"Clone in Mac' fails on GitHub. Takes me to download page every time

Question

I've reinstalled, uninstalled, restarted but "Clone in Mac' on any repository page fails and takes me to the GitHub download page every time.

It was working fine earlier this week but today won't do anything useful.

Any idea why?

AHHHH I have answered my own question: the trick is TO BE LOGGED IN on the GitHub website. — Bit Rocker, Aug 17 '12 at 19:03
You should add your comment as an answer, and accept it @BitRocker. — John Szakmeister, Dec 09 '12 at 13:48
I"m unable to close it. I don't see an option that lets me do this. I have clicked the green tick for the best answer. But I think that's not the same as closing a question. I have searched the online help and it appears I don't have a good enough reputation yet to be able to close a question. — Bit Rocker, Feb 16 '13 at 18:14
Please don't close this question. It's unresolved for me (see comment concerning `x-github-client` versus `github-mac` below. — Reb.Cabin, Aug 24 '17 at 14:57

score 39 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 27 '13 at 20:16

39

It appears not only do you have to log in to the website, you have to log in to the application once as well so it knows you've got it installed. Then refresh the git repo page and the links will automagically change from the download page to an open-application page.

answered Jan 27 '13 at 20:16

Neil

3,100
5
29
36

1

This didn't work for me. I logged out, then back in to GitHub, and I have the application open on my desktop too (there's no option to log in/out of that), yet I still get sent to the download page when using the "Clone to Desktop" button from the web page. – RCross Jan 10 '14 at 09:28
3

I had to log out of GitHub for Mac, and then back into it, before it started working – Matthemattics Feb 21 '14 at 20:18
Also, make sure you are logged into the same account on both GitHub site and GitHub for Mac. – f055 Aug 06 '15 at 08:28

score 12 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 10 '14 at 20:25

I tried the above suggestions of making sure I was logged in to both the site and the Github-Mac application (which I already was) and installing the CLI tools. This didn't fix it for me. After some digging I found this article which explains how it works.

There should be a server listening on your localhost with https://ghconduit.com:25035/status and it should return a json string that looks something like this:

{"capabilities":["status","unique_id","url-parameter-filepath"],"running":true,"server_version":"5"}

In my case I did not get a result so I tried 127.0.0.1 instead of ghconduit.com and that fixed it.

TL;DR: Add an entry for 127.0.0.1 ghconduit.com to your /etc/hosts file and refresh the github page you are on and the clone on desktop function will work.

Going to: https://127.0.0.1:25035/status returns nothing for me. Any tips for troubleshooting that? — tnrich, Jun 08 '17 at 18:41

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 12 '12 at 08:03

8

As was noted in the comments: You must be logged in to Github for the "Clone on Mac" button work.

(This answer serves mostly to remove this question from the "unanswered" list, since the asker does not seem to be closing it)

answered Dec 12 '12 at 08:03

Nevik Rehnel

49,633
6
60
50

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 04 '15 at 19:13

5

Even doing all the above failed for me, but here's what did work:

Open a new tab.

Paste this in the address bar (without quotes): "github-mac://openRepo/"

On the repo you want to clone, copy the HTTPS clone URL, and paste it after the link above. Press enter.

If the server is listening on your Mac @rjason-lindberg mentioned, then it should open up in GutHub for Mac.

answered Mar 04 '15 at 19:13

TigerCoding

8,710
10
47
72

1

Awesomeeeeeeeeeeeee – Abhishek Thapliyal Jul 23 '17 at 05:01
Wow, that's surprisingly effective! – Louie Almeda Jun 07 '18 at 23:01

score 4 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 27 '14 at 21:01

4

I just had this problem, and I found two steps necessary to get it working: the "log in" answer above, and to open GitHub.app, got to Preferences > Advanced > Install Command Line Tools. This took no time. I then refreshed the github page, and saw that the link now led to something like: "github-mac://openRepo/https://github.com/......" Click it and it worked.

answered Jan 27 '14 at 21:01

rndeon

125
7

1

Almost worked for me. The URL generated by clicking on "Open in Desktop" on the web site is `x-github-client://openRepo/https://blahblah`. I discover that by holding down splat key while clicking on "Open in Desktop," opening the URL in a new Tab. If i manually change the URL in Chrome's type-in address box on that new tab to `github-mac://openRepo/https://blahblah` then the desktop app opens. I don't know how to hook up `x-github-client` with `github-mac`, so I'm still blocked, but there is a clue. – Reb.Cabin Aug 24 '17 at 14:51

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 16 '13 at 18:15

3

I have answered my own question: the trick is TO BE LOGGED IN on the GitHub website. As stated by Neil above, you need to be logged into the application too.

answered Feb 16 '13 at 18:15

Bit Rocker

777
2
8
13

rinogo · Answer 7 · 2015-02-03T02:16:51.283

0

None of the other answers worked for me. I tried logging out (both GitHub and GitHub for Mac), revoking the application access key, quitting the application, reinstalling the GitHub command-line tools (via the Preferences pane), etc.

What did work for me:

Clone (Edit: I think I might have meant "Fork"?*) the repository on github.com. (Yes, through the web interface)
In the GitHub for Mac application, access File > New Repository... and choose "Clone". Select the repo you just created on github.com and clone on, my friend! Clone on.

*It has been a while since I wrote this answer, so I'm not sure if I actually did mean "Clone"... I understand that forking and cloning are certainly not the same thing. I'll leave this answer here in case it happens to inspire a thought for someone!

edited Feb 03 '15 at 02:16

answered Jul 31 '14 at 15:45

rinogo

8,491
12
61
102

how did you clone it using the webapp? Nothing else has worked for me, except using SourceTree instead. – jsky Feb 03 '15 at 00:29
Not sure... It's been a while since I wrote this. Maybe I meant "*Fork* the repository on github.com." I understand if this is indeed what I meant, this answer probably doesn't help you. :/ – rinogo Feb 03 '15 at 02:15

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Dec 22 '14 at 21:36

I just tried this and it seemed to work.

Go to Keychain Access and delete all stored passwords (Internet, application, Web form) with reference to GitHub.
Login in fresh on to the site as well as from the Mac OS desktop application
Store the passwords this time

MetalSnake · Answer 9 · 2015-01-28T08:56:10.773

None of the other answers did the trick for me. But seeing that neither https://ghconduit.com:25035/status nor https://localhost:25035/status was able to connect I realized that the Conduit process wasn't running. It's in "GitHub.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/GitHub Conduit" open that, and clone to desktop finally works again. Don't know why GitHub.app didn't start it by itself, but at least it works now.

edit: After each reboot the GitHub Conduit process needs to be manually started again.

"Clone in Mac' fails on GitHub. Takes me to download page every time

9 Answers9