STEP 2 OF 4 · SETUP

Set up GitHub

Account, SSH keys, and forking the bootcamp repo. Your professional portfolio starts here.

⏱️ 20 minutes 💻 Terminal involved 🆓 Always free
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1

Create your account

at github.com/signup
🔒github.com/signup
Join GitHub

Welcome to GitHub!

Let's begin the adventure.

The basics

  • Go to github.com/signup
  • Use a personal email (not work or school) — this account is yours for your whole career.
  • Verify your email, then choose a strong password and save it in a password manager.
  • Enable two-factor authentication immediately in Settings → Password and authentication.
2

Pick a professional username

Recruiters will see this — make it count
🔒github.com/signup/username
Choose your username

github.com/_______

This is your unique URL on GitHub — and your professional handle.

Username matters more than you think

  • Good: shadrack-darku, kofi-mensah, akosua-codes
  • Bad: xX_dragon_99_Xx, cooldev420, anything you'd be embarrassed to put on a CV
  • Recruiters Google your GitHub username. Treat it like part of your professional identity.
  • You CAN change it later but ALL your old GitHub URLs break. Pick well now.
💡 Pro tip: if your name is taken, try variations like firstname-lastname, firstname-builds, or firstname-codes. Avoid random numbers — they look like throwaway accounts.
3

Generate SSH keys

So you never type a password to push code
Terminal — bash
# Generate a new SSH key (one-time setup) shad@laptop:~$

The SSH dance, explained

  • An SSH key is a pair: a private key (stays on your laptop, secret) and a public key (you give to GitHub).
  • The command: ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your@email.com"
  • Press Enter at every prompt to accept defaults (location, no passphrase).
  • Two files are created: id_ed25519 (private) and id_ed25519.pub (public).
🚨 Never share the private key. Treat it like a password. Only share the .pub file.
4

Add the public key to GitHub

Copy, paste, save
🔒github.com/settings/ssh/new
SSH keys / Add new

Add new SSH key

Copy the public key, paste it

  • Copy your public key. On Mac: pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
  • On Windows (Git Bash): cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | clip
  • On Linux: cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub then highlight + copy
  • Go to github.com/settings/ssh/new. Title: "My laptop". Paste the key into the Key field. Save.
💡 Did the copy work? The key should start with ssh-ed25519 and end with your email. If you see only one line, it copied right.
5

Test the connection

Confirm GitHub recognizes you
Terminal — bash
# Test SSH connection to GitHub shad@laptop:~$

The "you're in" moment

  • Run: ssh -T git@github.com
  • First time, you'll see a fingerprint warning — type yes and Enter.
  • You should see: "Hi [your-username]! You've successfully authenticated..."
  • If you see that, you're done. SSH works, you'll never type a password again.
⚠️ "Permission denied (publickey)"? The key didn't make it to GitHub. Go back to step 4, copy and paste again. Make sure you copied the .pub (public) file, not the private one.
🚀

GitHub is ready

Account created, SSH keys set up, GitHub recognizes you. Now let's get Python and VS Code installed.

Next: Python & VS Code → ← Back to bootcamp
← AWS setup Python & VS Code →