A practical walkthrough

Getting started
with GitHub.

Eight steps to set up the foundation every AI coding workflow assumes you already have. No prior experience required — just a terminal and 30 minutes of focus.

step one

Create your GitHub account.

Head to github.com/signup in your browser. You'll need an email, a username, and a password. This is your public coding identity.

Pick a username you'd put on a resume — it appears in every project URL
Use an email you'll keep for years, not a school or work address
Use a strong, unique password (we'll add MFA next)
Add a profile photo + bio — empty profiles look like bots

⌂ yourusername

Your Name

@yourusername

Building real things with AI. Learning in public.

0 repositories 0 followers 0 following

step two

Lock it down with multi-factor auth.

GitHub requires two-factor authentication for anyone contributing code. This isn't optional — it's the price of admission.

Install Google Authenticator on your phone (Authy or 1Password also work)
In GitHub: Settings → Password and authentication → Enable 2FA
Scan the QR code with your authenticator app
Enter the 6-digit code to confirm
Save your recovery codes — losing them locks you out forever

Google Authenticator

GitHub: yourusername

847 392

step three

Open your terminal.

The terminal isn't scary — it's just a text-based way to talk to your computer. The skills you build here pay back forever.

Mac: Cmd + Space → type "Terminal" → Enter
Windows: PowerShell admin → wsl --install → restart → open Ubuntu
Linux: You already know where it is

Test it works with two simple commands:

terminal — sanity check

~ $ whoami

alex

~ $ pwd

/Users/alex

# If you see your username and home path,

# congratulations — the terminal works.

~ $

step four

Install Git & introduce yourself.

Git is the version control tool. GitHub is the website that hosts Git projects. Different things — both essential.

Mac: Run git --version → install developer tools if prompted
WSL/Linux: sudo apt install git
Configure your identity (same email as GitHub)

These two config commands stamp every change with your name. Skip them and your commits won't link to your GitHub profile.

terminal — git config

~ $ git --version

git version 2.43.0

~ $ git config --global user.name "Your Name"

~ $ git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

✓ Git knows who you are.

~ $

step five

Generate your SSH key pair.

SSH keys prove your computer is really you — without typing passwords every time. You create two keys:

Public key — give this to GitHub freely
Private key — stays on your computer, NEVER share it

Run ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "you@example.com", press Enter to accept defaults, then add a passphrase (optional but more secure).

Public key (id_ed25519.pub)

ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIBxK9pQmZv2nLHkE4yT8wRfX3jM5cVuP1aQbN6dKsHeRtY you@example.com

↕

Private key (id_ed25519) — hover to peek

-----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY----- b3BlbnNzaC1rZXktdjEAAAAABG5vbmUAAAAEbm9uZQAAAAAAAAABAAAAMwAAAAtzc2gtZW QyNTUxOQAAACDxK9pQmZv2nLHkE4yT8wRfX3jM5cVuP1aQbN6dKsHeRt -----END OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----

step six

Hand your public key to GitHub.

Copy your public key, paste it into GitHub, then test the connection.

Mac: pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
Linux/WSL: cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub → copy output
GitHub → Settings → SSH and GPG keys → New SSH key
Give it a name (e.g. "MacBook Pro 2024") + paste key
Confirm with your MFA code

terminal — ssh handshake

~ $ ssh -T git@github.com

The authenticity of host 'github.com' can't

be established.

ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:...

Are you sure you want to continue (yes/no)?

yes

Hi yourusername! You've successfully

authenticated, but GitHub does not provide

shell access.

# You're in. ✓

~ $

step seven

Make your first repo.

Time to see how it all connects. We'll build a tiny "project notes" repo — just text, nothing scary.

Create a folder and a README file
Initialize a Git repository with git init -b main
Stage changes with git add
Save a snapshot with git commit -m "message"

Each commit is a save point you can return to. Future-you will thank present-you for good commit messages.

terminal — first commit

~ $ mkdir vibe-coding-notes

~ $ cd vibe-coding-notes

~/vibe-coding-notes $ git init -b main

Initialized empty Git repository

$ echo "# My Journey" > README.md

$ git add README.md

$ git commit -m "Initial commit"

[main (root-commit) 8f2a1b3]

1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)

step eight

Push it to the cloud.

Right now your code only lives on your computer. Time to put it on GitHub where it's backed up and shareable.

On GitHub: github.com/new → name it vibe-coding-notes
Don't check any "initialize with" boxes
Link local to remote, then push

Refresh GitHub in your browser. Your code is live. That's the loop: edit → add → commit → push. Every project from here uses this exact flow.

terminal — git push

$ git remote add origin \

git@github.com:you/vibe-coding-notes.git

$ git push -u origin main

Enumerating objects: 3, done.

Writing objects: 100% (3/3), done.

Total 3 (delta 0), reused 0

To github.com:you/vibe-coding-notes.git

* [new branch] main → main

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🎉 You're a GitHub developer now.