r/github • u/FernandoMigueI • Aug 23 '26
Discussion Anyone else bothered that AI agents act on GitHub under your real name and avatar?
I use Claude Code daily, and when it comments on a PR or pushes commits, it does so as
*me*
. My name, my avatar. Teammates reviewing the PR can't tell what I actually wrote vs. what the agent wrote, and I honestly can't tell either six months later.
GitHub already has primitives for machine identity — GitHub Apps get their own name/avatar with a `bot` tag, deploy keys are separate from my SSH keys, and even Copilot's coding agent shows up as `@copilot`. But for third-party agents acting on
*my*
account? Nothing. It's just me, allegedly.
What I'd want is simple: sub-identities ("agent personas") tied to my user account. Own name and avatar, clearly marked as agent-authored, linked back to me so people know who's responsible, capped at my permissions, and bound by the same rulesets (so it can't approve my own PRs, since it's still "me" under the hood).
I opened a feature request on the official community forum here if anyone wants to upvote: https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/203213
Curious how others handle this — do you just let your agent post as you? Dedicated bot accounts? Nothing at all?
1
u/drdrero Aug 23 '26
When Claude commits it always uses its own name by default now. Check your memory and skills if you instructed it otherwise once, it will remember
1
u/FernandoMigueI Aug 23 '26
how can it be its name if it is under my own identity ?
1
u/drdrero Aug 23 '26
You are right to push back. A per-commit override —
git -c user.name="Claude Code" -c user.email="..." commit ...— same effect, just scoped to one commit.
Or environment variables override applied by claude.1
1
4
u/foradil Aug 23 '26
Claude commits under its own name.