Git Configs for Work and Play

Most developers have work accounts and personal accounts - often with different security and privacy concerns. In order to keep work and play separate, here are some quick config mechanisms for isolating git configurations.

Segregate by Directory Link to heading

The first step is to organize your development environment into a folder hierarchy that clearly delineates between work and play. Here’s what mine looks like:

~/code/acme      #for work
~/code/personal  #for play

Next, we’ll want to create a work-only git configuration profile. I did this by creating a new file named .gitconfig-acme with the following contents:

[user]
	name = Josh Cain
	email = josh.cain@acme.com
	signingKey = ABC123
[commit]
	gpgsign = true

This contains work-specific items like my email or work-only GPG key (because everyone uses them for personal email too, right?).

Conditionally Load Based on Context Link to heading

The magic happens with git’s includeIf statment. This statement allows for the conditional loading of a file, based on the current git repository path:

[user]
        name = Josh Cain
        email = josh@personal.email
        signingKey = def456
[pull]
        rebase = false
[gpg]
        program = gpg
        
[includeIf "gitdir:~/code/acme/"]
  path = ./.gitconfig-acme

Bottom line: As long as I keep work things in the work directory, I can rest assured that my git commits and settings are appropriate!