@leroysheep / BookAlchemy / commits / 9e68aaba45

docs: make the purpose of using app password for Gmail more clear in send-email

The current example for Gmail suggests using app passwords for send-email if user has multi-factor authentication set up for their account. However, it does not clarify that the user cannot use their normal password in case they do not have multi-factor authentication enabled. Most likely the example was written in the days when Google allowed using normal passwords without multi-factor authentication. Clarify that regular passwords do not work for Gmail and app-passwords are the only way for basic authentication. Also encourage users to use OAuth2.0 as a more secure alternative. While at it, also prefer using the word "mechanism" over "method" for `OAUTHBEARER` and `XOAUTH2` since that is what official docs use. Signed-off-by: Aditya Garg <gargaditya08@live.com> Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>

Aditya Garg committed May 30, 2025 at 15:50 UTC 9e68aaba45156a255c35647184394bb4a05de655

1 file changed +10 -7

Documentation/git-send-email.adoc

+10 -7

index 5d13a856a7..7bd09c254b 100644 --- a/Documentation/git-send-email.adoc +++ b/Documentation/git-send-email.adoc @@ -525,15 +525,18 @@ edit `~/.gitconfig` to specify your account settings: smtpServerPort = 587 ---- +Gmail does not allow using your regular password for `git send-email`. If you have multi-factor authentication set up on your Gmail account, you can generate an app-specific password for use with `git send-email`. Visit https://security.google.com/settings/security/apppasswords to create it. -You can also use OAuth2.0 authentication with Gmail. `OAUTHBEARER` and -`XOAUTH2` are common methods used for this type of authentication. Gmail -supports both of them. As an example, if you want to use `OAUTHBEARER`, edit -your `~/.gitconfig` file and add `smtpAuth = OAUTHBEARER` to your account -settings: +Alternatively, instead of using an app-specific password, you can use +OAuth2.0 authentication with Gmail. OAuth2.0 is more secure than +app-specific passwords, and works regardless of whether you have multi-factor +authentication set up. `OAUTHBEARER` and `XOAUTH2` are common mechanisms used +for this type of authentication. Gmail supports both of them. As an example, +if you want to use `OAUTHBEARER`, edit your `~/.gitconfig` file and add +`smtpAuth = OAUTHBEARER` to your account settings: ---- [sendemail] @@ -544,7 +547,7 @@ settings: smtpAuth = OAUTHBEARER ---- -Alternatively, you can use a tool developed by Google known as +Another alternative is using a tool developed by Google known as https://github.com/google/gmail-oauth2-tools/tree/master/go/sendgmail[sendgmail] to send emails using `git send-email`. @@ -552,7 +555,7 @@ Use Microsoft Outlook as the SMTP Server ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unlike Gmail, Microsoft Outlook no longer supports app-specific passwords. Therefore, OAuth2.0 authentication must be used for Outlook. Also, it only -supports `XOAUTH2` authentication method. +supports `XOAUTH2` authentication mechanism. Edit `~/.gitconfig` to specify your account settings for Outlook and use its SMTP server with `git send-email`: