Add an SSH Key

Add an SSH Key

To use SSH with GitHub, you create a key pair and upload the public key.

Step 1: Generate a key pair

Open your terminal and run:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "you@example.com"

Press Enter to accept the default file location. You can add a passphrase (recommended) or leave it empty.

The command creates two files:

• id_ed25519 (your private key, keep it secret)
• id_ed25519.pub (your public key, safe to share)

Step 2: Show your public key

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Copy the whole output. It looks like:

ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAI... you@example.com

Step 3: Add it to GitHub

1. Go to GitHub > Settings > SSH and GPG keys.
2. Click New SSH key.
3. Paste your public key and save.

Step 4: Test the connection

ssh -T git@github.com

If it works, GitHub greets you with a message like "Hi username! You've successfully authenticated."

TL;DR

• Generate keys with ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "email".
• Your public key is id_ed25519.pub.
• Paste it into GitHub Settings > SSH and GPG keys.
• Test with ssh -T git@github.com.