GitKraken Desktop Documentation

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GitKraken Desktop can connect to repositories hosted on most services (like TFS, AWS CodeCommit, Google Cloud Source Repositories, custom service, etc), over HTTPS or SSH.


HTTPS

The most common and default way to interact with a remote repository, HTTPS configuration will always require your Git username and password credentials.

To clone a remote repository over HTTPS, first navigate to your hosting service and copy the HTTPS link. The URL should be formatted like this:

https://example.com/username/myrepository.git

Then go to GitKraken Desktop and clone the project through File > Clone Repo.

Paste the URL, hit , and then open the repo in GitKraken.

By default when cloning a repo using HTTPS, your remote tracking at origin will be set using this format.


SSH

Before you can clone a repo over SSH, you must first set up your SSH keys in GitKraken Desktop.

Navigate to Preferences > SSH.

Here you may choose an SSH key pair by browsing your file system, or let GitKraken Desktop generate a key for you (recommended). Make sure that you copy your public SSH key and paste it into your remote hosting service!

Once your keys are set up, you are ready to clone.

Clone over SSH

To clone a remote repository over SSH, first navigate to your hosting service and copy the SSH link.

Then go to GitKraken Desktop and clone the project through File Clone.

Paste the URL, hit , and then open the repo in GitKraken.

Supported SSH formats

The standard protocol can be entered as a remote in one of following formats:

ssh://{user}@{host}/{repo}

or

{user}@{host}:{repo}

where

  • {host} can be example.com
  • {user} is the username (git by default)
  • {repo} is myrepository.git

Note:{repo} usually has an owner like a user or organization where the repository is located on which ssh://{user}@{host}/{owner}/{repo} would be used.

For example, the original HTTPS URL in SSH is formulated as

[email protected]:org/username/myrepository.git

By default when cloning a repo using SSH, your remote tracking at origin will be set using this format.

Custom SSH ports

To use a custom SSH port, you need to use the ssh:// format for your SSH URL.

ssh://{user}@{host}:{port}/{repo}

Local SSH Agent

“Never send a human to do a machine’s job.”

A local SSH agent handles key communication with your remote host, without needing a passphrase.

With SSH, it’s not uncommon when working with many projects, and separate profiles that you need different credentials.

While you can specify a single SSH key pair as a default, and even have dedicated defaults per profile, it may be preferable to check Use local SSH agent and have the keys managed externally.

This way, provided your keys are loaded, every action requiring a chat with your known hosts can manage providing l33tp@$$..&3 for success without your keyboard involved.

100% of the time, it works every time.

I’m having an SSH issue.

Well if it’s not working 100% of the time, the most common issues are:

  • SSH-agent on Windows — GitKraken Desktop currently only supports Pageant for the SSH agent for Windows.
    • You can download PuTTY and Pageant from their page here.
  • Misconfigured SSH settings — remote URL format
    • Check in Preferences > SSH to confirm that your SSH settings are correct.
    • Edit remotes in the left ref panel to ensure push and pull urls are set and in the correct format
  • Expected use of SSH config — GitKraken Desktop does not currently respect your SSH config and cannot make use of any remote server nicknames or identities.
    • You can either load your SSH key directly into GitKraken Desktop or use your system’s SSH agent to authenticate with your remote.

Forget all

You may tell GitKraken to forget all usernames and passwords from Preferences > General:

Use this if you need the app to prompt for username or password for remote actions like push or pull.


Proxy configuration

GitKraken Desktop supports proxies for Windows, OSX, and Linux. GitKraken Desktop should recognize your proxy settings by default, however please review the additional instructions below if you are using an authenticated proxy such as basic, NTLM, Negotiate, or Digest.

Windows

For Windows users, your Windows machine will prompt for your proxy credentials on GitKraken’s behalf. Enter the credentials to complete the proxy configuration with GitKraken Desktop.

OSX

If you’re using an authenticated proxy on OSX, GitKraken will directly ask for the proxy credentials. Enter the credentials to complete the proxy configuration with GitKraken Desktop.

Linux

If you are using an authenticated proxy on Linux, GitKraken Desktop will directly ask for the proxy credentials. Additionally, you will need to run GitKraken Desktop with the command line flag:

--proxy-server=10.200.0.1:8080

where 10.200.0.1 and 8080 are the proxy IP and proxy port respectively. Without this flag, OAuth integrations are subject to fail.

Google Cloud Source Repositories

Due to the non-standard way Google Source Cloud Repositories use HTTPS and SSH URLs, GitKraken Desktop will have trouble parsing the URLs. The SSH URL is normally formatted in this manner:

ssh://[email protected]@source.developers.google.com:2021/p/test-project-12345/r/Test-Repo-1

Instead, try replacing the first @ symbol with %40:

ssh://example%[email protected]:2021/p/test-project-12345/r/Test-Repo-1
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