Git dynamic authors

Introduction

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When working with repositories from multiple companies, as well as personal projects, it’s important to ensure that each commit uses the correct Git author name and email. Manually updating your Git configuration every time you switch projects can be tedious and error-prone. In this post, we’ll explore how to automate Git author configuration based on the repository you’re working in.

My Git repositories structure

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I like to have all repositories structured inside a single top-level folder called software. Inside this folder, I separate company-related and personal projects into two subfolders: companyname and personal, respectively. This structure helps me easily distinguish between different types of projects. The layout looks like this:

~/software
├── companyname
│   ├── repo1
│   ├── org1
│   |   ├── repo2
│   |   └── ...
│   └── ...
└── personal
    ├── repoA
    ├── repoB
    └── ...

For company repositories, instead of using a flat, I prefer to mirror the GitHub Organizations model. In the example above, repo2 belongs to the org1 organization, reflecting its logical grouping. However, some repositories like repo1 may remain at the top level if they aren’t tied to a specific organization.

Git dynamic author configuration

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You can create or override the Git configuration file in your home directory (~/.gitconfig) with the following contents:

# ~/.gitconfig
[includeIf "gitdir:~/software/companyname/"]
   path = .gitconfig-companyname
[includeIf "gitdir:~/software/personal/"]
   path = .gitconfig-personal

Then, create as many configuration files as needed. In this example, we’ll create one for company (companyname) repositories and another one for personal (personal) uses:

# ~/.gitconfig-companyname
[user]
  name = "Adri Antunez"
  email = "employee@company.com"

# ~/.gitconfig-personal
[user]
  name = "Adri Antunez"
  email = "user@youremail.com"

Verify it works

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Once everything is set up, navigate into any repository and run the following commands to verify that Git picks the correct user configuration:

cd ~/software/companyname/repo1
git config user.name
git config user.email

Based on the example above, you should see the values from ~/.gitconfig-companyname, such as the username (Adri Antunez) and the email (employee@company.com).

Pro tips

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Set a default global configuration

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If you prefer, you can set a default fallback configuration and override it only when needed, you can define a default at the top and use the includeIf directive afterward:

# ~/.gitconfig
[user]
  name = "Adri Antunez"
  email = "employee@company.com"
[includeIf "gitdir:~/software/personal/"]
   path = .gitconfig-personal

Hidding your email

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For company work, using your company email is generally acceptable. However, for personal projects, you might want to hide your real email address. Git providers like GitHub allow you to use a no-reply email. To enable this:

1. Go to your GitHub account -> Settings -> Emails.
2. Enable Keep my email addresses private.
3. Use the provided no-reply address in your configuration (xxxx@users.noreply.github.com).

The configuration file should be something similar to:

# ~/.gitignore-personal
[user]
  name = "Adri Antunez"
  email = "xxxx+adriantunez@users.noreply.github.com"

Additional configuration

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You can use the same approach for other Git settings, like using different SSH keys based on paths too:

# ~/.gitconfig-companyname
...
[core]
  sshCommand = ssh -i ~/.ssh/company/id_ed25519

# ~/.gitconfig-personal
...
[core]
  sshCommand = ssh -i ~/.ssh/own/id_rsa

Final considerations

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This setup allows you to define Git identities based on folder paths. However, it’s generally discouraged to mix personal and work repositories on the same device. Use this approach at your own risk. That said, it’s particularly useful for freelancers or consultants working with multiple clients simultaneously.