About registering GitHub Apps

You can register a GitHub App in a few different ways.

• Under yourpersonal account.
• Under anorganization you own.
• Under anorganization that has granted you permission to manage all its apps. SeeAdding and removing GitHub App managers in your organization.

A user or organization can register up to 100 GitHub Apps, but there is no limit to how many GitHub Apps can be installed on an account.

Registering a GitHub App

1. In the upper-right corner of any page on GitHub, click your profile picture.

2. Navigate to your account settings.

   • For an app owned by a personal account, clickSettings.
   • For an app owned by an organization:
     1. ClickYour organizations.
     2. To the right of the organization, clickSettings.

3. In the left sidebar, click Developer settings.

4. In the left sidebar, clickGitHub Apps.

5. ClickNew GitHub App.

6. Under "GitHub App name", enter a name for your app. You should choose a clear and short name. The name cannot be longer than 34 characters. Your app's name (converted to lowercase, with spaces replaced by-, and with special characters replaced) will be shown in the user interface when your app takes an action. For example,My APp Näme would display asmy-app-name.

   The name must be unique across GitHub. You cannot use the same name as an existing GitHub account, unless it is your own user or organization name.

7. Optionally, under "Description", type a description of your app. Users will see this description when they install your app.

8. Under "Homepage URL", type the full URL to your app's website. If you don’t have a dedicated URL and your app's code is stored in a public repository, you can use that repository URL. Or, you can use the URL of the account that owns the app.

9. Optionally, under "Callback URL", enter the full URL to redirect to after a user authorizes the installation.

   You can enter up to 10 callback URLs. To add additional callback URLs, clickAdd callback URL.

   If your app does not need to act on behalf of a user (does not need to generate a user access token), this field will be ignored. If your app uses device flow instead of web application flow to generate a user access token, this field will be ignored.

   For more information about the callback URL, seeAbout the user authorization callback URL. For more information about generating a user access token to act on behalf of a user, seeAuthenticating with a GitHub App on behalf of a user andGenerating a user access token for a GitHub App.

10. Optionally, to prevent user access tokens from expiring, deselectExpire user authorization tokens. GitHub strongly recommends that you leave this option selected. For more information about refreshing expired tokens and the benefits of user access tokens that expire, seeRefreshing user access tokens. If your app does not need to generate a user access token, this field will be ignored.

11. Optionally, to prompt users to authorize your app when they install it, selectRequest user authorization (OAuth) during installation. If a user authorizes your app, your app can generate a user access token to make API requests on the user's behalf and attribute app activity to the user. For more information, seeAuthenticating with a GitHub App on behalf of a user andGenerating a user access token for a GitHub App.

12. Optionally, if you want to use device flow to generate a user access token, selectEnable Device Flow. For more information, seeGenerating a user access token for a GitHub App.

13. Optionally, under "Setup URL", enter the URL to redirect users to after they install your app. If additional setup is required after installation, you can use this URL to tell users what steps to take after installation. For more information, seeAbout the setup URL.

    If you selectedRequest user authorization (OAuth) during installation in an earlier step, you will not be able to enter a URL here. Users will instead be redirected to the Callback URL as part of the authorization flow, where you can describe additional setup.

14. Optionally, if you want to redirect users to the setup URL after they update an installation, selectRedirect on update. An update includes adding or removing a repository for an installation. If "Setup URL" is blank, this will be ignored.

15. Optionally, if you do not want your app to receive webhook events, deselectActive. For example, if your app will only be used for authentication or does not need to respond to webhooks, deselect this option. For more information, seeUsing webhooks with GitHub Apps.

16. If you selectedActive in the previous step, under "Webhook URL", enter the URL that GitHub should send webhook events to. For more information, seeUsing webhooks with GitHub Apps.

17. Optionally, if you selectedActive in the previous step, under "Webhook secret", enter a secret token to secure your webhooks. GitHub highly recommends that you set a webhook secret. For more information, seeUsing webhooks with GitHub Apps.

18. If you entered a webhook URL, under "SSL verification", select whether to enable SSL verification. GitHub highly recommends that you enable SSL verification.

19. Under "Permissions", choose the permissions that your app needs. For each permission, select the dropdown menu and clickRead-only,Read & write, orNo access. You should select the minimum permissions necessary for your app. For more information, seeChoosing permissions for a GitHub App.

20. If you selectedActive in the earlier step to indicate that your app should receive webhook events, under "Subscribe to events", select the webhook events that you want your app to receive. The permissions that you selected in the previous step determine what webhook events are available. For more information about each webhook event, seeWebhook events and payloads.

21. Under "Where can this GitHub App be installed?", selectOnly on this account orAny account. For more information on installation options, seeMaking a GitHub App public or private.

22. ClickCreate GitHub App.

Next steps

After registering a GitHub App, you will want to write code to make your GitHub App do something. For examples of how to write code, see:

• Quickstart for building GitHub Apps
• Building a GitHub App that responds to webhook events
• Building a "Login with GitHub" button with a GitHub App
• Building a CLI with a GitHub App
• Making authenticated API requests with a GitHub App in a GitHub Actions workflow

You should aim to follow best practices. For more information, seeBest practices for creating a GitHub App.

Once your GitHub App is fully built, you can install your GitHub App and share your GitHub App with others. For more information, seeInstalling your own GitHub App andSharing your GitHub App.

You can always make changes to the settings for your GitHub App. For more information, seeModifying a GitHub App registration.