Git keeps asking me for my ssh key passphrase

Git Problem Overview

I created keys as instructed in the github tutorial, registered them with github, and tried using ssh-agent explicitly — yet git continues to ask me for my passphrase every time I try to do a pull or a push.

What could be the cause?

Git Solutions

Solution 1 - Git

Once you have started the SSH agent with:

eval $(ssh-agent)

Do either:

To add your private key to it:
```
 ssh-add
```
This will ask you your passphrase just once, and then you should be allowed to push, provided that you uploaded the public key to Github.
To add and save your key permanently on macOS:
```
 ssh-add -K  
```
This will persist it after you close and re-open it by storing it in user's keychain.
To add and save your key permanently on Ubuntu (or equivalent):
```
  ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa
```

Solution 2 - Git

This has been happening to me after restarts since upgrading from OS X El Capitan (10.11) to macOS Sierra (10.12). The ssh-add solution worked temporarily but would not persist across another restart.

The permanent solution was to edit (or create) ~/.ssh/config and enable the UseKeychain option.

Host *
    UseKeychain yes

Solution 3 - Git

If you've tried ssh-add and you're still prompted to enter your passphrase then try using ssh-add -K. This adds your passphrase to your keychain.

Update: if you're using macOS Sierra then you likely need to do another step as the above might no longer work. Add the following to your ~/.ssh/config:

Host *
  UseKeychain yes

Solution 4 - Git

I would try the following:

Start GitBash
Edit your ~/.bashrc file
Add the following lines to the file

SSH_ENV=$HOME/.ssh/environment
   
# start the ssh-agent
function start_agent {
    echo "Initializing new SSH agent..."
    # spawn ssh-agent
    /usr/bin/ssh-agent | sed 's/^echo/#echo/' > ${SSH_ENV}
    echo succeeded
    chmod 600 ${SSH_ENV}
    . ${SSH_ENV} > /dev/null
    /usr/bin/ssh-add
}
   
if [ -f "${SSH_ENV}" ]; then
     . ${SSH_ENV} > /dev/null
     ps -ef | grep ${SSH_AGENT_PID} | grep ssh-agent$ > /dev/null || {
        start_agent;
    }
else
    start_agent;
fi

4. Save and close the file 5. Close GitBash

Reopen GitBash
Enter your passphrase

Solution 5 - Git

What worked for me on Windows was (I had cloned code from a repo 1st):

eval $(ssh-agent)
ssh-add 
git pull

at which time it asked me one last time for my passphrase

Credits: the solution was taken from https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/12195/how-to-avoid-being-asked-passphrase-each-time-i-push-to-bitbucket

Solution 6 - Git

Try adding this to your ~/.ssh/config:

Host *
   AddKeysToAgent yes
   UseKeychain yes
   IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa

... assuming your private key is named id_rsa

Solution 7 - Git

If the above solutions are not working for me, one thing to check is that you actually have the public key too (typically id_rsa.pub). It is unusual not to, but that was the cause for me.

To create your public key from your private key:

ssh-keygen -y -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa > ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Solution 8 - Git

Run the following:

eval $(ssh-agent) && ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa &>/dev/null

Enter the passphrase, then check git. Git should not ask for passphrase after this command.

The original source: https://gist.github.com/egoens/c3aa494fc246bb4828e517407d56718d

Solution 9 - Git

I had a similar issue, but the other answers didn't fix my problem. I thought I'd go ahead and post this just in case someone else has a screwy setup like me.

It turns out I had multiple keys and Git was using the wrong one first. It would prompt me for my passphrase, and I would enter it, then Git would use a different key that would work (that I didn't need to enter the passphrase on).

I just deleted the key that it was using to prompt me for a passphrase and now it works!

Solution 10 - Git

If you are not using GitBash and are on Windows - you need to start your ssh-agent using this command

start-ssh-agent.cmd

If your ssh agent is not set up, you can open PowerShell as admin and set it to manual mode

Get-Service -Name ssh-agent | Set-Service -StartupType Manual

Solution 11 - Git

It sounds like you may be having trouble with SSH-Agent itself. I would try troubleshooting that.

Did you do ssh-add to add your key to SSH?
Are you closing the terminal window between uses, because if you close the window you will have to enter the password again when you reopen it.

Solution 12 - Git

For Windows or Linux users, a possible solution is described on GitHub Docs, which I report below for your convenience.

You can run ssh-agent automatically when you open bash or Git shell. Copy the following lines and paste them into your ~/.profile or ~/.bashrc file:

env=~/.ssh/agent.env

agent_load_env () { test -f "$env" && . "$env" >| /dev/null ; }

agent_start () {
    (umask 077; ssh-agent >| "$env")
    . "$env" >| /dev/null ; }

agent_load_env

# agent_run_state: 0=agent running w/ key; 1=agent w/o key; 2= agent not running
agent_run_state=$(ssh-add -l >| /dev/null 2>&1; echo $?)

if [ ! "$SSH_AUTH_SOCK" ] || [ $agent_run_state = 2 ]; then
    agent_start
    ssh-add
elif [ "$SSH_AUTH_SOCK" ] && [ $agent_run_state = 1 ]; then
    ssh-add
fi

unset env

If your private key is not stored in one of the default locations (like ~/.ssh/id_rsa), you'll need to tell your SSH authentication agent where to find it. To add your key to ssh-agent, type ssh-add ~/path/to/my_key.

