• legacy gitta_<identity> key paths from early releases
• broken historical IdentityFile paths created by older GitID versions
• clearer repair prompts when the SSH config is out of sync with the local key files
• managed git author metadata that can be reapplied when a repository drifts out of sync

If a config entry is unsupported or broken, GitID will not silently continue. It will tell you what is wrong and print the Host block that should be restored in ~/.ssh/config.

Do I need GitID?

GitID is your solution if you are:

• Having a hard time managing multiple Git identity files on a single user account
• Struggling with permission issues when accidentally pushing from a wrong identity file
• Tired of having to modify git URLs every time you clone or add a new remote

Manual Installation and Contribution

First, clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/inderdeepbajwa/gitid.git
cd gitid

Then install the dependencies:

npm install

Finally, build the code:

npm run build

Run the tests:

npm test -- --runInBand

Note

This CLI is meant for managing SSH identities on a single machine, the identity names you use are local to your machine and do not have to correspond to your actual GitHub username.

License

MIT

---