Your password works when you sign in to github.com, and Git rejects it:

remote: Support for password authentication was removed on August 13, 2021.
remote: Please see https://docs.github.com/get-started/getting-started-with-git/about-remote-repositories#cloning-with-https-urls for information on currently recommended modes of authentication.
fatal: Authentication failed for 'https://github.com/you/your-repo.git/'

GitHub has since shortened the message. Running the same thing today gives this instead, tested with Git 2.55.0:

remote: Invalid username or token. Password authentication is not supported for Git operations.
fatal: Authentication failed for 'https://github.com/you/your-repo.git/'

Both mean one thing: the account password is not a Git credential and has not been since 13 August 2021. You need either an SSH key or a personal access token. Nothing is wrong with your account.

Check Which Remote You Are Using

The error only happens over HTTPS, so confirm that is what you have:

git remote -v
origin  https://github.com/you/your-repo.git (fetch)
origin  https://github.com/you/your-repo.git (push)

A URL starting https:// uses password or token auth. One starting git@github.com: uses SSH and never asks for a password. That difference is the whole decision below.

Which Fix to Pick

Switch to SSH Best if this is your own machine and you push regularly. Set it up once and nothing expires.
Use a personal access token Best on a machine where you cannot add an SSH key, behind a proxy that blocks port 22, or in CI.

You do not need both.

Fix 1: Switch the Remote to SSH

Point the existing remote at the SSH URL. The path after the colon is the same owner/repo you already have:

git remote set-url origin git@github.com:you/your-repo.git
git remote -v
origin  git@github.com:you/your-repo.git (fetch)
origin  git@github.com:you/your-repo.git (push)

Then confirm the key half works before pushing:

ssh -T git@github.com
Hi you! You've successfully authenticated, but GitHub does not provide shell access.

That message is success. If you get Permission denied (publickey) instead, the remote is fine and the key is not, so work through Fix Permission Denied (publickey) and come back.

Nothing else changes. git push uses the new URL from here on.

Fix 2: Create a Personal Access Token

A token is a password replacement that you can scope and revoke.

  1. Open Personal access tokens in GitHub settings.
  2. Choose Fine-grained tokens and Generate new token.
  3. Pick the repositories it may touch, rather than granting everything.
  4. Under Repository permissions, set Contents to Read and write. That is the permission git push needs.
  5. Set an expiry you will actually notice, then generate and copy it.

Copy it now. GitHub shows the value once.

Use it where Git asks for a password:

git push
Username for 'https://github.com': you
Password for 'https://you@github.com': <paste the token, not your password>

The classic token type still works and is simpler to create, but it grants the selected scopes across every repository you can reach. Prefer fine-grained tokens for anything beyond a throwaway.

Stop It Asking Every Time

Entering a token on each push gets old. Store it in the operating system keychain rather than on disk.

On macOS, Git ships with a keychain helper:

git config --global credential.helper osxkeychain

On Windows, Git for Windows ships with the cross-platform manager:

git config --global credential.helper manager

On Linux, install Git Credential Manager and enable it:

git config --global credential.helper manager

The next push prompts once and the token is stored. Avoid credential.helper store, which writes the token to ~/.git-credentials in plain text.

Verify

A public repository clones without credentials, so it proves nothing here. Test against a repository that requires auth:

git ls-remote https://github.com/you/your-private-repo.git HEAD

A commit hash means the credential works. Another Invalid username or token means the token lacks Contents access to that repository, or you pasted the username where the token belongs.

Common Mistakes

  • Pasting the token as the username. The username stays your GitHub login. The token goes in the password field.
  • Reusing a fine-grained token on a repository it was not scoped to. It fails exactly like a bad password.
  • An expired token. Fine-grained tokens expire by default, and the failure looks identical to a wrong one. Check the date before debugging anything else.
  • Assuming SSH fixes an HTTPS clone you already made. git remote set-url is required; changing your keys alone does nothing.
  • Embedding the token in the remote URL. It ends up in .git/config in plain text and in any shell history that touched it.

Related Content

References