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Shell (Bash) Usage Guide

Complete guide to using the Shell Device Flow script for generating GitHub App user access tokens.

Prerequisites

curl and jq

The script requires curl and jq. Both are commonly pre-installed on most systems.

Check if installed:

curl --version
jq --version

If not installed:

  • macOS: brew install curl jq
  • Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt install curl jq
  • Windows (WSL): sudo apt install curl jq

GitHub App

Your GitHub App must have:

  • Device flow enabled (Settings → Optional features → Device flow)
  • Callback URL set (e.g., http://localhost — required even though not used)
  • User permissions configured as needed

Setup

Make the script executable:

chmod +x device_flow.sh

Running the Script

Using Command Line Argument

./device_flow.sh --client-id YOUR_CLIENT_ID

Or using the short flag:

./device_flow.sh -c YOUR_CLIENT_ID

Using Environment Variable

export GITHUB_CLIENT_ID=YOUR_CLIENT_ID
./device_flow.sh

Show Help

./device_flow.sh --help

Example Session

==================================================
GitHub Device Flow - User Access Token
==================================================

Client ID: Iv23liXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Requesting device code...

==================================================
ACTION REQUIRED
==================================================

1. Go to: https://github.com/login/device
2. Enter code: XXXX-XXXX

Waiting for authorisation...

==================================================
SUCCESS!
==================================================

Token Type: bearer
Scope: 
Access Token: ghu_xxxxxxxxxxxx...xxxxxxxxxx

Testing token by fetching user info...

Authenticated as: your-username
Name: Your Name
Email: you@example.com

==================================================
FULL ACCESS TOKEN (for use in other applications):
==================================================
ghu_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Capturing the Token

The script prints the full token as the last line of output, making it easy to capture for use in other scripts or store as an environment variable:

# Capture token into an environment variable
export GITHUB_USER_TOKEN=$(./device_flow.sh -c YOUR_CLIENT_ID | tail -1)

# Use the token
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_USER_TOKEN" https://api.github.com/user

# Or use it in subsequent commands
echo "Token stored in \$GITHUB_USER_TOKEN"

Troubleshooting

See Common Issues for troubleshooting help.