Clone Github Repository

Clone GitHub Repository

Clone any GitHub repo with the correct identity and destination — automatically.

How It Works

The script reads your GitHub account configuration from ~/.openclaw/github-accounts.json and automatically detects which account to use based on the repo owner in the URL.

Each account maps GitHub usernames/orgs to SSH credentials and PATs:

{
  "accounts": {
    "personal": {
      "github_username": "myuser",
      "ssh_host": "github-personal",
      "ssh_key": "~/.ssh/id_ed25519_personal",
      "pat_file": "~/.secrets/PERSONAL_GITHUB_PAT",
      "owners": ["myuser", "my-org"]
    },
    "work": {
      "github_username": "work-user",
      "ssh_host": "github-work",
      "ssh_key": "~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work",
      "pat_file": "~/.secrets/WORK_GITHUB_PAT",
      "owners": ["work-org", "work-team"]
    }
  },
  "default_account": "personal"
}

When the repo owner matches an entry in an account's owners array, that account's credentials are used. If no match is found, the default_account is used.

Clone Destinations

The --purpose flag determines where the repo is cloned:

Deciding the Purpose

Read the user's intent carefully:

• "clone X so I can work on it" / "I need to fix a bug in X" / "set up X for development" → contributor
• "clone X so I can look at how they did Y" / "I want to reference X" → external
• "just clone X real quick" / "I want to check something in X" / "clone for investigation" → temporary
• If unclear, default to contributor and mention the directory in your response.

Setup

1. Copy the example config:

   cp config/github-accounts.example.json ~/.openclaw/github-accounts.json
   

2. Edit ~/.openclaw/github-accounts.json with your accounts, SSH hosts, and PAT file paths.

3. Ensure your SSH config (~/.ssh/config) has host aliases matching the ssh_host values.

Usage

~/.openclaw/skills/clone-github-repository/bin/clone_github_repository \
  --url <URL_OR_OWNER/REPO> \
  [--account <account_name>] \
  [--purpose contributor|external|temporary] \
  [--name DIR_NAME]

Examples

Clone own repo (auto-detects account)

clone_github_repository --url https://github.com/myuser/my-project
# → ~/Projects/my-project, using personal account credentials

Clone work org repo (auto-detects work account)

clone_github_repository --url work-org/internal-tool
# → ~/Projects/internal-tool, using work account credentials

Clone third-party repo for reference

clone_github_repository --url https://github.com/vercel/next.js --purpose external
# → ~/external-github-repos/next.js, using default account credentials

Clone with explicit account override

clone_github_repository --url https://github.com/some-org/private-repo --account work
# → ~/Projects/private-repo, using work account credentials

Quick temporary investigation

clone_github_repository --url torvalds/linux --purpose temporary
# → /tmp/github/linux, using default account credentials

Flags Reference

Post-Clone

After cloning, the script:

1. Verifies .git/ exists
2. Confirms the remote is set to the correct SSH host alias
3. Checks gh API access and reports permission level (admin/push/pull)

The clone directory is ready to use immediately — correct SSH identity for push/pull, correct PAT for gh CLI operations.

Account Override Guidance

When a user asks to clone a repo owned by someone not in the configured accounts:

• The default account is used silently
• Only ask the user about a specific account if they mention a particular team or collaboration context
• If the user explicitly names an account, pass --account <name>

Configuration

Environment Variables