Git on Bitbucket: Always asked for password, even after uploading my public SSH key

Problem Analysis

When using Git with Bitbucket, the system repeatedly prompts for a password, which is typically due to incorrectly configured SSH keys or an invalid remote URL setup for the Git repository.

Solution Steps

1. Verify SSH Key Upload to Bitbucket

First, confirm that your public SSH key has been added to your Bitbucket account. On the Bitbucket website, navigate to your personal settings and check the 'SSH keys' section to ensure your public key is listed.

2. Confirm SSH Agent is Active and Managing Keys

On your local machine, check if the SSH agent is running and managing your keys by executing the following commands:

bash
# Check if ssh-agent is running
eval `ssh-agent -s`

# Add your SSH private key to ssh-agent
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa

If these commands return errors or indicate the key is not loaded, you may need to regenerate your SSH keys or restart the ssh-agent.

3. Ensure Git Repository Uses SSH URL

Even with SSH keys configured, if the remote URL for your Git repository uses HTTPS instead of SSH, Git operations will still prompt for a password. Check the remote URL with:

bash
git remote -v

If it displays an HTTPS URL (e.g., https://bitbucket.org/username/repo.git), change it to an SSH URL using:

bash
git remote set-url origin git@bitbucket.org:username/repo.git

4. Test SSH Connection

Finally, test the connection to Bitbucket directly via SSH to verify permission issues:

bash
ssh -T git@bitbucket.org

A successful connection will return your username and confirm authentication.

Example

Suppose I encountered a project where new team members frequently reported repeated password prompts. After following the above steps, I discovered that although they had uploaded their SSH keys to Bitbucket, the repository's remote URL was still configured as HTTPS. I guided them to switch the remote URL to an SSH format and ensure their SSH agent was active and loaded the private key. This resolved the issue.

By following this structured approach, users can systematically resolve Git's repeated password prompts on Bitbucket.