Git Account Switcher

A Python CLI tool to easily switch between multiple Git SSH accounts. Manage multiple Git accounts with separate SSH keys and switch between them seamlessly.

Features

• Manage multiple Git accounts with separate SSH keys
• Switch between accounts easily — one command, no fuss
• Generate SSH keys automatically (rsa, ed25519, ecdsa, and more)
• Optional passphrase support for SSH keys
• Opt-in SSH commit signing per account
• Colored terminal output with active account indicator
• Pre-commit hook to prevent commits with the wrong account
• Opt-in directory-based auto-switching (gitacc rule) with a bash/zsh shell hook
• Per-account SSH config Host aliases (gitacc alias) for git@<alias>:org/repo clone URLs
• Shell autocomplete for bash and zsh
• Cross-platform support (Linux / macOS)

Installation

pip install gitacc-switcher

From source

git clone https://github.com/ktechhub/gitacc_switcher.git
cd gitacc_switcher
pip install .

Quick start

# 1. Add your accounts
gitacc add                    # prompts for name, email, optional passphrase
gitacc add --type ed25519     # specify key type

# 2. Switch between them
gitacc switch work            # full form
gitacc work                   # shorthand — same thing
gitacc switch work --local    # only this repo, leave the global identity alone

# 3. See what's registered (active account is marked with *)
gitacc list

# 4. Prevent wrong-account commits in a repo
gitacc init work              # sets expected account + installs pre-commit hook
gitacc verify                 # manual check

Commands

gitacc add [--type TYPE] [--sign]

Add a new Git account. Prompts for:

• Account identifier (used in key filename and as a reference)
• Git display name (defaults to account identifier)
• Email
• Optional SSH key passphrase

Available key types: rsa (default), ed25519, ecdsa, ecdsa-sk, ed25519-sk, dsa

gitacc add
gitacc add --type ed25519
gitacc add --sign           # opt in to SSH commit signing for this account

Pass --sign to opt this account into SSH commit signing. When you later gitacc switch to it, user.signingkey is set to the account's public key and gpg.format=ssh / commit.gpgsign=true are enabled (locally too, with --local), so every commit made under this identity is signed. Switching to an account without --sign clears any signing config left by a previous account. Toggle it later with gitacc update <account> --sign / --no-sign.

gitacc switch <account> [--local] / gitacc <account>

Switch to a registered account. Clears all keys from the SSH agent, loads only this account's key, and sets git config --global user.name/email.

gitacc switch mywork
gitacc mywork          # shorthand

Pass --local/-l to set the identity for the current repository only (git config local scope), leaving the global user.name/user.email untouched. Must be run from inside a Git repository.

gitacc switch mywork --local

The SSH agent must already be running (eval $(ssh-agent)). If it isn't, gitacc will tell you.

gitacc list

List all registered accounts. The currently active account (matching global git config) is marked with *.

gitacc list
# Registered accounts:
#   * work → Git name: Jane Doe (jane@company.com) (active)
#   - personal (jane@personal.com)

gitacc remove [account]

Remove an account and its SSH keys. Prompts for confirmation.

gitacc remove mywork
gitacc remove          # prompts for account name

gitacc update <account> [--name NAME] [--email EMAIL] [--sign | --no-sign]

Update the Git display name and/or email for an existing account. Prompts for any field not provided as a flag.

gitacc update mywork --name "Jane Doe"
gitacc update mywork --email "jane@newcompany.com"
gitacc update mywork   # prompts for both
gitacc update mywork --sign      # enable SSH commit signing for this account
gitacc update mywork --no-sign   # disable it

gitacc init <account>

Bind the current repository to an account and install a pre-commit hook. Any commit attempt with a mismatched account will be blocked.

cd ~/projects/work-repo
gitacc init mywork

gitacc verify

Check whether the current Git identity matches the account expected by this repository.

gitacc verify

gitacc logout

Kill the SSH agent and unset the global Git user config.

gitacc logout

gitacc rule add <account> [directory] / gitacc rule remove [directory] / gitacc rule list

Opt-in, direnv-style directory-based auto-switching: bind an account to a directory (and everything beneath it) so the right identity is picked automatically as you move around, instead of running gitacc switch by hand. directory defaults to the current directory. The most specific matching directory wins, so a rule on a subdirectory overrides one on its parent.

gitacc rule add work ~/projects/work      # anything under ~/projects/work uses "work"
gitacc rule add personal ~/projects/side  # anything under ~/projects/side uses "personal"
gitacc rule list
gitacc rule remove ~/projects/side

Rules by themselves don't do anything — nothing triggers on cd until you install the shell hook below.

gitacc rule hook <bash|zsh>

Print a shell snippet that calls gitacc rule check so rules apply automatically. Add it to your shell profile and restart your shell (or source it):

# bash
gitacc rule hook bash >> ~/.bashrc

# zsh
gitacc rule hook zsh >> ~/.zshrc

The hook is silent unless it actually needs to switch accounts: no matching rule, an SSH agent that isn't running, or an identity that's already correct all do nothing. This is entirely opt-in — gitacc rule add alone never touches your shell config.

gitacc alias add <account> <host-alias> [--hostname HOSTNAME] [--user USER] / gitacc alias remove <host-alias> / gitacc alias list

Bind an SSH config Host alias to an account's key by writing a clearly delimited, safely add/updatable/removable block to ~/.ssh/config. This lets you clone/push via a per-account host alias (e.g. git@github-work:org/repo) without hand-editing your SSH config, and without the account's key needing to be loaded into the SSH agent at all.

gitacc alias add work github-work                          # git@github-work:org/repo uses "work"'s key
gitacc alias add personal github-personal --hostname github.com
gitacc alias list
gitacc alias remove github-work

--hostname defaults to github.com and --user defaults to git. Running alias add again for the same alias updates it in place; everything else already in ~/.ssh/config (including aliases for other accounts) is left untouched.

# clone using the "work" account's key, without ever switching the active identity
git clone git@github-work:myorg/myrepo.git

gitacc autocomplete install

Install tab-completion for your shell (bash or zsh). After running, restart your shell or source your profile.

gitacc autocomplete install

Completions cover: all command names, account names (for switch, remove, init, update), and key types (for add --type).

gitacc --version

gitacc --version
# gitacc 0.1.0

How pre-commit validation works

1. gitacc init mywork stores gitacc.expected-account = mywork in the repo's local git config and writes a pre-commit hook.
2. On every git commit, the hook reads ~/.gitacc and compares the expected account's name/email against the current git config user.*.
3. If they don't match, the commit is blocked with a helpful message pointing to gitacc switch.

File layout

~/.gitacc format:

[mywork]
    name = Jane Doe
    email = jane@company.com
    private_key = /home/jane/.ssh/id_ed25519_mywork
    public_key = /home/jane/.ssh/id_ed25519_mywork.pub
    sign = false

~/.gitaccrules format (one rule per line, most-specific directory wins):

/home/jane/projects/work = work
/home/jane/projects/work/client-a = client-a

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• Git
• SSH tools (ssh-keygen, ssh-agent, ssh-add) in PATH

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for a full history of changes.

Versions and the changelog are generated automatically by Release Please from Conventional Commit PR titles on main — feat: bumps minor, everything else bumps patch, and ! after the type (e.g. feat!:) bumps major. See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full commit/branch convention.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup instructions, commit conventions, and the PR process.

License

MIT — see LICENSE for details.