Granting private repository access

This is a quick reference for anyone (me) wanting to share a private git repository with an employer/friend/whoever. Also, if you are a prospective employer (perhaps sent here from my resume) who wants to view one of my private projects, please send me an email and I will set up an access token for you.

GitLab

Under Project -> Settings -> Access tokens, create an access token with the Developer role and read_repository only. Copy and save it somewhere because it will disappear. Anyone can now clone the project using:

git clone https://gitlab-ci-token:TOKEN@git.uwaterloo.ca/user/project.git

GitHub

Under Settings -> Developer settings -> Personal access tokens, create a new fine-grained token making sure to only grant access to a specific repository and with read-only Content and Metadata permissions. Anyone can now clone the project using:

git clone https://fakename:TOKEN@github.com/user/project

The fakename field above doesn’t matter and doesn’t need to be changed, it just has to be non-empty.