gitcreate

A bash script to create and push to a new GitHub repository directly from the command line. It automates the entire workflow: creating the remote repository, initializing git locally, and pushing your code.

Features

• 🚀 Creates GitHub repositories via the GitHub API
• 🔒 Supports both private (default) and public repositories
• 🎨 Color-coded output for better readability
• ✅ Comprehensive error handling and validation
• 🔑 Token-based authentication (secure, follows GitHub best practices)
• 📝 Auto-generates README.md if not present
• 🌿 Uses modern main branch naming
• 🌐 Cross-platform browser opening support
• ⚙️ Configurable via git config

Prerequisites

• Git: Must be installed and accessible from command line
  • Windows: Install Git for Windows (includes Git Bash and curl)
  • Linux/macOS: Usually pre-installed, or install via package manager
• curl: Required for API calls (included with Git for Windows, pre-installed on Linux/macOS)
• GitHub Account: You need a GitHub account and personal access token
• Bash shell: Git Bash on Windows, or native bash on Linux/macOS

Installation

Linux / macOS

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/gitcreate.git

# Copy to your PATH
sudo cp gitcreate/gitcreate /usr/local/bin/

# Make it executable
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/gitcreate

Windows (Git Bash / VS Code)

Recommended Method (works perfectly with VS Code's integrated terminal):

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/gitcreate.git
cd gitcreate

# Create a bin directory in your home folder
mkdir -p ~/bin

# Copy the script there
cp gitcreate ~/bin/
chmod +x ~/bin/gitcreate

# Add to PATH (add this line to ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile)
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc

# Reload your shell
source ~/.bashrc

Quick Method (run from current directory without installation):

cd /path/to/your/project
/path/to/gitcreate/gitcreate

VS Code Note: Make sure your integrated terminal is set to "Git Bash". You can check/change this by:

1. Open VS Code terminal
2. Click the dropdown next to the + icon
3. Select "Git Bash" as default profile

Important for Windows: If you edit the script file on Windows, make sure it has Unix line endings (LF, not CRLF). In VS Code, check the bottom-right corner and click "CRLF" to change it to "LF", or run:

sed -i 's/\r$//' ~/bin/gitcreate

Manual Installation

Simply download the gitcreate file and place it anywhere in your system's PATH.

Configuration

Before using gitcreate, you need to configure your GitHub credentials:

1. Set your GitHub username

git config --global github.user YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME

2. Create and set a GitHub Personal Access Token

1. Go to GitHub Settings → Tokens
2. Click "Generate new token (classic)"
3. Give it a descriptive name (e.g., "gitcreate script")
4. Select the following scopes:
   • ✅ repo (Full control of private repositories)
   • ✅ user (Read user profile data)
5. Click "Generate token" and copy the token
6. Configure it in git:

git config --global github.token YOUR_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN

Security Note: Personal access tokens are more secure than passwords and can be easily revoked. Never share your token or commit it to a repository.

Usage

Navigate to your project directory and run:

gitcreate

Options

gitcreate [OPTIONS]

Options:
  -h, --help     Show help message
  -p, --public   Create a public repository (default: private)

Examples

Create a private repository (default)

cd my-project
gitcreate

Create a public repository

cd my-open-source-project
gitcreate --public

Interactive Prompts

The script will interactively ask you for:

1. Repository name (defaults to current directory name)
2. Repository description (optional)
3. Confirmation before creating
4. Open in browser after successful creation

What It Does

1. ✅ Validates that Git and curl are installed
2. ✅ Checks for GitHub credentials (username and token)
3. ✅ Prompts for repository name, description, and visibility
4. ✅ Creates the repository on GitHub via API
5. ✅ Creates a README.md file if it doesn't exist
6. ✅ Initializes Git repository (if not already initialized)
7. ✅ Commits all files
8. ✅ Renames branch to main (if needed)
9. ✅ Adds remote origin
10. ✅ Pushes code to GitHub
11. ✅ Optionally opens the repository in your browser

Troubleshooting

"GitHub username not found"

git config --global github.user YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME

"GitHub token not found"

git config --global github.token YOUR_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN

"Failed to create repository"

• Check that your token has the correct scopes (repo, user)
• Verify the repository name is valid (letters, numbers, hyphens, underscores, periods)
• Ensure a repository with that name doesn't already exist in your account

"Failed to push to GitHub"

• Check your internet connection
• Verify your token has repo scope
• Try pushing manually: git push -u origin main

Security Best Practices

• 🔐 Never commit your GitHub token to a repository
• 🔄 Rotate tokens periodically
• 🗑️ Revoke tokens you no longer need
• 👁️ Use tokens with minimal required scopes
• 💻 Consider using different tokens for different machines/purposes

Uninstallation

Linux/macOS:

sudo rm /usr/local/bin/gitcreate
git config --global --unset github.user
git config --global --unset github.token

Windows:

rm ~/bin/gitcreate
git config --global --unset github.user
git config --global --unset github.token

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to submit issues or pull requests.

License

This project is provided as-is under the MIT License.

Credits

• Original inspiration: robwierzbowski's gist
• Improved and enhanced with modern GitHub API practices