Github Gist via SSH protocol doesn't work

Question

I'm using two-factor auth and that's why HTTPS isn't convenient way to work with GitHub repos and gists.

I have correct config and github_pr_key files in my ~/.ssh directory.

I'm able to clone all my personal and public repos.

But I can't clone via SSH any of my private or public gists, I have this error:

~/Desktop >> git clone [email protected]:d1b8041051e62aa34f337b3dabc77d9a.git                                                                                                                                
Cloning into 'd1b8041051e62aa34f337b3dabc77d9a'...
The authenticity of host 'gist.github.com (192.30.253.118)' can't be established.
RSA key fingerprint is SHA256:nThbg6kXUpJWGl22E1IGOCspRomTxdCARLviKw6E5SY8.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes
Warning: Permanently added 'gist.github.com,192.30.253.118' (RSA) to the list of known hosts.
Permission denied (publickey).
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

Please make sure you have the correct access rights
and the repository exists.

How it can be fixed?

VonC · Accepted Answer · 2022-11-08 23:35:30Z

8

Check first the reasons mentioned in "Error: Permission denied (publickey)".
Double-check the output of ssh -Tv [email protected], to confirm your public key is registered on your GitHub account.

But don't forget that you can still use https with 2FA.
Create a PAT (Personnal Access Token), and use it as password.
That should be enough to allow you to clone anything, including your private Gists.

Finally, try to clone through ssh with [email protected], not [email protected] (as seen in 2013, even though [email protected] should work):

git clone [email protected]:d1b8041051e62aa34f337b3dabc77d9a.git <=== does work 
NOT
git clone [email protected]:d1b8041051e62aa34f337b3dabc77d9a.git

Just for testing, try also:

git clone ssh://[email protected]/d1b8041051e62aa34f337b3dabc77d9a.git

(this time with [email protected])

As noted by Jacktose in the comments:

If ssh -Tv [email protected] works, try ssh -Tv [email protected] and compare.

In my case, the latter was using the wrong public key because .ssh/config specified IdentityFile under Host github.com.
I changed that to Host github.com *.github.com and problems solved.

edited Nov 8, 2022 at 23:35

answered May 30, 2017 at 21:47

VonC

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6 Comments

kagarlickij Over a year ago

I've executed ssh -Tv [email protected] and it seems to be fine: prntscr.com/fez2gn

VonC Over a year ago

@КагарлицкийДмитрий It does indeed... Can you clone one your your private repo (repo, not gist) with ssh? Regarding gist, would at least an https clone work (with a token as password)?

kagarlickij Over a year ago

I can clone private repos via SSH and HTTPS;and I can clone Gists via HTTPS, but not via SSH

kagarlickij Over a year ago

thanks, the correct one is git clone [email protected]:d1b8041051e62aa34f337b3dabc77d9a.git

VonC Over a year ago

@Jacktose Thank you for the feedback. Good point. I have included your comment in the answer for more visibility.

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