GitHub asks me to "add a new helper tool" every time I open it

Question

Every time I open GitHub for Mac it asks me to "add a new helper tool" and prompts me for my password. Every time I enter my password (I am an admin on this computer) but I see no noticeable changes afterwards and the prompt comes back every time I reopen GitHub. (See attached photo for the prompt window.)

I am running OSX Yosemite Version 10.10 on a Late 2012 Mac Mini (2.5 GHz Intel Core i5).

Unsure if this is related but I am running GitHub version "Reactive Barbecue (186)". According to the GitHub for Mac release notes this is NOT the newest version, but when I select "Check for updates" it says I have the latest version. Would a fresh install of GitHub solve this? This is more of a nuisance and doesn't noticeably impede my work.

I use GitHub daily for XCode pushes with my coworkers. They all use MacBook Airs and OSX Yosemite but do not have the same issue as me.

Answer 1

The only solution I found so far was to delete the GitHub for Mac application. Then I re-downloaded the app (the most recent version 193 "Big Feels").

It then gave me a popup saying I needed to uninstall the old version since OSX now comes with Git commands by default (or something like that?). Clicking "Uninstall now" made the app crash so I had to select "Uninstall later". This is sort of only a fix for the symptom since GitHub could keep telling me to uninstall every time I open it, but at least it says I have the most recent version now.

Answer 2

I was also having this problem.

Cause? Maybe GitHub.app was confused by multiple git installations: XCode's Command Line Tools and Homebrew's copy (a newer version and includes bash completion).

Running the shell command git credential-osxkeychain returned a "usage" line, so a helper was installed despite that message.

Fix: Downloading and running GitHub Desktop successfully installed its helper. I think GitHub Desktop.app is the new name for GitHub.app, so apparently they fixed the bug by now.

BTW: They wrote "If you're using GitHub for Mac or Windows, the upgrade is automatic.", but their automatic upgrade didn't fix this problem nor switch to "GitHub Desktop.app".

Answer 3

Use AppCleaner and nuke it. Reinstall.