Connect GitHub
Connecting GitHub is optional for reading a PR and generating a guided plan. It is required if you want to submit a review (line comments, approve, request changes) from the overlay.
You still need an AI provider to build the plan. Auth for GitHub and your LLM are separate.
Why connect GitHub?
Without GitHub auth, Guided Review can still:
- Detect the PR from the page
- Fetch the diff path the extension uses for review planning
- Stream a plan and walk units
- Draft line comments locally (they stay in the session until submit)
With auth, the overlay can also post those drafts and your overall review decision through the GitHub API as you — see Submit a review.
Also answered in the FAQ.
Device flow
Guided Review uses GitHub’s device OAuth flow from the options page (and prompts in the overlay when submit needs a token):
- Open Options → GitHub section (or the connect modal when submitting).
- Start the device flow and open the verification URL GitHub shows.
- Enter the code and approve access in the browser.
- Return to the extension — tokens are stored locally for subsequent API calls.
Stuck mid-flow? Troubleshooting → GitHub connect and submit.
What we request
| Scope | Why |
|---|---|
repo | Read PR context and write review comments on public and private repositories you can access |
read:user | Show who’s connected in the UI |
Classic OAuth has no finer “only review private PRs” slice, so repo is intentionally broad. Tokens stay in extension storage. They are not sent to Guided Review servers — there are none for the product path. Full data picture: Privacy & data.
Org policies. Some organizations require approving third-party OAuth apps. If device flow fails with an org restriction, approve the app in GitHub settings or complete the review on github.com itself.
Private repos and org SSO
- Private PRs — Submit works when your GitHub user already has access and the token is authorized for that repo/org.
- SAML / SSO orgs — After connecting, GitHub may still require you to authorize the token for SSO. Open GitHub → Settings → Applications, find the Guided Review authorization, and authorize access for the organization. Without that step, submit often fails with not-found or access errors even though you can open the PR in the browser.
- If access still fails after SSO, disconnect and connect again in Options, then re-authorize SSO if prompted.
Step-by-step recovery: Troubleshooting → Private repos and SSO.
Disconnect
Use Disconnect / sign-out in Options to clear stored GitHub credentials. You can still generate guided plans and draft comments; only submit-from-overlay stops working until you connect again.
Next. Leave line comments · Submit a review · Privacy & data