GitHub Tech Issue: Permission Denied While Pushing Code #197277

shwon908 · 2026-05-29T11:53:44Z

shwon908
May 29, 2026

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

Body

GitHub Tech Issue: Permission Denied While Pushing Code

Issue

When trying to push code to a GitHub repository, the following error appears:

git push origin main


Permission denied (publickey).
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

Cause

This issue usually happens when GitHub cannot authenticate your local machine using SSH.

Common reasons include:

SSH key is not added to the GitHub account
SSH key is not generated on the local machine
SSH agent is not running
The repository remote URL is using SSH, but SSH authentication is not configured
The user does not have push permission for the repository            help please

Answered by Moparapairayat

May 29, 2026

Solution: Fix GitHub `Permission denied (publickey)` Error

Problem

When pushing code to GitHub, you may see this error:

Permission denied (publickey).
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

This means GitHub cannot authenticate your computer using SSH.

Step 1: Check Existing SSH Key

First, check if you already have an SSH key on your computer.

ls ~/.ssh

Look for a file like:

id_ed25519.pub

or:

id_rsa.pub

If one of these files exists, you already have an SSH public key.

Step 2: Generate a New SSH Key

If you do not have an SSH key, create one using this command:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your-email@example.com"

Replace your-email@example.com with the email address connected to your…

View full answer

Moparapairayat · 2026-05-29T11:54:22Z

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Bot May 29, 2026

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1 reply

Moparapairayat May 29, 2026

Solution: Fix GitHub `Permission denied (publickey)` Error

Problem

When pushing code to GitHub, you may see this error:

Permission denied (publickey).
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

This means GitHub cannot authenticate your computer using SSH.

Step 1: Check Existing SSH Key

First, check if you already have an SSH key on your computer.

ls ~/.ssh

Look for a file like:

id_ed25519.pub

or:

id_rsa.pub

If one of these files exists, you already have an SSH public key.

Step 2: Generate a New SSH Key

If you do not have an SSH key, create one using this command:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your-email@example.com"

Replace your-email@example.com with the email address connected to your GitHub account.

Press Enter to accept the default file location.

Step 3: Start the SSH Agent

Run this command:

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

This starts the SSH agent.

Step 4: Add SSH Key to SSH Agent

Add your SSH key using this command:

ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

If you used an RSA key instead, use:

ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Step 5: Copy Your Public SSH Key

Run:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

If you are using RSA, run:

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Copy the full output.

Example:

ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIExampleKey your-email@example.com

Step 6: Add SSH Key to GitHub

Go to GitHub.
Click your profile picture.
Go to Settings.
Click SSH and GPG keys.
Click New SSH key.
Add a title, for example:

My Laptop SSH Key

Paste your copied SSH public key.
Click Add SSH key.

Step 7: Test SSH Connection

Run this command:

ssh -T git@github.com

If everything is correct, you should see a message like:

Hi username! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

This means your SSH key is working.

Step 8: Check Git Remote URL

Run:

git remote -v

If your remote URL looks like this:

git@github.com:username/repository-name.git

then you are using SSH.

If it looks like this:

https://github.com/username/repository-name.git

then you are using HTTPS.

Step 9: Set SSH Remote URL

If you want to use SSH, set the remote URL like this:

git remote set-url origin git@github.com:username/repository-name.git

Replace username with your GitHub username.

Replace repository-name with your repository name.

Step 10: Push Code Again

Now push your code again:

git push origin main

If your branch name is master, use:

git push origin master

Alternative Solution: Use HTTPS Instead of SSH

If you do not want to use SSH, you can use HTTPS.

Set the HTTPS remote URL:

git remote set-url origin https://github.com/username/repository-name.git

Then push again:

git push origin main

GitHub may ask for authentication.

Instead of using your GitHub password, use a Personal Access Token.

Final Answer

The Permission denied (publickey) error happens because GitHub cannot verify your computer using SSH.

To solve it:

Generate an SSH key.
Add the SSH key to your GitHub account.
Start the SSH agent.
Add the key to the SSH agent.
Test the GitHub SSH connection.
Push your code again.

After completing these steps, the GitHub push should work successfully.

Answer selected by shwon908

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shwon908 May 29, 2026

🏷️ Discussion Type

Body

GitHub Tech Issue: Permission Denied While Pushing Code

Issue

Solution: Fix GitHub Permission denied (publickey) Error

Problem

Step 1: Check Existing SSH Key

Step 2: Generate a New SSH Key

Replies: 1 comment · 1 reply

Uh oh!

github-actions[bot] Bot May 29, 2026

Uh oh!

Moparapairayat May 29, 2026

Solution: Fix GitHub Permission denied (publickey) Error

Problem

Step 1: Check Existing SSH Key

Step 2: Generate a New SSH Key

Step 3: Start the SSH Agent

Step 4: Add SSH Key to SSH Agent

Step 5: Copy Your Public SSH Key

Step 6: Add SSH Key to GitHub

Step 7: Test SSH Connection

Step 8: Check Git Remote URL

Step 9: Set SSH Remote URL

Step 10: Push Code Again

Alternative Solution: Use HTTPS Instead of SSH

Final Answer

shwon908
May 29, 2026

Solution: Fix GitHub `Permission denied (publickey)` Error

Replies: 1 comment 1 reply

github-actions[bot]
Bot May 29, 2026

Solution: Fix GitHub `Permission denied (publickey)` Error