Switching from HTTPS to SSH for GitHub

Published

April 29, 2026

Overview

This document summarizes the process of switching Git repositories from HTTPS authentication (token-based) to SSH authentication using a newly generated SSH key.

1. Initial Situation

  • Goal: Replace HTTPS authentication with SSH to avoid token management.
    • Setup ssh globally and change for all existing repos

2. Verify Existing SSH Access

Tested SSH connection to GitHub:

ssh -T git@github.com

Result:

  • First connection prompted to trust GitHub host key
  • Initial failure: Permission denied (publickey) indicated no SSH key was configured

3. Generate SSH Key Pair

Created a new SSH key using ed25519 algorithm:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"
  • (Optionally) set passphrase
  • Key stored in default location: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Output may include a randomart image confirming key generation

4. Start SSH Agent and Load Key

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

-> “Identity added..” confirms the availability of the private key for authentication

5. Add Public Key to GitHub

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Copy the public key and add it to GitHub:

  • Settings → SSH and GPG keys → New SSH key

Paste the full key string (including trailing email label)

6. Verify Authentication

Re-tested connection:

ssh -T git@github.com

Successful output:

  • “You’ve successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.”

This confirmed SSH setup was working

7. Convert All Repositories from HTTPS to SSH

Bulk conversion across multiple repositories:

for d in */.git; do 
  repo="${d%/.git}"
  url=$(git -C "$repo" remote get-url origin)

  if [[ $url == https://github.com/* ]]; then
    ssh_url=$(echo "$url" | sed 's#https://github.com/#git@github.com:#')
    git -C "$repo" remote set-url origin "$ssh_url"
    echo "Converted $repo"
  else
    echo "Skipped $repo"
  fi
done

8. Verification

Check updated remotes:

for d in */.git; do 
  repo="${d%/.git}"
  echo "=== $repo ==="
  git -C "$repo" remote -v
done

Check individual repositories:

git remote -v

Confirm all repositories now used SSH format:

git@github.com:user/repo.git

9. Result

  • SSH authentication is now fully configured
  • All repositories use SSH instead of HTTPS
  • No dependency on expiring personal access tokens

Key Takeaway

SSH setup is performed once per machine/user and automatically applies to all Git repositories once remotes are switched from HTTPS to SSH.