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Setting Up Multiple Git Accounts

Step 1: Create SSH Keys

If .ssh directory is not present, check with ls -a and create it:

mkdir -p ~/.ssh

Generate the first SSH key for your personal account:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "personal-email@example.com"

When prompted for the file in which to save the key, type the full path:

Save as:

~/.ssh/id_ed25519_personal

Verify with:

ls ~/.ssh

You should see:

  • id_ed25519_personal
  • id_ed25519_personal.pub

Now generate the second SSH key for your work account:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "work-email@example.com"

Save as:

~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work

If you set a passphrase (for securing the keys), start the SSH agent to bind the terminal to the credentials:

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

Step 2: Add Keys to SSH Agent

ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_personal
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work

Step 3: Add Keys to GitHub

Copy the public keys:

pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_personal.pub

Or display them:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_personal.pub
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work.pub

Add each key to the respective GitHub account: - Go to GitHub → Settings → SSH and GPG Keys → New SSH Key (as Authentication Key)

Step 4: Configure SSH (Very Important)

Edit the SSH config file:

~/.ssh/config

Open it with:

nano ~/.ssh/config

Add the following:

# Personal
Host github-personal
    HostName github.com
    User git
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_personal

# Work
Host github-work
    HostName github.com
    User git
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work

# Default
Host github
    HostName github.com
    User git
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/current_github_key

Save and exit:

  • Ctrl + X

  • Y

  • Enter

Step 5: Test the SSH Connections

Test the personal account:

ssh -T git@github-personal

Expected output:

Hi <username>! You've successfully authenticated

Test the work account:

ssh -T git@github-work

Expected output:

Hi <username>! You've successfully authenticated

Step 6: Create Smart Git Aliases

These aliases switch your Git identity and remote URL for each account.

git config --global alias.use-personal '!f() { git config user.name "your-name"; git config user.email "your-personal-email"; url=$(git remote get-url origin); url=${url/github.com/github-personal}; url=${url/github-work/github-personal}; git remote set-url origin $url; }; f'

git config --global alias.use-work '!f() { git config user.name "your-name"; git config user.email "your-work-email"; url=$(git remote get-url origin); url=${url/github.com/github-work}; url=${url/github-personal/github-work}; git remote set-url origin $url; }; f'

Create switch commands (global)

[OPTIONAL - ONE CAN SKIP THIS SWITCH COMMANDS IF IN DEFAULT CASE IN STEP 4 IDENTITY FILE IS SET TO PERSONAL OR WORK ONE]

git config --global alias.ssh-personal '!ln -sf ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_personal ~/.ssh/current_github_key'

git config --global alias.ssh-work '!ln -sf ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work ~/.ssh/current_github_key'

Step 7: Now before doing anything on github switch to the correct intented github account

[FOR DEFAULT CASE]

Switch to personal account in a repository:

git ssh-personal

Switch to work account:

git ssh-work

check which account is correctly default is pointing

ssh -T git@github.com

Second method - [TO BE USED IN GIT INITIALISED REPO]

Switch to personal one:

git use-personal

Switch to work account:

git use-work

Check your current Git identity (used for commits):

git config user.name
git config user.email

Verify the remote URL anytime:

git remote -v

It should show something like:

origin  git@github-personal:...

Note:

  • git ssh-personal / git ssh-work: Switch the default SSH key before cloning a repository

  • git use-personal / git use-work: Switch Git identity and remote URL within an already initialized repository

  • git remote -v: Verify which account the current repository is configured with