GitHub Tokens

Many tools in mise are hosted on GitHub. For public releases, mise uses mise-versions by default as a shared cache for version lists, release metadata, and GitHub artifact attestations. This avoids most unauthenticated GitHub API calls during normal installs, including CI and Docker builds.

GitHub tokens are still useful when mise has to fall back to GitHub's API, when MISE_USE_VERSIONS_HOST=0 is set, or when installing tools from private repositories, GitHub Enterprise, or custom GitHub API hosts. Unauthenticated requests are subject to low rate limits, which can cause 403 Forbidden errors. This page explains how to configure GitHub authentication in mise.

Start with token diagnostics

Check which source mise selects without printing the full credential:

mise token github
mise token github github.mycompany.com

The second command is for an Enterprise host; replace the hostname. A selected token is not proof that it has access to a particular repository. If an install fails, check its permissions and expiry as well as the source shown here.

If you already use gh auth login with a system keyring, configure a credential command. mise's direct hosts.yml reader cannot retrieve a token stored only in that keyring.

Token Priority

mise checks the following sources in order. The first available token wins; a wrong or expired higher-priority token can hide a working lower-priority source. GH_TOKEN is not a direct mise token source, although a configured gh auth token credential command can use it.

github.com:

GitHub Enterprise hosts:

::: tip The github.com env vars (MISE_GITHUB_TOKEN, etc.) are also used as a fallback for GHE when MISE_GITHUB_ENTERPRISE_TOKEN is not set. If you need different tokens for github.com and a GHE instance, set MISE_GITHUB_ENTERPRISE_TOKEN explicitly or use the gh CLI integration. :::

Setting a Token via Environment Variable

For public release access, a classic personal access token does not need private repository scopes. For private repositories, grant the token access to the repository and the permissions the API requires; a fine-grained token needs Contents: read to download release assets. Create a personal access token and make it available to the process running mise:

export MISE_GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxx"

The value above is a placeholder. Prefer a secret manager or your CI secret store for the actual value. An existing GITHUB_TOKEN also works when no higher-priority source overrides it; see GitHub Actions.

Token File (github_tokens.toml)

You can store per-host GitHub tokens in a mise-specific config file:

# ~/.config/mise/github_tokens.toml
[tokens."github.com"]
token = "ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxx"

[tokens."github.mycompany.com"]
token = "ghp_yyyyyyyyyyyy"

This file is checked after environment variables, credential_command, and native OAuth, but before the gh CLI file. It is useful when:

• You don't use the gh CLI, or
• The gh CLI token has restricted scope (e.g., Coder-provisioned tokens scoped to specific orgs) and you need a broader token for mise, or
• You want mise-specific tokens that don't interfere with other tools.

The file location follows MISE_CONFIG_DIR (defaults to ~/.config/mise). No additional setting is required. The file contains plaintext credentials; keep it outside shared project configuration and readable only by your user. On Unix:

chmod 600 "${MISE_CONFIG_DIR:-$HOME/.config/mise}/github_tokens.toml"

gh CLI Integration

If you use the GitHub CLI (gh), mise can read tokens directly from its hosts.yml config file. This is enabled by default and is used when no higher-priority source resolves a token.

mise looks for hosts.yml in these locations (first match wins):

1. $GH_CONFIG_DIR/hosts.yml
2. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gh/hosts.yml (when that variable is set)
3. ~/Library/Application Support/gh/hosts.yml (macOS only)
4. %APPDATA%\GitHub CLI\hosts.yml (Windows only — this is gh's default location there)
5. ~/.config/gh/hosts.yml

This is especially useful for GitHub Enterprise — the gh CLI stores per-host tokens, so mise can authenticate to multiple GHE instances without juggling environment variables:

# ~/.config/gh/hosts.yml (managed by `gh auth login`)
github.com:
  oauth_token: ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxx
  user: you
github.mycompany.com:
  oauth_token: ghp_yyyyyyyyyyyy
  user: you

