Authentication

b supports authentication tokens for accessing private repositories and increasing API rate limits. Tokens are read from environment variables.

Provider Tokens

Provider	Environment Variable	Header Format
GitHub	GITHUB_TOKEN	Authorization: Bearer <token>
GitLab	GITLAB_TOKEN	PRIVATE-TOKEN: <token>
Gitea / Codeberg	GITEA_TOKEN	Authorization: token <token>

Usage

Export the appropriate variable before running b:

export GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_..."
b install owner/private-repo

GitHub

A GitHub token increases the API rate limit from 60 to 5,000 requests per hour and allows access to private repositories.

export GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_..."

Without a token, b will show a warning when rate-limited:

GitHub API rate limited (set GITHUB_TOKEN for higher limits)

GitLab

A GitLab token is required for private repositories on gitlab.com or self-hosted instances.

export GITLAB_TOKEN="glpat-..."

Gitea / Codeberg

A Gitea token is required for private repositories on Gitea or Forgejo instances like Codeberg.

export GITEA_TOKEN="..."

CI/CD

In CI/CD pipelines, use secrets or environment variables provided by your CI system:

# GitHub Actions
steps:
  - name: Install tools
    env:
      GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    run: b install

# GitLab CI
install_tools:
  script:
    - b install
  variables:
    GITLAB_TOKEN: $GITLAB_API_TOKEN