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Why git on windows pops up Git Credential Manager inspite of having set a credential helper in .gitconfig

Subject: Why git on windows pops up Git Credential Manager inspite of having set a credential helper in .gitconfig

## tl;dr

7 messages between Jul 1, 2025 and Jul 1, 2025.

replies: 6people: 3as markdown or json

Aditya Garg· Jul 1, 2025, 15:49 UTC · lore
Hi

I am having this issue with Git for Windows that in case I configure a credential helper by following the git credentials documentation (https://git-scm.com/docs/gitcredentials), the Git Credential Manager still pops up. I simply close the pop up window, and then it seems to be getting the password from my credential manager.

I removed it using git config --edit --system, but after every update, it pops out again.
I wonder if some proper fix is there for this.
Johannes Schindelin· Jul 1, 2025, 16:41 UTC · re: Aditya Garg · lore

Re: Why git on windows pops up Git Credential Manager inspite of having set a credential helper in .gitconfig

Hi Aditya,
On Tue, 1 Jul 2025, Aditya Garg wrote:
Show 5 quoted lines
> I am having this issue with Git for Windows that in case I configure a credential helper by following the git
> credentials documentation (https://git-scm.com/docs/gitcredentials), the Git Credential Manager still pops up.
> I simply close the pop up window, and then it seems to be getting the password from my credential manager.
> 
> I removed it using git config --edit --system, but after every update, it pops out again.

As per https://git-scm.com/docs/gitcredentials#Documentation/gitcredentials.txt-helper:

If there are multiple instances of the `credential.helper` configuration variable, each helper will be tried in turn, and may provide a username, password, or nothing. Once Git has acquired both a username and a non-expired password, no more helpers will be tried.

> I wonder if some proper fix is there for this.
Yes, from the same page:

If `credential.helper` is configured to the empty string, this resets the helper list to empty (so you may override a helper set by a lower-priority config file by configuring the empty-string helper, followed by whatever set of helpers you would like).

So the trick is to call `git config set --global --add credential.helper ''` followed by `git config set --global --add credential.helper $HELPER`.

Ciao, Johannes

Aditya Garg· Jul 1, 2025, 16:58 UTC · re: Johannes Schindelin · lore

Re: Why git on windows pops up Git Credential Manager inspite of having set a credential helper in .gitconfig

On 01-07-2025 10:11 pm, Johannes Schindelin wrote:
Show 28 quoted lines
> Hi Aditya,
> 
> On Tue, 1 Jul 2025, Aditya Garg wrote:
> 
>> I am having this issue with Git for Windows that in case I configure a credential helper by following the git
>> credentials documentation (https://git-scm.com/docs/gitcredentials), the Git Credential Manager still pops up.
>> I simply close the pop up window, and then it seems to be getting the password from my credential manager.
>>
>> I removed it using git config --edit --system, but after every update, it pops out again.
> 
> As per
> https://git-scm.com/docs/gitcredentials#Documentation/gitcredentials.txt-helper:
> 
> If there are multiple instances of the `credential.helper` configuration
> variable, each helper will be tried in turn, and may provide a username,
> password, or nothing. Once Git has acquired both a username and a
> non-expired password, no more helpers will be tried.
> 
>> I wonder if some proper fix is there for this.
> 
> Yes, from the same page:
> 
> If `credential.helper` is configured to the empty string, this resets the
> helper list to empty (so you may override a helper set by a lower-priority
> config file by configuring the empty-string helper, followed by whatever
> set of helpers you would like).
> 
> So the trick is to call `git config set --global --add credential.helper ''`
I wonder if this is a bug in git for windows?

