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Git Authentication: Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Posted
By Ranger
6 min read
Git Authentication: Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Overview

This post documents real Git authentication mistakes I made and how I fixed them. If you’re new to Git, you’ll probably hit these same walls. Learn from my errors!

The Scenario

I was trying to push changes to my GitHub repository after making some updates. Simple task, right? Here’s what happened…

Mistake #1: Forgetting the -m Flag

What I typed:

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git commit "Updating the folder - Added info to readme.md"

Error:

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error: pathspec 'Updating the folder - Added info to readme.md' did not match any file(s) known to git

Why it failed: Git thought my message was a file path, not a commit message!

The fix:

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git commit -m "Updating the folder - Added info to readme.md"
#          ^^
#          This flag is REQUIRED!

Lesson: The -m flag tells Git “this is my message”. Without it, Git interprets everything as filenames.

Mistake #2: Mismatched Quotes

What I typed:

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git commit -m "Updating the folder - Added info to readme.md'

What happened:

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dquote>

Why: I started with a double quote " but ended with a single quote '. The terminal kept waiting for the closing ".

The fix:

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# Press Ctrl+C to cancel
^C

# Use matching quotes
git commit -m "Updating the folder - Added info to readme.md"
#           ^                                                ^
#           Both double quotes!

Lesson: Always match your quotes. "..." or '...', never mix them.

Mistake #3: Trying git login

What I typed:

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git push
Username for 'https://github.com': ^C

git login

Error:

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git: 'login' is not a git command. See 'git --help'.

The most similar command is
        column

Why it failed: There’s no git login command! Git doesn’t work like that.

The reality: Git authentication happens:

  1. During push/pull/clone operations
  2. Via credentials (username + token)
  3. Or via SSH keys

Mistake #4: Committing as Wrong Identity

What happened:

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git commit -m "My message"

Committer: kali <kali@kali>
Your name and email address were configured automatically based
on your username and hostname. Please check that they are accurate.

The problem: Git used my system username kali instead of my GitHub identity. This means:

  • Commits won’t link to my GitHub profile
  • No green contribution squares
  • Looks unprofessional

The fix:

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# Set your real identity
git config --global user.name "davidtkeane"
git config --global user.email "your@github-email.com"

# Fix the last commit
git commit --amend --reset-author --no-edit
git push --force

Mistake #5: Entering Password Instead of Token

What I thought:

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git push
Password: <my GitHub password>

Error:

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remote: Support for password authentication was removed on August 13, 2021.
remote: Please use a personal access token instead.
fatal: Authentication failed for 'https://github.com/...'

Why: GitHub disabled password authentication in 2021 for security reasons.

The fix:

  1. Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT)
  2. Use the token as your “password”

The Correct Git Push Flow

Here’s what finally worked:

Step 1: Set Up Identity (One Time)

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git config --global user.name "davidtkeane"
git config --global user.email "your@email.com"

Step 2: Store Credentials (One Time)

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git config --global credential.helper store

Step 3: Generate GitHub Token

  1. Go to GitHub.com → Settings
  2. Developer Settings → Personal Access Tokens → Tokens (classic)
  3. Generate new token
  4. Select scopes: repo (full control)
  5. Copy the token (starts with ghp_...)

Step 4: Push and Authenticate

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git push
Username: davidtkeane
Password: ghp_your_token_here  # Paste token, not password!

Step 5: Verify Success

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Enumerating objects: 5, done.
Counting objects: 100% (5/5), done.
Delta compression using up to 2 threads
Compressing objects: 100% (3/3), done.
Writing objects: 100% (3/3), 305 bytes | 305.00 KiB/s, done.
Total 3 (delta 2), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 0 (from 0)
remote: Resolving deltas: 100% (2/2), completed with 2 local objects.
To https://github.com/davidtkeane/MorseBash.git
   6a821db..a7adf42  main -> main

That’s it! The token is now saved. Future pushes are automatic!

Quick Reference: What Goes Where

TaskCommand
Set namegit config --global user.name "name"
Set emailgit config --global user.email "email"
Save credentialsgit config --global credential.helper store
View configgit config --global --list
See saved credentialscat ~/.git-credentials

Error Messages Decoded

“pathspec did not match any file(s)”

Cause: Missing -m flag or typo in filename Fix: git commit -m "message"

“dquote>” or “quote>”

Cause: Unclosed quote Fix: Press Ctrl+C, use matching quotes

“not a git command”

Cause: Typo or command doesn’t exist Fix: Check git --help or Google it

“configured automatically based on username”

Cause: Identity not set Fix: git config --global user.name/email

“Support for password authentication was removed”

Cause: Using password instead of token Fix: Generate Personal Access Token

Prevention Tips

1. Set Up Once, Forget Forever

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# Run these ONCE after installing Git
git config --global user.name "your-username"
git config --global user.email "your@email.com"
git config --global credential.helper store
git config --global init.defaultBranch main

2. Use SSH Instead of HTTPS

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# Generate SSH key
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your@email.com"

# Add to GitHub (Settings → SSH Keys)
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

# Change remote to SSH
git remote set-url origin git@github.com:user/repo.git

# Never enter credentials again!
git push  # Just works

3. Create Aliases for Safety

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# In ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
alias gp='git push'
alias gc='git commit -m'
alias gs='git status'
alias ga='git add'

4. Check Before Commit

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git status        # See what's staged
git diff --staged # See actual changes
git commit -m "..." # Then commit

My Final Setup

After all the mistakes, here’s my working configuration:

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> git config --global --list

user.name=davidtkeane
user.email=my@email.com
credential.helper=store
init.defaultbranch=main

And my workflow:

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git add .
git commit -m "Clear descriptive message"
git push
# No prompts, no errors, just works!

Key Takeaways

  1. -m is not optional - You must use it for inline commit messages
  2. Match your quotes - "..." or '...', never mix
  3. There’s no git login - Authentication happens during operations
  4. Tokens, not passwords - GitHub requires Personal Access Tokens
  5. Set up identity first - Avoid the “kali kali@kali” warnings
  6. Store credentials once - Never enter token again

Resources

Making mistakes is the best way to learn. Now I’ll never forget the -m flag or mismatched quotes again. And neither will you!

Remember: Everyone struggles with Git authentication at first. Once you set it up correctly, it just works forever.

GitHub, Troubleshooting
git github authentication troubleshooting errors
This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.