GitHub Desktop supports GPG (GNU Privacy Guard) for signing commits and tags. GPG is a tool that allows you to encrypt and sign your commits and tags to prove their authenticity. This can be useful in situations where you want to ensure that the commits and tags in a repository come from a trusted source, and have not been tampered with.
To use GPG with GitHub Desktop, you will need to:
- Install GPG on your computer, if it’s not already installed.
- Generate a GPG key pair. You can do this by running the
gpg --gen-keycommand in your terminal. - Add your GPG key to GitHub. You can do this by running the
gpg --list-secret-keys --keyid-format LONGcommand to see your GPG key ID, and then adding that key to your GitHub account by going to your GitHub settings. - Configure GitHub Desktop to use your GPG key. You can do this by going to the GitHub Desktop settings, selecting the “Git” tab, and then selecting your GPG key from the “GPG key” dropdown.
Once you’ve completed these steps, you will be able to sign your commits and tags using GPG by selecting the “Sign commit” or “Sign tag” option in GitHub Desktop when committing or creating a tag.
It’s worth noting that, if you’re working with a team, signing commits and tags is a good practice to ensure the authenticity of the code and commits, but it’s not a requirement. It’s up to the organization’s policies and workflows.