PS C:\Users\Aditya\git> git config set --global --add credential.helper '' error: unknown option `add' usage: git config set [<file-option>] [--type=<type>] [--comment=<message>] [--all] [--value=<value>] [--fixed-value] <name> <value>

Config file location
    --[no-]global         use global config file
    --[no-]system         use system config file
    --[no-]local          use repository config file
    --[no-]worktree       use per-worktree config file
    -f, --[no-]file <file>
                          use given config file
    --[no-]blob <blob-id> read config from given blob object
Type
    -t, --[no-]type <type>
                          value is given this type
    --bool                value is "true" or "false"
    --int                 value is decimal number
    --bool-or-int         value is --bool or --int
    --bool-or-str         value is --bool or string
    --path                value is a path (file or directory name)
    --expiry-date         value is an expiry date
Filter
    --[no-]all            replace multi-valued config option with new value
    --[no-]value <pattern>
                          show config with values matching the pattern
    --[no-]fixed-value    use string equality when comparing values to value pattern
Other
    --[no-]comment <value>
                          human-readable comment string (# will be prepended as needed)
    --[no-]append         add a new line without altering any existing values
Or you meant by --append as per https://git-scm.com/docs/git-config
I anyways manually added `helper = ` line and now it works well! Thanks a lot.
Johannes Schindelin· Jul 1, 2025, 17:03 UTC · re: Aditya Garg · lore

Re: Why git on windows pops up Git Credential Manager inspite of having set a credential helper in .gitconfig

Hi Aditya,
On Tue, 1 Jul 2025, Aditya Garg wrote:
Show 6 quoted lines
> On 01-07-2025 10:11 pm, Johannes Schindelin wrote:
> 
> > So the trick is to call `git config set --global --add
> > credential.helper ''`
> 
> I wonder if this is a bug in git for windows?

No, the actual trick is for me to read the manual page myself ;-) The option is called `--append`: https://git-scm.com/docs/git-config#Documentation/git-config.txt---append

Ciao, Johannes

Show 41 quoted lines
> 
> PS C:\Users\Aditya\git> git config set --global --add credential.helper ''
> error: unknown option `add'
> usage: git config set [<file-option>] [--type=<type>] [--comment=<message>] [--all] [--value=<value>] [--fixed-value] <name> <value>
> 
> Config file location
>     --[no-]global         use global config file
>     --[no-]system         use system config file
>     --[no-]local          use repository config file
>     --[no-]worktree       use per-worktree config file
>     -f, --[no-]file <file>
>                           use given config file
>     --[no-]blob <blob-id> read config from given blob object
> 
> Type
>     -t, --[no-]type <type>
>                           value is given this type
>     --bool                value is "true" or "false"
>     --int                 value is decimal number
>     --bool-or-int         value is --bool or --int
>     --bool-or-str         value is --bool or string
>     --path                value is a path (file or directory name)
>     --expiry-date         value is an expiry date
> 
> Filter
>     --[no-]all            replace multi-valued config option with new value
>     --[no-]value <pattern>
>                           show config with values matching the pattern
>     --[no-]fixed-value    use string equality when comparing values to value pattern
> 
> Other
>     --[no-]comment <value>
>                           human-readable comment string (# will be prepended as needed)
>     --[no-]append         add a new line without altering any existing values
> 
> 
> Or you meant by --append as per https://git-scm.com/docs/git-config
> 
> I anyways manually added `helper = ` line and now it works well! Thanks a lot.
> 
>
Aditya Garg· Jul 1, 2025, 17:04 UTC · re: Johannes Schindelin · lore

Re: Why git on windows pops up Git Credential Manager inspite of having set a credential helper in .gitconfig

