# How to Create an Access Token

## GitHub Personal Access Token

If [GitHub CLI](https://cli.github.com/) is installed and set up on your computer, av CLI automatically uses the same credential for interacting with GitHub. Alternatively, you can create a personal access token (classic) to authenticate with GitHub on your behalf.

1. Navigate to <https://github.com/settings/tokens/new>.
2. Create a name and expiration for your token.
   * The generated token should have the `repo` scope (all other scopes can be left un-checked).

![Required permissions for the GitHub personal access token that you will use with av](https://273246003-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FOAPqUQVbLbsfI5YESl32%2Fuploads%2FtPADNLxEcN3oc5LpV2VX%2FScreen%20Shot%202022-05-26%20at%2011.20.35%20AM.png?alt=media\&token=b457a698-6c5e-4f16-9c3b-a63888d40e21)

Put the created Personal Access Token in `~/.av/config.yaml`.

<pre class="language-yaml" data-title="~/.av/config.yaml" data-line-numbers><code class="lang-yaml"><strong>github:
</strong>    token: "ghp_abcdefghijklmnop"
</code></pre>

## Aviator User Access Token

User Access Tokens are used to authenticate with the Aviator REST API and Aviator GraphQL API.

1. Navigate to <https://app.aviator.co/settings/personal/api_token>.
2. Create a name and expiration for your token.
   * The token should be in the format `av_uat_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx`. Add it to your Aviator configuration file `~/.av/config.yaml` as shown below.

{% code title="\~/.av/config.yaml" lineNumbers="true" %}

```yaml
aviator:
    apiToken: "av_uat_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
```

{% endcode %}

You can verify that your token works with `av auth`.

```
$ av auth
Logged in to GitHub as <your_email>.
```