Manage multiple GitHub orgs with workspace-specific .gitconfig
If you work across several GitHub orgs, you end up juggling user.name, user.email, and SSH keys per repo. I keep one parent ~/.gitconfig with shared defaults and use includeIf to load a tiny override file based on where the repo lives.
Parent ~/.gitconfig
[user]
name = Jimmy Mayfield
email = jimmy@example.com
[core]
editor = code --wait
autocrlf = input
[includeIf "gitdir:~/projects/work/"]
path = ~/.gitconfig-work
[includeIf "gitdir:~/projects/personal/"]
path = ~/.gitconfig-personalGit loads the matching include when the repository path is under that directory. Use the absolute tree you actually clone into (gitdir is path-sensitive).
Workspace overrides
Each file only holds what differs—identity, SSH, optional URL rewriting:
# ~/.gitconfig-work
[user]
name = Jimmy Work
email = jimmy@workorg.com
[core]
sshCommand = ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa_work -F /dev/null
[url "git@github-work:"]
insteadOf = git@github.com:insteadOf lets you keep normal git@github.com:org/repo.git remotes while Git rewrites them to a host alias that picks the right key.
SSH host aliases
Host github-work
HostName github.com
User git
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_work
IdentitiesOnly yes
Host github-personal
HostName github.com
User git
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_personal
IdentitiesOnly yesRemotes can be git@github-work:workorg/repo.git or standard GitHub URLs with insteadOf in the workspace config.
Tips
- Keep workspace files small—identity and SSH only unless you need commit templates or signing.
- Do not store secrets in Git config; SSH keys stay in
~/.ssh/. - For one-repo quirks, a repo-local
.git/configinclude is enough; you rarely need another global layer.
If you use an AI-assisted editor across those repos, Using Cursor IDE without overengineering shares the habits I use to keep changes reviewable.
Hero photo: Catcomputer1 by Master son, CC BY-SA 3.0.
