Octopass
Visual Studio Code extension that checks whether the GitHub CLI is authenticated for the Git host you are currently
working in. It catches expired or missing logins before a push, pull, or API-backed workflow fails at the worst possible
moment.
Quick Start
- Install Octopass (
goeselt.octopass) from the Visual Studio Code Extensions view.
- Open a workspace that contains a Git repository with a GitHub remote.
- The status bar item shows the authentication state for the detected host.
If the status shows unauthenticated or expired, run Octopass: Login to Current Host from the command palette -- it
opens a terminal with the exact gh auth login command pre-filled.
Features
- Detects the Git remote host for the active file or workspace folder automatically.
- Shows a status bar item with the current host authentication state.
- Checks token expiration metadata from
gh api response headers.
- Checks additional configured hosts beyond the detected remote.
- Offers a login path by opening a terminal with the exact
gh auth login --hostname <host> command.
- Estimates token type from the masked token prefix (
gho_, ghp_, github_pat_).
- Reports when
gh is configured for SSH Git operations.
- Skips checks when the active location is not inside a Git repository.
Commands
| Command |
Description |
Octopass: Refresh Authentication Status |
Re-check all configured and detected hosts. |
Octopass: Show Authentication Status |
Show current auth state and related actions. |
Octopass: Login to Current Host |
Open a terminal with gh auth login pre-filled. |
Configuration
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
octopass.hosts |
[] |
Additional hosts to check, for example ["github.example.com"]. |
octopass.checkIntervalMinutes |
15 |
Minimum time before a host auth status is refreshed again. |
octopass.checkTokenExpiration |
true |
Check cached token expiration metadata from GitHub API headers. |
octopass.showStatusBar |
true |
Show the Octopass status bar item. |
SSH
When gh auth status reports Git operations protocol: ssh, Octopass shows that protocol in the status details.
Octopass intentionally does not run ssh -T git@<host> or similar automatic SSH access checks -- those can prompt for
key passphrases or hardware-key interaction. Avoiding them keeps Octopass quiet and predictable while still confirming
the API login state that gh commands rely on.
Requirements
- Visual Studio Code
1.120.0 or newer.
- Git available on your
PATH.
- GitHub CLI (
gh) available on your PATH.
If gh is missing, Octopass shows an install recommendation and links to https://cli.github.com/.
Privacy
Octopass runs local commands only:
git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree
git remote get-url origin
gh auth status --hostname <host>
gh api --hostname <host> --include --silent /user
It does not request or display unmasked tokens. The /user request reads only response headers (token expiration,
rate-limit metadata) and is controlled by octopass.checkTokenExpiration.
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md and LICENSE.
