gitbutlerapp/gitbutler · warning

Authorization process aborted by user.

Error message

Authorization process aborted by user.

What it means

During GitHub OAuth device-flow authentication, the CLI prints a code, opens the browser, and then blocks on a y/n confirmation asking the user to press 'y' after completing authorization in the browser. If the user enters anything other than 'y' (e.g. 'n', Enter for empty, or EOF on a piped stdin), the flow is treated as intentionally aborted and github_auth bails with this message before polling auth status.

Solutions

1. Re-run the auth command and answer 'y' after completing authorization in the browser
2. Ensure the command runs in an interactive terminal so the confirmation prompt can be answered
3. Complete the browser authorization step before confirming; if the browser step failed, restart the whole device-flow login

Example fix

// before (non-interactive)
echo "" | but auth github
// after
but auth github   # run interactively, answer 'y' after browser auth

const isInteractive = process.stdin.isTTY;
if (!isInteractive) throw new Error('GitHub OAuth login requires an interactive terminal');

const isAbortError = (e) => e instanceof Error && /aborted by user/i.test(e.message);

try {
  await runGithubAuth();
} catch (e) {
  if (isAbortError(e)) {
    console.log('Login cancelled; re-run to try again.');
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: During `but auth github` (github_oauth): pressing Enter/n at the "press 'y' to continue" prompt, closing stdin (Ctrl+D), or running the command non-interactively so confirm_no_default receives no 'y'.

Common situations: Running the CLI inside a script or CI where stdin is not a TTY; user abandoning login halfway; confusion about needing to press 'y' after browser auth rather than just Enter.

Related errors

• Could not determine authentication method
• Could not determine which forge provider to authenticate…
• Known account is not correctly authenticated. Run
• No authenticated forge users found. Run
• No authenticated GitHub users found.\nRun 'but config forge…

AI-assisted analysis of gitbutlerapp/gitbutler@58e5313667 (2026-09-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bab5c5f9d7aa46a5. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/but/src/command/config.rs:1086

    writeln!(inout, "Authentication successful! Welcome, {login}.")?;
    Ok(())
}

/// Authenticate with GitHub using the device OAuth flow
async fn github_oauth(mut inout: InputOutputChannel<'_>) -> Result<()> {
    let code = but_api::github::init_github_device_oauth().await?;
    writeln!(
        inout,
        "Device authorization initiated. Please visit the following URL and enter the code:\n\nhttps://github.com/login/device\n\nCode: {}\n\n",
        code.user_code
    )?;

    if inout.confirm_no_default(
        "After completing authorization in your browser, press 'y' to continue.",
    )? != ConfirmOrEmpty::Yes
    {
        anyhow::bail!("Authorization process aborted by user.")
    }

    let status = but_api::github::check_github_auth_status(code.device_code)
        .await
        .map_err(|err| err.context("Authentication failed"))?;

    writeln!(
        inout,
        "Authentication successful! Welcome, {}.",
        status.login
    )?;

    Ok(())
}

async fn display_authenticated_github_accounts(
    known_gh_accounts: &Vec<but_github::GithubAccountIdentifier>,
    out: &mut dyn Write,

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