How to detect credential cache

To check if your Git is currently configured to use any type of credential caching on your system and determine where your credentials might be saved, you can use the following steps:

1. Check Current Git Credential Helper Configuration

Git uses a credential helper to manage how credentials are stored. To check what credential helper is configured on your system, you can run the following command:

git config --global credential.helper

This command will display the type of credential helper configured, if any. Here’s what you might see:

• cache: If Git shows cache, it means your credentials are being temporarily stored in memory, and they will be flushed after the timeout period (default 15 minutes).

• store: If you see store, Git is storing your credentials in a plain-text file called ~/.git-credentials.

• libsecret or another helper: If you’re using a more secure option like libsecret, your credentials are stored securely in the system’s keyring.

If you don’t see any output, it means no credential helper is explicitly set up, and your credentials might be asked each time unless something is configured locally in your repository.

2. Check if Credentials Are Stored in a File

If your credentials were saved somewhere and not just cached in memory, they could be in the ~/.git-credentials file, especially if Git was configured with the store helper.

• To check if your credentials were saved to a file, you can list the contents of the .git-credentials file (if it exists):

  cat ~/.git-credentials

  If this file exists and contains your Git credentials (in plain text), it means you’re using the store helper. If the file doesn’t exist or is empty, you are likely using another method (like cache or libsecret).

3. Check Local Repository Configuration

Sometimes, credential helpers might be configured locally at the repository level, not globally. To check if a credential helper is set only for the current repository, run this inside your project directory:

git config credential.helper

This will tell you if there’s any repository-specific credential helper set.

4. How to Check if Cache Is Being Used

If the cache helper is configured (from step 1), your credentials are stored in memory temporarily.

• If you want to check for cached credentials, unfortunately, they are stored in memory and are not written to any specific file location on your disk. Therefore, you can't view the credentials directly like you could with the store helper. However, you can manually flush the cache using this command, which will remove them from memory:

  git credential-cache exit

• After running this command, Git will prompt you for credentials the next time you push or pull, confirming that they were cached and are now removed.

5. Check if libsecret Is Being Used

If you’re using libsecret (the secure keyring-based credential storage), Git will store your credentials in the GNOME keyring (or another keyring service your system uses). To verify if libsecret is being used, check your credential helper configuration:

git config --global credential.helper

If you see an output like:

/usr/share/doc/git/contrib/credential/libsecret/git-credential-libsecret

This indicates that libsecret is being used to store your credentials securely.

6. Manual Ways to Detect Credential Saving

If none of the above gives you a clear result, here are other ways to check:

• Push another commit: If you push another commit and you are not prompted for credentials, it means they are still saved (either in memory via cache, in the ~/.git-credentials file, or in your system keyring via libsecret).

• Credential Cache Timeout: If you set up credential.helper cache, the timeout is probably default (15 minutes). You could wait 15 minutes to see if Git prompts you for credentials again after the timeout expires.

Summary

• Check Global Helper: Run git config --global credential.helper to see if any credential helper is set globally.

• Check Local Helper: Run git config credential.helper within your repository to see if a helper is set for that specific repo.

• Check Stored Credentials: Run cat ~/.git-credentials to see if credentials are stored in plain text in your home directory.

• Check Cache: If you’re using the cache helper, credentials are in memory temporarily, and you can flush them with git credential-cache exit.

By running these commands, you can pinpoint whether your credentials were saved in memory, in a file, or in a secure keyring. Let me know if you need further help with any of the steps!