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Git Enviroment

tip

The most secure approach is to create a separate user account on your computer for your anonymous profile, completely isolating it from your one. This provides the strongest separation of concerns and security.

The following guide describes how to configure both profiles under a single user account if you choose not to create a separate user. However, be aware that this is less secure than full user isolation.

This guide walks you through setting up dual Git environments on WSL2 - one for personal use and another for anonymous DeFi use. You'll learn how to:

  • Configure separate Git profiles with different identities
  • Generate and manage SSH keys for each profile
  • Set up GPG signing for verified commits
  • Structure your workspace for seamless profile switching

Prerequisites​

  • Windows with WSL2 installed and Ubuntu terminal
  • Git is installed on WSL2
  • GnuPG installed (sudo apt-get install gnupg)

Directory Structure Setup​

Create separate directories for personal and DeFi development:

mkdir ~/personal
mkdir ~/defi

Git Profile Configuration​

We’re going to mention your anonymous and personal email in the guide below, but keep in mind that GitHub creates a private email for you that can shield you from unwanted inquiries.

Create Personal Profile​

nano ~/.gitconfig-personal

Add the following configuration (replace with your details):

[user]
        email = your.email@example.com
        name = Your Name
        signingkey = <gpg_key>
[commit]
        gpgsign = true

Create DeFi Profile​

nano ~/.gitconfig-defi

Add the following configuration:

[user]
        email = your-anon@wonderland.xyz
        name = 0xYourAlias
        signingkey = <gpg_key>
[commit]
        gpgsign = true

SSH Key Setup​

Create SSH directories​

mkdir -p ~/.ssh/personal
mkdir -p ~/.ssh/defi

Generate personal SSH key​

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your.email@example.com"

When prompted:

  • Save to: /home/your_user/.ssh/personal/id_ed25519
  • Set passphrase (optional)

Generate DeFi SSH key​

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your-anon@wonderland.xyz"

When prompted:

  • Save to: /home/your_user/.ssh/defi/id_ed25519
  • Set passphrase (optional)

Add SSH keys to GitHub​

# View personal key
cat ~/.ssh/personal/id_ed25519.pub

# View DeFi key
cat ~/.ssh/defi/id_ed25519.pub

Add each public key to the corresponding GitHub account under Settings → SSH Keys.

GPG Key Setup​

Generate GPG key:​

gpg --full-generate-key

Select:

  • RSA and RSA (default)
  • 3072 bits
  • No expiration
  • Set a password for commit signing

List your GPG keys​

gpg --list-secret-keys --keyid-format=long

Note the key ID after sec rsa3072/

Export GPG key for GitHub​

gpg --armor --export YOUR_KEY_ID

Add the output to GitHub under Settings → GPG Keys.

Update your Git configs with the GPG key ID:​

  • Edit both ~/.gitconfig-personal and ~/.gitconfig-defi
  • Add the key ID to the signingkey field

Profile Integration​

Create master Git config​

nano ~/.gitconfig

Add:

[includeIf "gitdir:~/personal/"]
        path = .gitconfig-personal
[includeIf "gitdir:~/defi/"]
        path = .gitconfig-defi
[program]
        pgp = /usr/bin/gpg
[core]
        autocrlf = input

Configure SSH profiles​

nano ~/.ssh/config

Add:

Host github-defi
        HostName github.com
        User git
        IdentitiesOnly yes
        IdentityFile ~/.ssh/defi/id_ed25519

Host github.com
        HostName github.com
        User git
        IdentitiesOnly yes
        IdentityFile ~/.ssh/personal/id_ed25519

Configure GPG for terminal​

echo "export GPG_TTY=\\$(tty)" >> ~/.bash_profile

Usage​

Cloning Repositories​

For personal repos:

git clone git@github.com:owner/repo.git

For DeFi repos:

git clone git@github-defi:owner/repo.git

Verifying Setup​

Test SSH connection:

# Personal
ssh -T git@github.com

# DeFi
ssh -T git@github-defi

Test GPG signing:

# Force GPG signing if not working
git config --global commit.gpgsign true

# Make a test commit and verify it shows as "verified" on GitHub

Troubleshooting​

Commits aren't being signed​

  1. Verify GPG key configuration:
git config --global --list | grep gpg
  1. Ensure the GPG agent is running:
gpg-agent --daemon
  1. Test GPG signing:
echo "test" | gpg --clearsign

SSH authentication fails​

  1. Check SSH agent:
eval $(ssh-agent -s)
ssh-add ~/.ssh/personal/id_ed25519
ssh-add ~/.ssh/defi/id_ed25519
  1. Verify key permissions:
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/personal/id_ed25519
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/defi/id_ed25519