githuganswered from live GitHub & Hugging Face data
How do I set up a bot account for Cursor to keep its commits separate from my personal account?
Use a GitHub App if you want Cursor's commits to show as a separate actor. A machine account also works, but GitHub's terms limit how many you may have, and a person must own it.
GitHub's Terms of Service allow one free machine account besides your personal account. It must be used "exclusively for performing automated tasks," and a human must accept the terms and stay responsible for it (GitHub Terms of Service, section B.3). I did not check Cursor's own documentation, so I cannot confirm which git identity Cursor reads by default.
Your options
| Option | Commits show as | Scope and expiry | Terms and cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machine account | A separate GitHub user | Normal user permissions, unless you limit them with a team or role | One free machine account is allowed in addition to your personal account | One agent on a few repos |
| GitHub App | The app's bot identity | Permissions you choose, and access only where you install it | Documented for automation; no account seat needed | Several agents, or least-privilege access |
| Co-authored-by trailer on your account | Your account, with a co-author line | Your full access | No extra account | Attribution only, not separation |
The GitHub App page says an app "can act independently of a user" and needs "narrow, specific permissions" (About creating GitHub Apps). An app that acts on its own behalf uses an installation access token (About authentication with a GitHub App).
Set up a machine account
- Create a new GitHub account. Use an email address that a team controls, not your personal address.
- Turn on two-factor authentication for the account.
- Invite the account to the repositories it needs. Give it the lowest role that works.
- Create a token for the account, or sign in as it on the machine that runs Cursor. Use a fine-grained personal access token where possible (Managing your personal access tokens).
- Set the git author name and email in the Cursor environment to the machine account's values.
Set up a GitHub App
- Register a private GitHub App on your personal account or organization.
- Choose only the repository permissions the agent needs, such as contents and pull requests.
- Install the app on one repository.
- Generate an installation access token from the app. Give that token to Cursor's git and API calls.
I did not verify the exact name and email format that GitHub shows for app commits. Test one commit before you rely on it.
Recommendation
Start with a GitHub App if you run more than one agent or want narrow access. Each app has its own permissions, and you can revoke it without affecting your personal account. Use a machine account only if the agent must act as a normal GitHub user, such as for a tool that does not accept app tokens. In either case, do not use your own login for Cursor.
If you run more than one agent, a single shared app shows all of them as one bot. Create one app per agent in that case. For a managed setup, githug gives each agent its own key. The key mints short-lived tokens for one repository through a GitHub App. The hug CLI sets this up for Cursor. It is free during the beta.