Updatecli supports multiple authentication methods for interacting with GitHub. You can authenticate using either a Personal Access Token (PAT) or a GitHub App. Below are the supported methods, in order of precedence.

1. GitHub App Authentication via Environment Variables

Set the following environment variables to enable GitHub App authentication:

  • UPDATECLI_GITHUB_APP_CLIENT_ID: Your GitHub App’s Client ID

  • UPDATECLI_GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY: The private key for your GitHub App (PEM format, as a string)

  • UPDATECLI_GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH: The path to your GitHub App’s private key file (PEM format)

  • UPDATECLI_GITHUB_APP_INSTALLATION_ID: The installation ID for your GitHub App

You can use either UPDATECLI_GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY or UPDATECLI_GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH to provide the private key.

Example using the private key content:

export UPDATECLI_GITHUB_APP_CLIENT_ID="123456"
export UPDATECLI_GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY="$(cat /path/to/private-key.pem)"
export UPDATECLI_GITHUB_APP_INSTALLATION_ID="789012"

Example using the private key path:

export UPDATECLI_GITHUB_APP_CLIENT_ID="123456"
export UPDATECLI_GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH="/path/to/private-key.pem"
export UPDATECLI_GITHUB_APP_INSTALLATION_ID="789012"
Note

When these variables are set, Updatecli will use GitHub App authentication for all GitHub operations.

2. Personal Access Token via Environment Variable

Set the following environment variable to use a Personal Access Token:

  • UPDATECLI_GITHUB_TOKEN: Your GitHub Personal Access Token

Example:

export UPDATECLI_GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"

3. Personal Access Token via Manifest

You can specify your Personal Access Token directly in your Updatecli manifest under the spec.token field:

scms:
  default:
    kind: github
    spec:
      owner: myorg
      repository: myrepo
      token: "{{ requiredEnv `GITHUB_TOKEN` }}"
Warning

For security reasons, it is recommended to use environment variables or secret management tools (like SOPS) instead of hardcoding tokens in your manifest.

4. GitHub App Authentication via Manifest

You can configure GitHub App authentication directly in your manifest using the spec.app field:

scms:
  default:
    kind: github
    spec:
      owner: myorg
      repository: myrepo
      app:
        clientID: "123456"
        privateKey: "{{ requiredEnv `GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY` }}"
        installationID: "789012"

Or, if you prefer to reference a private key file:

scms:
  default:
    kind: github
    spec:
      owner: myorg
      repository: myrepo
      app:
        clientID: "123456"
        privateKeyPath: "/path/to/private-key.pem"
        installationID: "789012"

Precedence and Fallback

Updatecli will use the first valid authentication method it finds, in the following order:

  1. Personal Access Token via environment variable

  2. GitHub App via environment variables

  3. Personal Access Token via manifest

  4. GitHub App via manifest

If no valid authentication is found, Updatecli will fail with an error.

Further Reading

Tip: For best security and maintainability, prefer using a GitHub App or environment variables for authentication, and avoid hardcoding secrets in your manifests.

Last modified on October 17, 2025
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