::: info mise reads the config file directly — it does not shell out to gh. If your gh CLI uses a credential helper (e.g., macOS Keychain) instead of storing tokens in hosts.yml, the token won't be available via this method. However, mise also supports git credential fill (see below), which can retrieve tokens from system keyrings. :::

To disable this behavior:

[settings.github]
gh_cli_tokens = false

Credential Command

Configure a custom command in your global settings to obtain a GitHub token. github.credential_command is global-only; a project cannot choose a command to read your credentials. For example:

[settings.github]
credential_command = "op read 'op://Private/GitHub Token/credential'"

mise executes this command with the configured default inline shell (unix_default_inline_shell_args or windows_default_inline_shell_args) and reads the token from stdout. The hostname is available as MISE_CREDENTIAL_HOST, and the provider name (github) is available as MISE_CREDENTIAL_PROVIDER. For compatibility, recognized sh-compatible shells (ash, bash, dash, ksh, sh, and zsh) also receive the hostname as $1/${1}. This is checked before github_tokens.toml and gh CLI tokens, so it takes priority over file-based sources.

:::: warning Planned deprecation The legacy $1/${1} hostname argument is deprecated. Use MISE_CREDENTIAL_HOST instead. mise will start warning in 2026.11.0, and $1 compatibility will be removed in 2027.11.0. ::::

Using ghtkn

ghtkn can generate short-lived GitHub App user access tokens and print them to stdout, which makes it compatible with credential_command.

Run ghtkn get once manually before relying on it from mise so any browser-based device flow happens intentionally. After that, ghtkn can reuse tokens from your OS secret manager until they need to be regenerated.

The credential command runs with mise shims removed from PATH to avoid recursive mise invocations. If you install ghtkn with mise, use mise which to find the real executable path and store that in credential_command instead of relying on the shim:

mise settings set github.credential_command="\"$(mise which ghtkn)\" get -m 1h"

Do not make the credential command run mise x, mise exec, or another command that may need GitHub access to resolve or install ghtkn, since that can loop while mise is trying to obtain the GitHub token.

If ghtkn is already available without relying on a mise shim, you can also set it directly:

[settings.github]
credential_command = "ghtkn get -m 1h"

Use mise token github to confirm mise can resolve the token:

mise token github

Native GitHub OAuth

mise can create short-lived GitHub App user access tokens directly with GitHub's OAuth device flow. This does not require a personal access token, GitHub App private key, app client secret, gh, ghtkn, or any other external credential command.

The design was inspired by ghtkn — if you'd rather run a separate process and have mise pick up its token via credential_command, see Using ghtkn above.

Create a GitHub App with device flow enabled, then configure its client ID:

mise settings set github.oauth_client_id=Iv1.yourgithubappclientid

Authorize once:

mise token github --oauth

After that, mise reuses the cached token for its own GitHub API calls and refreshes it when GitHub returns a refresh token. While the cached token is valid, mise also exports it to your shell as GITHUB_TOKEN (via mise activate / mise hook-env / mise env / mise exec) so tools that read GITHUB_TOKEN, such as gh, can use it:

mise exec -- gh pr list

mise does not replace an existing value of the export variable. Git credential helpers and Cargo registry authentication have their own configuration; exporting GITHUB_TOKEN does not configure them automatically.

To use a different variable name (for example, gh's preferred GH_TOKEN), set github.oauth_export_env. Setting it to an empty string disables the auto-export.

You can still print a raw token explicitly when you need to pipe it somewhere:

mise token github --oauth --raw

The raw form prints a secret. Use it only when another command needs the token value; normal diagnostics are masked. Copying the value into MISE_GITHUB_TOKEN also makes that environment value take precedence over future OAuth resolution.

