The Deployer documentation
Connecting your accounts

Connect GitHub

GitHub is where your app's code lives, and The Deployer needs to read it to build and deploy your app. The quickest way to give it access is the Connect with GitHub button. You can also use a Personal Access Token — think of it as a special, app-only password you generate on GitHub and can revoke at any time, without sharing your real GitHub password.

Current access model. Both options give The Deployer access across your repositories (the repo scope), not only the one you deploy. A GitHub App that you install on selected repositories is planned. Until then, prefer a token with an expiry, and see Permissions & security.

The quickest way: Connect with GitHub

  1. Open Connections from the left sidebar.
  2. Under Git accounts, click Add account, choose GitHub, and click Connect with GitHub.
  3. GitHub shows what The Deployer is asking for: access to your repositories, their webhooks (for automatic re-deploys) and their workflow files (so a readiness fix can add a CI file). Click Authorize.
  4. GitHub sends you back to Connections, where the new card shows verified and your GitHub username.

Repositories that belong to an organization may not appear until the organization allows The Deployer. On GitHub, open Settings, then Applications, then Authorized OAuth Apps, choose The Deployer, and grant or request access for that organization.

Connecting the same GitHub account again later, for example after revoking access, updates its existing connection, so your projects keep working. No Connect with GitHub button? Use a personal access token instead, as described next.

Or use a personal access token

You'll make a classic Personal Access Token with the repo scope ticked. It lets The Deployer read your repository, list its branches, and set up automatic re-deploys when you push changes. Tick workflow too if you want a readiness fix to be able to add a CI file to your repository.

Step 1 — Generate the token on GitHub

Do this in a separate browser tab, signed in to your GitHub account:

  1. Go to github.com and click your profile picture (top-right) → Settings.
  2. Scroll down the left menu to Developer settings (it's near the very bottom).
  3. Click Personal access tokens → Tokens (classic).
  4. Click Generate new token → Generate new token (classic). (If GitHub asks you to confirm your password, do so.)
  5. Give it a Note you'll recognize later, such as The Deployer.
  6. Set an Expiration. A token is a key, so a limited lifetime is safer — 90 days is a sensible choice. (You can also pick "No expiration", but then plan to rotate it yourself now and then.)
  7. Under Select scopes, tick the box next to repo — "Full control of private repositories". Ticking the top-level repo box selects everything inside it, which is exactly what's needed. Tick workflow as well if you want readiness fixes to add a CI file.
  8. Scroll down and click Generate token.
  9. GitHub now shows the token once, starting with ghp_. Click the copy icon to copy it. Leave this tab open until you've pasted it — you can't see it again after you leave.

A "scope" is a permission. repo gives full control of every repository your account can access, including private ones, and workflow adds their CI workflow files.

Step 2 — Paste it into The Deployer

  1. Back in The Deployer, open Connections from the left sidebar.
  2. Under Git accounts, click Add account and choose GitHub. (Code on GitLab or Bitbucket instead? See Connect GitLab or Bitbucket.)
  3. In Label, type a name for your own reference, e.g. Personal GitHub.
  4. In Personal Access Token, paste the ghp_… token you just copied.
  5. Click Connect & verify.

The Deployer immediately checks the token with GitHub. On success the card shows a verified badge and your GitHub username (for example @yourname), so you know it connected to the right account. If it shows an error, the most common cause is a missing repo scope or a typo in the pasted token — generate a fresh one and try again.

About expiry — and replacing the token later

If you set an expiration, the token will eventually stop working, and deploys that need GitHub will fail until you refresh it. When that happens, you don't start over: on the GitHub connection card, use the Replace token action (the refresh icon), generate a new token the same way as above, and paste it in. The connection keeps its place, so all your existing projects keep working. For the full walkthrough — including the account-password confirmation step — see Viewing & replacing your credentials. Connected with the Connect with GitHub button instead? Use Reconnect with GitHub in the same place: sign in as the same GitHub account and the connection gets a fresh token.

Safety notes

  • Treat the token like a password. Anyone who has it can access your repositories at the repo level.
  • The Deployer encrypts your token before storing it. It's used by the deployment engine and isn't placed in AI prompts — see Permissions & security.
  • If you ever suspect a token leaked, go to Developer settings → Tokens (classic) on GitHub and delete it — that instantly makes it useless — then generate and replace it with a new one.

Need a visual guide?

The Resources links below include GitHub's official token documentation and a video that walks through creating a classic token. Once GitHub is connected and verified, you're ready to create a project.