git: 'credential-cache' is not a git command

294
votes

I followed these instructions to the letter, including the part about password caching. It seems like the instructions are wrong, because every time I git push origin master I get this error:

git: 'credential-cache' is not a git command. See 'get --help'.

... at which point I am forced to enter my username and password. After doing so, I am presented with the same error message again, followed by the output from git push.

Here is the contents of my .gitconfig file:

[user]
    name = myusername
    email = [email protected]
[credential]
    helper = cache

To be clear, after I installed Git and ran Git Bash, here is exactly what I typed:

git config --global user.name "myusername"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"
git config --global credential.helper cache

Please help. This is so frustrating!

12
gitmsysgitgit-bashgit-config
To remove the message, "git: 'credential-cache' is not a git command.", run "git config --global --unset credential.helper", then you can follow the instructions below. - Wallace Kelly
@Wally +1 Thanks, your command worked for me only after removing --global. - Web_Designer
Possible duplicate of Is there a way to skip password typing when using https:// github - Michael Freidgeim
you can alternatively remove the message by modifying .git/config file manually (i.e remove the lines below [credential]) - tarikakyol
FWIW for those reading the various Windows suggestions below, git config credential.helper cache did work for me with Cygwin git version 2.13.2. - Flash Sheridan

12 Answers

344
votes

From a blog I found:

This [git-credential-cache] doesn’t work for Windows systems as git-credential-cache communicates through a Unix socket.

Git for Windows

Since msysgit has been superseded by Git for Windows, using Git for Windows is now the easiest option. Some versions of the Git for Windows installer (e.g. 2.7.4) have a checkbox during the install to enable the Git Credential Manager. Here is a screenshot:

screenshot of Git For Windows 2.7.4 install wizard

Still using msysgit? For msysgit versions 1.8.1 and above

The wincred helper was added in msysgit 1.8.1. Use it as follows:

git config --global credential.helper wincred

For msysgit versions older than 1.8.1

First, download git-credential-winstore and install it in your git bin directory.

Next, make sure that the directory containing git.cmd is in your Path environment variable. The default directory for this is C:\Program Files (x86)\Git\cmd on a 64-bit system or C:\Program Files\Git\cmd on a 32-bit system. An easy way to test this is to launch a command prompt and type git. If you don't get a list of git commands, then it's not set up correctly.

Finally, launch a command prompt and type:

git config --global credential.helper winstore

Or you can edit your .gitconfig file manually:

[credential]
    helper = winstore

Once you've done this, you can manage your git credentials through Windows Credential Manager which you can pull up via the Windows Control Panel.

68
votes

Looks like git now comes with wincred out-of-the-box on Windows (msysgit):

git config --global credential.helper wincred

Reference: https://github.com/msysgit/git/commit/e2770979fec968a25ac21e34f9082bc17a71a780

33
votes

First run git config --global credential.helper wincred

Then go to: CONTROL PANEL\CREDENTIAL MANAGER\WINDOWS CREDENTIAL\GENERIC CREDENTIAL

then click in add a credential in Internet or network address: add git:https://{username}.github.com

User: {name}

Password: {Password}

27
votes

I faced this problem while using AptanaStudio3 on windows7. This helped me:

git config --global credential.helper wincred

Code taken from here

16
votes

First find the version you are using for GIT.

using this command : git --version

if you have a newer version than 1.7.10.

Then simply use this this command.

Windows:

git config --global credential.helper wincred

MAC

git config --global credential.helper osxkeychain

Reference

15
votes

A similar error is 'credential-wincred' is not a git command

The accepted and popular answers are now out of date...

wincred is for the project git-credential-winstore which is no longer maintained.

It was replaced by Git-Credential-Manager-for-Windows maintained by Microsoft open source.

Download the release as zip file from link above and extract contents to

\cygwin\usr\libexec\git-core

(or \cygwin64\usr\libexec\git-core as it may be)

Then enable it, (by setting the global .gitconfig) - execute:

git config --global credential.helper manager

How to use

No further config is needed.

It works [automatically] when credentials are needed.

For example, when pushing to Azure DevOps, it opens a window and initializes an oauth2 flow to get your token.

ref:

10
votes

There is now a much easier way to setup Git password caching by double clicking a small exe on Windows. The program is still based on git-credential-winstore mentioned by the top voted answer, although the project has been moved from GitHub to http://gitcredentialstore.codeplex.com/

You can download the exe (and a binary for Mac) from this blog post: https://github.com/blog/1104-credential-caching-for-wrist-friendly-git-usage

10
votes

I fixed this issue by removing the credential section from the config of specific project:

  • Just typed: git config -e
  • Inside the editor I removed the whole section [credential] helper = cache.

This removed the annoying message :

git: 'credential-cache' is not a git command. See 'git --help'.

7
votes

For the sake of others who come on this issue, I had this same problem in Ubuntu (namely that my passwords weren't caching, despite having set the option correctly, and getting the error git: 'credential-cache' is not a git command.), until I found out that this feature is only available in Git 1.7.9 and above.

Being on an older distribution of Ubuntu (Natty; I'm a stubborn Gnome 2 user) the version in the repo was git version 1.7.4.1. I used the following PPA to upgrade: https://launchpad.net/~git-core/+archive/ppa

5
votes

For the sake of others having this issue - I landed here because I tried to get cute with how I set up a new github repository, but per the setup page credential helper doesn't work unless you clone a repository.

"Tip: The credential helper only works when you clone an HTTPS repository URL. If you use the SSH repository URL instead, SSH keys are used for authentication. This guide offers help generating and using an SSH key pair."

4
votes

I realize I'm a little late to the conversation, but I encountered the exact same issue In my git config I had two entries credentials…

In my .gitconfig file

[credential]
helper = cached
[credentials]
helper = wincred

The Fix: Changed my .gitconfig file to the settings below 

[credential]
helper = wincred
[credentials]
helper = wincred
0
votes

We had the same issue with our Azure DevOps repositories after our domain changed, i.e. from @xy.com to @xyz.com. To fix this issue, we generated a fresh personal access token with the following permissions:

Code: read & write Packaging: read

Then we opened the Windows Credential Manager, added a new generic windows credential with the following details:

Internet or network address: "git:{projectname}@dev.azure.com/{projectname}" - alternatively you should use your git repository name here.
User name: "Personal Access Token"
Password: {The generated Personal Access Token}

Afterwards all our git operations were working again. Hope this helps someone else!