Now, when you first run Git Bash, you are prompted for your passphrase. The ssh-agent process will continue to run until you log out, shut down your computer, or kill the process.

Solution 13 - Git

I try different solutions but nothing help. But this steps (My GitBash SSH environment always asks for my passphrase, what can I do?) from Bitbucket.com seams works well :

The idea is:

you create ~/.bashrc file

add follow script:

 SSH_ENV=$HOME/.ssh/environment
   
 # start the ssh-agent
 function start_agent {
     echo "Initializing new SSH agent..."
     # spawn ssh-agent
     /usr/bin/ssh-agent | sed 's/^echo/#echo/' > "${SSH_ENV}"
     echo succeeded
     chmod 600 "${SSH_ENV}"
     . "${SSH_ENV}" > /dev/null
     /usr/bin/ssh-add
 }
   
 if [ -f "${SSH_ENV}" ]; then
     . "${SSH_ENV}" > /dev/null
     ps -ef | grep ${SSH_AGENT_PID} | grep ssh-agent$ > /dev/null || {
         start_agent;
     }
 else
     start_agent;
 fi

re-run Bash

Solution 14 - Git

Another possible solution that is not mentioned above is to check your remote with the following command:

git remote -v

If the remote does not start with git but starts with https you might want to change it to git by following the example below.

git remote -v // origin is https://github.com/user/myrepo.git
git remote set-url origin git@github.com:user/myrepo.git
git remote -v // check if remote is changed

Solution 15 - Git

In case you are on Win10:

I had the same problem. (previously had to update ssh-agent individually with a script from here because of a different problem)

Git did access my ssh config (git pull threw exceptions when I had nonsense-lines in ssh config), but never seemed to care about the private key I had added via ssh-agent and referenced in my config.

What fixed the problem was to execute the following command in PowerShell:

git config core.sshCommand (get-command ssh).Source.Replace('\','/')

(Details are in this link)

Solution 16 - Git

on mac, if your ssh key need passphrase everytime and you want to skip it, then you can try below, it works fine for me

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add -K .ssh/id_rsa
add this default ssh configuration works for me

Host *
AddKeysToAgent yes
UseKeychain yes
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Solution 17 - Git

Update the url of the origin remote using SSH instead of HTTPS;

git remote set-url origin "SSH URL COPIED FROM GIT REPO."

This what works with me.

Solution 18 - Git

If you happen to be using fish, there's a gist for it:

# config.fish
if not pgrep -f ssh-agent > /dev/null
  eval (ssh-agent -c)
  set -Ux SSH_AUTH_SOCK $SSH_AUTH_SOCK
  set -Ux SSH_AGENT_PID $SSH_AGENT_PID
  set -Ux SSH_AUTH_SOCK $SSH_AUTH_SOCK
end

Solution 19 - Git

previously -K flag is used to add key but now:

ssh-add --apple-use-keychain

The -K and -A flags are deprecated and have been replaced by the --apple-use-keychain and --apple-load-keychain flags, respectively.

Solution 20 - Git

Seems that your local repo hasnt updated with ssh keys...at least this is what happened to me when going from https to ssh.

Have you done a remote reset?

git remote set-url origin <ssh url>

Solution 21 - Git

Maybe not the most secure way to fix this, but simply do not set a passphrase, it is optional. If you don't set a passphrase, it will not ask for it. You can change the passphrase with

$ ssh-keygen -p -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
> Enter old passphrase: [Type old passphrase]
> Key has comment '[email protected]'
> Enter new passphrase (empty for no passphrase): [Type new passphrase]
> Enter same passphrase again: [Repeat the new passphrase]
> Your identification has been saved with the new passphrase.

Content Type	Original Author	Original Content on Stackoverflow
Question	Rogach	View Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - Git	Roberto Bonvallet	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - Git	Kyle Clegg	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - Git	Darryl Young	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - Git	Roland	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 5 - Git	Arthur	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 6 - Git	IgorGanapolsky	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 7 - Git	Stephen Harris	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 8 - Git	mirushaki	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 9 - Git	11101101b	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 10 - Git	Chris Karpyszyn	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 11 - Git	Jeff Welling	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 12 - Git	Roberto Amoroso	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 13 - Git	alx lark	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 14 - Git	anegru	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 15 - Git	itsapenguinmachine	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 16 - Git	neurobot	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 17 - Git	Abdulaziz	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 18 - Git	Dave Kanter	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 19 - Git	thowfeeq	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 20 - Git	Aurelio Jimenez	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 21 - Git	Jonathan Heyno	View Answer on Stackoverflow