gitconfig-multiple-accounts.md

Git config for folders and multiple accounts

You have several github profiles for different uses. For example, one account used privately and another account used professionally. Instead of switching profiles all the time which might be error prone, we can setup different git profiles for each folder.

TL;DR

Go to your user home folder. Open .gitconfig, edit and add includeIf which points to private.gitconfig.

Create private.gitconfig and add your github name and email as below. These settings point towards any directory within */projects/private

# .gitconfig
[user]
	name = philippbusiness
	email = philipp.schmalen@business.com
[includeIf "gitdir/i:projects/private/"]
    path = private.gitconfig

# private.gitconfig
[user]
	name = philippprivate
	email = philippschmalen@private.com

Create private.gitconfig in the same folder where .gitignore is. Run these checks to verify the setup:

# navigate to a git repo outside of */projects/private
git config user.name
> philippbusiness

# navigate to a git repo within */projects/private
git config user.name
> philippprivate

Further notes:

• adding /i makes the path case-insensititve
• having / at the end of "gitdir/i:projects/private/" includes all files and subdirectories recursively