Setup: 2 GitHub accounts on one machine — alice (personal) and alice-corp (work). Each needs its own SSH key so GitHub can identify which account is making the request.

1. Generate SSH keys

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/id_personal -C "alice@gmail.com"
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/id_work     -C "alice@company.com"

2. Add keys to GitHub

Personal account (alice):

cat ~/.ssh/id_personal.pub
# Add to: github.com/settings/keys (logged in as alice)

Work account (alice-corp):

cat ~/.ssh/id_work.pub
# Add to: github.com/settings/keys (logged in as alice-corp)

Test both:

ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_personal -T git@github.com
# Hi alice! You've successfully authenticated...

ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_work -T git@github.com
# Hi alice-corp! You've successfully authenticated...

3. Create gitswitch profiles

gitswitch add personal "Alice" alice@gmail.com \
  --ssh-key ~/.ssh/id_personal \
  --gh-user alice

gitswitch add work "Alice" alice@company.com \
  --ssh-key ~/.ssh/id_work \
  --gh-user alice-corp

4. Pin your repos

cd ~/projects/my-library
gitswitch pin personal

cd ~/work/internal-api
gitswitch pin work

Cloning from each account

Always switch before cloning so core.sshCommand points to the right key:

# Clone a personal repo
gitswitch personal
git clone git@github.com:alice/my-project.git

# Clone a work repo
gitswitch work
git clone git@github.com:alice-corp/company-service.git

Daily workflow

Personal project

cd ~/projects/my-library
# nudge: "this repo usually uses personal — switch? [y/N]"
y

git commit -m "Add feature"
# Committed as alice@gmail.com using ~/.ssh/id_personal

git push  # Pushes as alice account

Work project

cd ~/work/internal-api
# nudge: "this repo usually uses work — switch? [y/N]"
y

git commit -m "Fix bug"
# Committed as alice@company.com using ~/.ssh/id_work

git push  # Pushes as alice-corp account

Check which account will push

gitswitch current
# work — Alice <alice@company.com>

ssh -T git@github.com
# Hi alice-corp! You've successfully authenticated...

Managing notifications across both accounts

gitswitch personal
gh notification list   # personal account notifications

gitswitch work
gh notification list   # work account notifications

Handling repos owned by one account that the other contributes to

If alice-corp wants to contribute to alice's repo:

git clone git@github.com:alice/open-project.git
cd open-project
gitswitch work           # use work identity
gitswitch pin work       # pin so nudge reminds you

git commit -m "Add contribution"
git push                 # pushes as alice-corp

The contribution will be attributed to alice-corp. If you want it attributed to alice, switch to personal first.

Fix a wrong-account push (before others pull)

# Pushed from wrong account
gitswitch personal
git commit --amend --reset-author --no-edit
git push --force-with-lease  # safe if no one else has pulled

After --force-with-lease, the commit is now attributed to the personal account.

Troubleshooting

Permission denied (publickey)

gitswitch current
# Check which profile is active

git config --global core.sshCommand
# Verify it points to the expected key

ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_personal -T git@github.com
# Should show: Hi alice!

Unsure which GitHub account owns a repo

git remote -v
# origin  git@github.com:alice/my-project.git → personal account
# origin  git@github.com:alice-corp/service.git → work account

Too many repos to manage individually

Organize repos by account in a directory structure:

~/github/
├── alice/           # personal repos
│   └── my-project/
└── alice-corp/      # work repos
    └── service/

Pin once per directory as you set them up, and the identity awareness system tracks the rest.

Multi-account GitHub