Remote tab not working with GitHub PAT

Brede Fladen

I experience an issue using SourceTree and GitHub PATs (Personal Access Tokens).

SourceTree version: 3.4.26
OS: Windows 11
Preconditions: I have removed all accounts using Tools > Options > Authentication

1. I want to add a new repo tab and click '+'
2. Then select 'Remote' and 'Remote repositories' screen appear
3. Then I click 'Add an account...' and dialog 'Edit Hosting Account' is shown
4. I select GitHub, HTTPS, Personal Access Token
5. Then I click 'Refresh Personal Access Token'
6. In the dialog showing I put my PAT in the 'Password' field and leaving 'Username' blank
7. Clicks 'OK'
8. Now I get an error message in the 'Edit Hosting Account' dialog: 
Login failed Authentication failed for GitHub with username myusername - please check your account settings.
9. Now I switch to 'Clone' - tries to clone - and it works! Hence the account has been created despite the error message.
9.b. I also tried to run git pull on CLI - and it worked.
9.c. When I tried to Pull an existing local repo in ST it worked.

So something seems to be wrong when creating the account in Sourcetree, and this also somehow affects/stopping the account to be listed in 'Remote repositories' screen.

This seems to be quite similar to what is reported previously here:

https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Sourcetree-questions/Unable-to-connect-to-Github-Enterprise-with-PAT/qaa-p/3117462#M46540 

How is the process of investigating and fixing such issues for Sourcetree?

Tomislav Tobijas

@Brede Fladen the process is mainly to try out everything until one thing starts working 😅

As written in linked thread, you could try out some of the methods mentioned there, or something like the following:

1. Clear Existing Credentials: Even though you've removed accounts in Sourcetree, ensure you also navigate to the Windows Credential Manager and remove any stored entries related to github.com.

2. Use a Placeholder Username: When prompted in the "Edit Hosting Account" dialog, instead of leaving the username blank, try entering your actual GitHub username alongside the PAT in the password field.

3. Verify Token Scopes: Ensure your GitHub PAT has the minimum required scopes. For Sourcetree to list remote repositories, it typically requires repo, read:org, and user scopes.

4. Switch to OAuth: If PAT continues to fail the validation check in the UI, try changing the Authentication method to OAuth. This will open a browser window to authenticate, which is often more reliable for populating the Remote repositories list

I have only used/tested PAT once, and I'm not near my main PC for the next couple of days so I won't be able to troubleshoot this 👀

Also, have you tried upgrading to the latest official version (3.4.30)? I mean, this shouldn't correlate, but it might be worth a try.

Cheers,
Tobi