Invite collaborator : GitHub

This guide describes how to invite a GitHub user as a collaborator to a GitHub repository (repo).

If you invite a collaborator to your GitHub repo, the collaborator can modify the files in your GitHub repo. For example, as part of a review, an author might add a reviewer as a collaborator. Then, the reviewer can modify files on the author’s branch.

Note: To follow this guide you must have the required user permissions for adding collaborators to your chosen GitHub repo (or fork). As an example, this guide invites the GitHub user eamonnk as a collaborator to the GitHub fork/ repo mkavana/learn-pr. The invitation to collaborate is sent from a personal GitHub account (free/ basic). Apply this guide to any suitable GitHub username and fork/ repo by adapting the steps accordingly.

Topics in this guide

Invite a collaborator to a GitHub repo

  1. Open a web browser, sign at GitHub.com. Then, go to the GitHub fork/ repo you’re inviting a collaborator to at:

    https://github.com/ Your GitHub username/ Your fork or repo name/.

  2. Select the Settings tab.

    Setting tab in an example GitHub repo

  3. Choose Manage access.

    Manage access menu in an example GitHub repo

  4. Select Invite collaborator.

    Invite collaborator option in an example GitHub repo

  5. Enter the GitHub username you want to invite.

    Sample GitHub username added as a collaborator in an example GitHub repo

  6. Select Add username to repo-name to confirm.

    Button to confirm adding a GitHub user as a collaborator to an example GitHub repo

  7. GitHub sends your invitation to the potential collaborator, and notifies you when the collaborator responds to your invitation.

You’ve invited a collaborator to a GitHub repo successfully.

Note: If you’ve owner or admin access permissions to a GitHub repo, you can assign read, write, or admin roles to other GitHub users. To allocate roles to users of a GitHub repo, refer to Manage collaborator access to a GitHub repo by role.

Manage collaborator access to a GitHub repo by role

If you have owner or admin level access permissions to a GitHub repo within an organization, you can allocate roles to specific GitHub collaborators. Where applicable, each role grants a collaborator different access permissions to the GitHub repo. With roles you can choose who has read (pull), write (push), or admin access to the GitHub repo.

Note: The following steps assume your invitation to add a GitHub collaborator has been accepted; refer to Invite a collaborator to a GitHub repo. You must also have owner or admin access permissions to the GitHub repo you want to manage, and the GitHub repo must be owned by an organization.

Complete the following steps to manage collaborator access to a GitHub repo by role.

  1. Open a web browser, sign at GitHub.com. Then, go to the GitHub fork/ repo you want to manage access to at:

    https://github.com/ Your GitHub username/ Your fork or repo name/.

    For example, go to https://github.com/eamonnk/learn-pr/.

  2. Select the Settings tab.

    Setting tab in an example GitHub repo

  3. Choose Manage access.

    Manage access menu in an example GitHub repo

  4. Use the dropdown beside a collaborator’s GitHub username to set the user’s role.

    For example, in the following image, the role Admin is set for the username mkavana.

    Set a role for a collaborator in an example GitHub repo

    The following table describes each role.

    Role Description
    Read Can read and clone this repository. Can also open and comment on issues and pull requests.
    Write Can read, clone, and push to this repository. Can also manage issues and pull requests.
    Admin Can read, clone, and push to this repository. Can also manage issues, pull requests, and repository settings, including adding collaborators.

You’ve managed collaborator access to a GitHub repo by role successfully.

Note: For information about managing access by role for a GitHub repo, refer to Repository permission levels for an organization.

Appendices

Check the following supplementary Appendices for more details and context.

⇠ Fix linter issues

Create scaffolding ⇢