GitID

GitID is a command-line tool for managing multiple git identities on the same machine. This is particularly useful for shared machines where multiple people develop in the same workspaces, which is in some cases unavoidable.

With GitID, users can store their git identities and quickly load them in their shell, so their commits are marked with their name and email.

Note that GitID only sets commit authors and committers, and does not affect authorization.

Installation

GitID needs a persistent install so the shell alias can source its wrapper. Use pipx or uv tool install (not uvx):

pipx install gitid
# or: uv tool install gitid
gitid init bash   # bash, zsh, or ksh

If neither tool is available:

python3 -m pip install --user gitid
gitid init bash

Installation Issues

Some environments may not place the script on the path. If your shell can't find the gitid script, add the pipx/uv tool/user-scripts directory to PATH in your startup file:

export PATH="$PATH:<PATH_TO_GITID>"

Unsupported shell

gitid init supports bash, zsh, and ksh. For other shells, add an alias that sources the gitid wrapper (the script printed by gitid init bash on a machine with no startup file is a good template).

Workflow

Suppose both Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee want to develop on the same computer. They would add their git identities like so:

gitid add frodo "Frodo Baggins" frodo@shire.com
gitid add sam "Samwise Gamgee" sam@shire.com

Now Frodo wants to write some code:

gitid set frodo
... git commands ...
git commit # This commit is marked with "Frodo Baggins <frodo@shire.com>" as the committer and author

To go back to the repository's own user.name / user.email in this session:

gitid unset

Separately, possibly at the same time (in a different session), Samwise also wants to write code:

gitid set sam
... git commands ...
git commit # This commit is marked with "Samwise Gamgee <sam@shire.com>" as the committer and author

All identities can be viewed:

gitid list

Which outputs: (* marks the active identity)

Stored identities:
    ( ) frodo: Frodo Baggins <frodo@shire.com>
    (*) sam: Samwise Gamgee <sam@shire.com>

Identities can also be removed:

gitid remove frodo # removes Frodo's identity
gitid clear # removes all stored identities