Giving SourceTree access to your org on GitHub

Old habits die hard.

I've been using SourceTree for my Git workflow for years. It ain't broke, and I don't want to fix it (though I suspect that AI-git-commits will break that habit soon enough.)

For a new job, I was having trouble cloning repositories. I had access on the web, but no amount of cajoling would work locally. I'd get generic access denied error messages in SourceTree.

I could clone all my other repos, but not those from my new job's organization, even though in theory I should be able to.

It took me way too long to figure it out. So here's hoping this guide prevents you from wasting that time.

The solution

Essentially, if you're not the owner of that organization - they need to grant access for SourceTree to access it.

Head over to Applications

Locate SourceTree (or whatever you're having trouble with).

On that page you'll see which Organizations have granted access and which haven't. From here you can click Grant if you've got permissions in that org, or Request access if not.

Problem solved.

Good error messages are boring to implement; they're crucial for a good user experience.