A Claude Code skill that walks you through setting up GitHub on your Mac from scratch. It's designed for people who are brand new to coding and GitHub — no prior experience needed.
When you ask Claude for help setting up GitHub, this skill takes over and guides you through every step of the process. Instead of giving you a wall of instructions to figure out on your own, Claude handles the technical parts and explains what's happening in plain language along the way.
By the end, you'll have:
- GitHub CLI installed and logged into your account
- Your identity configured so your name appears on your contributions
- SSH keys set up so your computer can securely talk to GitHub without passwords
- Commit signing enabled so your work shows a "Verified" badge on GitHub
Setting up GitHub for the first time involves a lot of moving parts — installing tools, running terminal commands, generating cryptographic keys, editing config files. It's the kind of thing that's easy to mess up if you're following a tutorial and miss a step.
This skill handles all of that for you. Claude checks what's already set up on your machine, skips anything that's done, and walks you through the rest. It even detects your GitHub username and email automatically after you log in, so you don't have to remember or look anything up.
Open Claude Code and tell it:
Install this skill from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FredLackey/shared-scripts/main/skills/github-onboarding/SKILL.md
Once installed, just ask Claude something like:
- "Help me set up GitHub"
- "I just created a GitHub account, now what?"
- "I need to get GitHub working on my Mac"
- "Can you set up SSH keys for GitHub?"
Claude will recognize what you need and start the guided walkthrough.
The walkthrough takes about 5-10 minutes. Claude will:
- Check your tools — makes sure Homebrew and the GitHub CLI are installed
- Log you into GitHub — walks you through a simple browser-based login (you'll need your GitHub account open in your browser for this part)
- Set up your identity — detects your name and email from your GitHub profile so you don't have to type them in
- Create your SSH key — generates a secure key and adds it to your GitHub account
- Turn on commit signing — configures your setup so your contributions are verified
Claude will explain each step before doing it and pause to check in with you before anything that needs your input (like the browser login). Nothing happens without your knowledge.
- A Mac running macOS
- Homebrew installed (if you don't have it, Claude will point you to the install page)
- A GitHub account (if you don't have one, create one at github.com)
- Claude Code installed and running
If you run into problems or have questions, reach out:
Fred Lackey Email: Fred.Lackey@gmail.com Website: FredLackey.com