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git-credential-cache

Name

git-credential-cache - Helper to temporarily store passwords in memory

Synopsis

git config credential.helper 'cache [<options>]'

Description

This command caches credentials in memory for use by future Git programs. The stored credentials never touch the disk, and are forgotten after a configurable timeout. The cache is accessible over a Unix domain socket, restricted to the current user by filesystem permissions.

You probably don’t want to invoke this command directly; it is meant to be used as a credential helper by other parts of Git. See gitcredentials[7] or EXAMPLES below.

Options

--timeout <seconds>: Number of seconds to cache credentials (default: 900).
--socket <path>: Use <path> to contact a running cache daemon (or start a new cache daemon if one is not started). Defaults to $XDG_CACHE_HOME/git/credential/socket unless ~/.git-credential-cache/ exists in which case ~/.git-credential-cache/socket is used instead. If your home directory is on a network-mounted filesystem, you may need to change this to a local filesystem. You must specify an absolute path.

Controlling the daemon

If you would like the daemon to exit early, forgetting all cached credentials before their timeout, you can issue an exit action:

git credential-cache exit

Examples

The point of this helper is to reduce the number of times you must type your username or password. For example:

$ git config credential.helper cache
$ git push http://example.com/repo.git
Username: <type your username>
Password: <type your password>

[work for 5 more minutes]
$ git push http://example.com/repo.git
[your credentials are used automatically]

You can provide options via the credential.helper configuration variable (this example drops the cache time to 5 minutes):

$ git config credential.helper 'cache --timeout=300'