Overview

In Premium and Enterprise groups, Groups.io supports a column type called GitHub Identity for database tables and Extra Member Data fields. This column type allows group members to authenticate and link their GitHub accounts, displaying their GitHub profile information within Groups.io.

Note: This feature is for GitHub identity verification only, not repository access.

Purpose and use cases

The GitHub Identity column type enables groups to:

• Verify member identities through GitHub authentication.
• Display GitHub profile information (username, avatar, bio) on Groups.io member profiles.
• Create developer directories with authenticated GitHub accounts.
• Track open source contributors in project groups.
• Build technical community member databases with verified developer profiles.

Data stored by Groups.io

When a GitHub account is connected, Groups.io stores:

• GitHub user ID (unique identifier)
• Username (login handle)
• Full name
• Public email address (if available)
• Avatar URL
• Profile URL
• Company/organization
• Location
• Bio/description
• OAuth access token (securely stored, never exposed)

Data access

• GitHub profile information is visible only to those with permission to view the database table or Groups.io profile.
• OAuth tokens are never exposed to browsers or in API responses.
• Only public GitHub profile data is accessed (minimal OAuth scope).

Authentication security

• The OAuth flow uses state parameters to prevent CSRF attacks.
• Tokens are encrypted and stored securely.
• Each connection is user initiated (no automatic linking).
• Members can revoke access at any time from either their Groups.io or GitHub settings.

Current limitations

• Only one GitHub account is allowed per column (cannot link multiple accounts).
• You cannot search/filter in Groups.io by GitHub-specific fields (company, location, bio).
• There is no automatic synchronization of profile updates from GitHub.
• OAuth tokens do not auto-refresh. Manual reconnection is needed if a token expires.
• There is no verification of GitHub organization membership.

GitHub features not supported in Groups.io

• Private repository access
• GitHub commit history or activity
• Team/organization memberships
• Repository contributions or statistics
• GitHub API rate limit tracking per user