Git Credential Manager Core (GCM Core) is a secure Git credential helper built on .NET that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Compared to Git's built-in credential helpers (Windows: wincred, macOS: osxkeychain, Linux: gnome-keyring/libsecret) which provides single-factor authentication support working on any HTTP-enabled Git repository, GCM Core provides multi-factor authentication support for Azure DevOps, Azure DevOps Server (formerly Team Foundation Server), GitHub, and Bitbucket.
Git Credential Manager Core (GCM Core) replaces the .NET Framework-based Git Credential Manager for Windows (GCM), and the Java-based Git Credential Manager for Mac and Linux (Java GCM), providing a consistent authentication experience across all platforms.
Git Credential Manager Core is currently available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. GCM only works with HTTP(S) remotes; you can still use Git with SSH:
| Feature | Windows | macOS | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|
| Installer/uninstaller | ✓ | ✓ | ✓* |
| Secure platform credential storage | ✓ (see more) |
✓ (see more) |
✓ (see more) |
| Multi-factor authentication support for Azure DevOps | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Two-factor authentication support for GitHub | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Two-factor authentication support for Bitbucket | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows Integrated Authentication (NTLM/Kerberos) support | ✓ | N/A | N/A |
| Basic HTTP authentication support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Proxy support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
amd64 support |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
x86 support |
✓ | N/A | ✗ |
arm64 support |
best effort | via Rosetta 2 | best effort, no packages |
armhf support |
N/A | N/A | best effort, no packages |
Notes:
(*) Fedora packages planned but not yet available.
The preferred installation mechanism is using Homebrew; we offer a Cask in our custom Tap.
To install, run the following:
brew tap microsoft/git
brew install --cask git-credential-manager-coreAfter installing you can stay up-to-date with new releases by running:
brew upgrade git-credential-manager-coreIf you have an existing installation of the 'Java GCM' on macOS and you have installed this using Homebrew, this installation will be unlinked (brew unlink git-credential-manager) when GCM Core is installed.
To uninstall, run the following:
brew uninstall --cask git-credential-manager-coreWe also provide a .pkg installer with each release. To install, double-click the installation package and follow the instructions presented.
To uninstall, run the following:
sudo /usr/local/share/gcm-core/uninstall.shDownload the latest .deb package, and run the following:
sudo dpkg -i <path-to-package>
git-credential-manager-core configureDownload the latest tarball, and run the following:
tar -xvf <path-to-tarball> -C /usr/local/bin
git-credential-manager-core configureNote: all Linux distributions require additional configuration to use GCM Core.
GCM Core is included with Git for Windows, and the latest version is included in each new Git for Windows release. This is the preferred way to install GCM Core on Windows. During installation you will be asked to select a credential helper, with GCM Core being set as the default.
You can also download the latest installer for Windows to install GCM Core standalone.
Installing GCM Core as a standalone package on Windows will forcibly override the version of GCM Core that is bundled with Git for Windows, even if the version bundled with Git for Windows is a later version.
There are two flavors of standalone installation on Windows:
-
User (preferred) (
gcmcoreuser-win*):Does not require administrator rights. Will install only for the current user and updates only the current user's Git configuration.
-
System (
gcmcore-win*):Requires administrator rights. Will install for all users on the system and update the system-wide Git configuration.
To install, double-click the desired installation package and follow the instructions presented.
To uninstall, open the Settings app and navigate to the Apps section. Select "Git Credential Manager Core" and click "Uninstall".
To uninstall, open Control Panel and navigate to the Programs and Features screen. Select "Git Credential Manager Core" and click "Remove".
Git Credential Manager Core can be used with the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to enable secure authentication of your remote Git repositories from inside of WSL.
Please see the GCM Core on WSL docs for more information.
Git Credential Manager Core tries to be compatible with the broadest set of Git versions (within reason). However there are some know problematic releases of Git that are not compatible.
-
Git 1.x
The initial major version of Git is not supported or tested with GCM.
-
Git 2.26.2
This version of Git introduced a breaking change with parsing credential configuration that GCM relies on. This issue was fixed in commit
12294990of the Git project, and released in Git 2.27.0.
Once it's installed and configured, Git Credential Manager Core is called implicitly by Git.
You don't have to do anything special, and GCM Core isn't intended to be called directly by the user.
For example, when pushing (git push) to Azure DevOps, Bitbucket, or GitHub, a window will automatically open and walk you through the sign-in process.
(This process will look slightly different for each Git host, and even in some cases, whether you've connected to an on-premises or cloud-hosted Git host.)
Later Git commands in the same repository will re-use existing credentials or tokens that GCM Core has stored for as long as they're valid.
Read full command line usage here.
See detailed information here.
- Frequently asked questions
- Development and debugging
- Command-line usage
- Configuration options
- Environment variables
- Enterprise configuration
- Network and HTTP configuration
- Credential stores
- Architectural overview
- Host provider specification
This project welcomes contributions and suggestions.
See the contributing guide to get started.
This project follows GitHub's Open Source Code of Conduct.
We're MIT licensed. When using GitHub logos, please be sure to follow the GitHub logo guidelines.