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Prepare Git and GnuPG

Install Git and GnuPG before configuring commit signing.

Install the Required Tools​

On macOS with Homebrew:

brew install git gnupg

On Ubuntu or Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install git gnupg

Confirm that both commands are available and record the GnuPG executable path:

git --version
gpg --version
command -v gpg

Configure the Global .gitconfig​

Use git config --global instead of editing ~/.gitconfig directly. These commands create or update the appropriate sections in that file.

Replace the example identity with the exact no-reply email address displayed in your GitHub email settings:

git config --global user.name "YOUR_GITHUB_NAME"
git config --global user.email "ID+USERNAME@users.noreply.github.com"
git config --global gpg.program "$(command -v gpg)"
git config --global core.editor vim
git config --global core.autocrlf input

The resulting ~/.gitconfig contains entries similar to the following. The actual path of gpg can differ, especially between Intel and Apple Silicon Macs.

[user]
    name = YOUR_GITHUB_NAME
    email = ID+USERNAME@users.noreply.github.com
[gpg]
    program = /path/to/gpg
[core]
    editor = vim
    autocrlf = input

Optional: Detect Case-only Filename Changes​

On a case-insensitive filesystem such as the default macOS filesystem, use this setting when Git must detect filenames that differ only by letter case:

git config --global core.ignorecase false

Create or Select a GPG Key​

Verify the GitHub no-reply email address in your GitHub account and the email address used by GitLab in your GitLab account.

List the available secret keys:

gpg --list-secret-keys --keyid-format=long

Use the long key ID shown after sec as KEY_ID in the following commands. Skip key generation when an existing signing key is available.

gpg --full-generate-key

Choose the defaults unless your organisation requires a specific algorithm or expiration policy. Enter an email address already verified on either GitHub or GitLab, then choose a strong passphrase.

List the secret keys again and copy the long key ID:

gpg --list-secret-keys --keyid-format=long