On 01-07-2025 10:33 pm, Johannes Schindelin wrote:
Show 55 quoted lines
> Hi Aditya,
> 
> On Tue, 1 Jul 2025, Aditya Garg wrote:
> 
>> On 01-07-2025 10:11 pm, Johannes Schindelin wrote:
>>
>>> So the trick is to call `git config set --global --add
>>> credential.helper ''`
>>
>> I wonder if this is a bug in git for windows?
> 
> No, the actual trick is for me to read the manual page myself ;-) The
> option is called `--append`:
> https://git-scm.com/docs/git-config#Documentation/git-config.txt---append
> 
> Ciao,
> Johannes
> 
>>
>> PS C:\Users\Aditya\git> git config set --global --add credential.helper ''
>> error: unknown option `add'
>> usage: git config set [<file-option>] [--type=<type>] [--comment=<message>] [--all] [--value=<value>] [--fixed-value] <name> <value>
>>
>> Config file location
>>     --[no-]global         use global config file
>>     --[no-]system         use system config file
>>     --[no-]local          use repository config file
>>     --[no-]worktree       use per-worktree config file
>>     -f, --[no-]file <file>
>>                           use given config file
>>     --[no-]blob <blob-id> read config from given blob object
>>
>> Type
>>     -t, --[no-]type <type>
>>                           value is given this type
>>     --bool                value is "true" or "false"
>>     --int                 value is decimal number
>>     --bool-or-int         value is --bool or --int
>>     --bool-or-str         value is --bool or string
>>     --path                value is a path (file or directory name)
>>     --expiry-date         value is an expiry date
>>
>> Filter
>>     --[no-]all            replace multi-valued config option with new value
>>     --[no-]value <pattern>
>>                           show config with values matching the pattern
>>     --[no-]fixed-value    use string equality when comparing values to value pattern
>>
>> Other
>>     --[no-]comment <value>
>>                           human-readable comment string (# will be prepended as needed)
>>     --[no-]append         add a new line without altering any existing values
>>
>>
>> Or you meant by --append as per https://git-scm.com/docs/git-config
I thought so
>>
>> I anyways manually added `helper = ` line and now it works well! Thanks a lot.
>>
>>
brian m. carlson· Jul 1, 2025, 16:59 UTC · re: Aditya Garg · lore

Re: Why git on windows pops up Git Credential Manager inspite of having set a credential helper in .gitconfig

On 2025-07-01 at 15:49:10, Aditya Garg wrote:
> Hi
Hi,
> I am having this issue with Git for Windows that in case I configure a credential helper by following the git
> credentials documentation (https://git-scm.com/docs/gitcredentials), the Git Credential Manager still pops up.
> I simply close the pop up window, and then it seems to be getting the password from my credential manager.

I think this is because Git allows multiple credential helpers. It's likely that, as you mentioned below, the Git Credential Manager is actually in the system file and the one you've specified is just interpreted as an additional helper.

> I removed it using git config --edit --system, but after every update, it pops out again.

Is it the case that it gets re-added to this file on upgrade? That would explain why it keeps showing up.

> I wonder if some proper fix is there for this.

Ideally, you'd configure Git for Windows not to add this helper. I think there's a configuration option when you install it.

If you can't or don't want to reinstall Git for Windows to reconfigure it, you could try setting the `credential.helper` option to an empty string and then configuring the helper you want. For instance, it might look like this (not valid for Windows, just an example):

    [credential]
        helper =
        helper = libsecret

The empty string resets the list to remove any existing helpers and then you can append whatever values you want (in my case, libsecret, but again, that almost certainly does not work on Windows).

-- 
brian m. carlson (they/them)
Toronto, Ontario, CA
Aditya Garg· Jul 1, 2025, 17:02 UTC · re: brian m. carlson · lore

Re: Why git on windows pops up Git Credential Manager inspite of having set a credential helper in .gitconfig

Show 9 quoted lines
> If you can't or don't want to reinstall Git for Windows to reconfigure
> it, you could try setting the `credential.helper` option to an empty
> string and then configuring the helper you want.  For instance, it might
> look like this (not valid for Windows, just an example):
> 
>     [credential]
>         helper =
>         helper = libsecret
> 
That's exactly what I did, and it fixed my issue. Thanks!
> The empty string resets the list to remove any existing helpers and then
> you can append whatever values you want (in my case, libsecret, but
> again, that almost certainly does not work on Windows).

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