After changing the GitHub App's permissions or installation access, request a fresh token:

mise token github --oauth --refresh

Optional settings:

[settings.github]
oauth_client_id = "Iv1.yourgithubappclientid"
oauth_scopes = "" # usually empty for GitHub App user access tokens
oauth_open_browser = true
oauth_export_env = "GITHUB_TOKEN" # set to "" to disable automatic export

Git Credential Helpers

mise can use your existing git credential helpers to obtain GitHub tokens. This is opt-in and acts as a last-resort fallback after all other token sources.

This is especially useful for:

• Devcontainer environments where tokens are provided via git credential helpers

• macOS/Windows where gh auth login stores the token in the system keyring (macOS Keychain, Windows Credential Manager) rather than in hosts.yml. In that case hosts.yml exists but has no oauth_token key, so reading it cannot help. Run mise token github to tell the two apart: if it prints (none) while gh auth status works, this setting — or a github.credential_command that shells out to gh — is what you want.

  With a single account, credential_command = "gh auth token" is enough. If you authenticate to more than one host (GitHub Enterprise), pass the host mise is asking about, because bare gh auth token returns the token for gh's own active host. mise exports it as MISE_CREDENTIAL_HOST, and the command runs through the platform's inline shell, so the interpolation differs:

  On macOS and Linux:

  tomlCopy

  [settings.github]
  credential_command = 'gh auth token --hostname "$MISE_CREDENTIAL_HOST"'
  

  On Windows, cmd is the default inline shell and does not expand $VAR:

  tomlCopy

  [settings.github]
  credential_command = 'gh auth token --hostname %MISE_CREDENTIAL_HOST%'
  

• Any environment where git already has credentials configured

mise runs git credential fill with GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT=0 (to prevent interactive prompts) and caches the result per host for the session.

To enable this behavior:

[settings.github]
use_git_credentials = true

Debugging Token Resolution

Use the masked output to distinguish configuration problems from API failures:

mise token github
mise token github github.mycompany.com

mise token github --unmask and --raw reveal the credential. They are not needed to identify its source and should not be included in shared diagnostic logs.

GitHub Enterprise

For self-hosted GitHub instances, set the api_url tool option on the tool:

[tools]
"github:myorg/mytool" = { version = "latest", api_url = "https://github.mycompany.com/api/v3" }

For authentication, mise checks (in order):

1. MISE_GITHUB_ENTERPRISE_TOKEN env var
2. MISE_GITHUB_TOKEN / GITHUB_API_TOKEN / GITHUB_TOKEN env vars
3. credential_command for the API hostname
4. native GitHub OAuth for the configured API hostname
5. github_tokens.toml for the API hostname
6. gh CLI token for the API hostname
7. git credential fill for the API hostname

If different GHE instances require different tokens, one MISE_GITHUB_ENTERPRISE_TOKEN value cannot represent them. Use github_tokens.toml, the gh CLI integration, credential_command, or git credential helpers instead:

gh auth login --hostname github.mycompany.com
gh auth login --hostname github.other-company.com

Reducing API Requests with Lockfiles {#avoiding-tokens-entirely-with-lockfiles}

A lockfile can avoid release-discovery requests when it records the required artifact URLs and checksums:

mise lock
mise install

This reduces token requirements for public downloads. It does not make private artifacts public or guarantee an offline install. Missing platform metadata, provenance verification, and Packslip policy checks can still need network access or authentication. Keep required credentials available in CI even when using a lockfile.

CI / GitHub Actions

GitHub provides a workflow token through the secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN and github.token contexts. To make it available to a shell command running mise, pass it as an environment variable:

# Step after checkout and mise setup
- name: Install development tools
  run: mise install
  env:
    GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

jdx/mise-action has its own token input and install step. Check the action's configuration when using it rather than a separate run step.

The workflow token's permissions and repository scope still apply. Access to a private tool in another repository may require a GitHub App token or a personal access token with access to that repository, stored as an Actions secret. See GitHub's workflow authentication guide.

.netrc

mise also supports .netrc for HTTP Basic auth. Credentials from .netrc take precedence over token-based auth headers. See URL Replacements for details.