github / github/app

[Bugs] If no `user.email` set an incorrect default `<local user>@github.com` is used instead

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Description

**Mood:** 😔
**Category:** Bugs

If no `user.email` is set on a repo (or globally), GH Copilot App appears to have defaulted to `@github.com`. This caused confusion in that my (private) repo began showing GH users as contributors to the project, even though I am the only owner/collaborator. It turns out that my local machine user account name happens to match a (different) GH user.

Granted, setting a Git user name/email should be a first step when cloning a repo, but it's an easy step to forget when setting up a new machine. I feel like GH Copilot App could warn before using a default email.

---
| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| App version | 0.2.27 |
| OS | macOS 26.5.1 |
| Theme | Chai |
| Path | /chat |
| Tenure | Week 6 |

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start from the /chat flow and inspect how the app obtains Git user.email when the repository and global configuration are unset. Reproduce the fallback with no configured email, then verify that the app warns before using @github.com rather than silently attributing commits to that address.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
git
Domain
desktop
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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