[FR] Allow changing commit email on Github Gist

[Zocker1999NET]

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Product Feedback

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First off, I seriously like that GitHub Gist does show to you which commit email it will use:

But, by default for most of GitHub, this chooses my main account email. But, for security reasons (so I actually can be sure that GitHub sent me a "you were hacked" mail & not some spammer), I want to keep this email address secret. But GitHub Gist does not allow me to change the commit email, it only shows it to me.

So I would like to have a selection box, like one which is already present when committing file changes online.

(It would be even better to have a global "default commit email" setting separate from the main account email, but I think this would be harder to implement & guarantee that all features of GitHub do now use this instead of silently leaking your main account email …)

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[rehuux]

That is a fair concern. Privacy is important, and keeping your primary email out of public commits is a smart practice.

Here is what you can do right now.

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Current Behavior

GitHub Gist does not offer a UI to change the commit email per gist. It defaults to your primary GitHub email, which is the one set in your account settings. The notice you see is informational only and is not a selector.

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Workarounds

Option 1: Set a local Git config when working with gists locally

git config user.email "your-alternate@example.com"

Run this inside your local gist repository. The email must be verified in your GitHub settings, otherwise commits will appear as "unverified."

Option 2: Set a global Git email

git config --global user.email "your-public-email@example.com"

Add this email to your GitHub account under Settings → Emails. You can also enable "Keep my email addresses private" if desired.

Option 3: Use GitHub's noreply email

GitHub provides a privacy address like this:

123456+username@users.noreply.github.com

You can find yours in Settings → Emails. Using this keeps your real email hidden.

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Feature Request

A per‑gist email selector, similar to what exists in the web file editor, would be a useful addition. You could search for an existing request in the GitHub Community Discussions and upvote it, or open a new feature request with a clear title such as: "Add commit email selector to Gist creation UI."

A separate global default commit email setting, independent of the primary account email, would also be a clean long‑term solution.

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Hope this helps. Let me know if you need assistance finding your noreply email or configuring Git locally.