git-credential-cache - Helper to temporarily store passwords in memory

This command caches credentials for use by future Git programs. The stored credentials are kept in memory of the cache-daemon process (instead of being written to a file) and are forgotten after a configurable timeout. Credentials are forgotten sooner if the cache-daemon dies, for example if the system restarts. The cache is accessible over a Unix domain socket, restricted to the current user by filesystem permissions.

You probably don’t want to invoke this command directly; it is meant to be used as a credential helper by other parts of Git. See gitcredentials[7] or EXAMPLES below.

If you would like the daemon to exit early, forgetting all cached credentials before their timeout, you can issue an exit action:

git credential-cache exit

The point of this helper is to reduce the number of times you must type your username or password. For example:

$ git config credential.helper cache
$ git push http://example.com/repo.git
Username: <type your username>
Password: <type your password>

[work for 5 more minutes]
$ git push http://example.com/repo.git
[your credentials are used automatically]

You can provide options via the credential.helper configuration variable (this example increases the cache time to 1 hour):

$ git config credential.helper 'cache --timeout=3600'

Some remotes accept personal access tokens, which are randomly generated and hard to memorise. They typically have a lifetime of weeks or months.

git-credential-cache is inherently unsuitable for persistent storage of personal access tokens. The credential will be forgotten after the cache timeout. Even if you configure a long timeout, credentials will be forgotten if the daemon dies.

To avoid frequently regenerating personal access tokens, configure a credential helper with persistent storage. Alternatively, configure an OAuth credential helper to generate credentials automatically. See gitcredentials[7], sections "Available helpers" and "OAuth".