Working with AWS CodeCommit repositories in addition to other repositories from the same git configuration can be a challenge depending on your git configuration. I’d like to share an approach that works for me when using HTTPS (instead of SSH keys) and hopefully it will be helpful for you, too. I will be describing a solution that works for macOS and MSFT VisualStudio Code.

The solution I’m going to suggest works with using static CodeCommit credentials from the Credentials section of your AWS IAM user object. An alternative solution is to use IAM keys with CodeCommit, but it requires credential helper configuration with the AWS CLI in order to handle the dynamics of IAM session management. With static git credentials, there is no need for AWS CLI integration. Either solution also requires adding a section to your $HOME/.gitconfig file for the credential being used.

I have found that it helps to break out different repositories (CodeCommit, GitLab, GitHub, etc.) into separate .git-credentials files for HTTPS access. This is because the git-credential helper logic is sensitive to credential sorting by top-level domain. For example, I’ve tried using a single .git-credentials file for multiple repos at the same top level domain and it works when a single set of credentials is used for access to all the repositories. However, if I have different credentials (e.g., different personal access tokens in GitLab) for different repositories within the same top-level domain, problems arise.

After you’ve generated your CodeCommit credentials in the IAM console for your IAM user, you will need to configure a .git-credentials file in your home directory for the repository(ies) you want access to via git commands. Let’s say we are working with a repo called “awesome-microservice” in us-east-1. Here’s what the HTTPS git credential string looks like:

https://jsmith-at-012345678912:somesuperdupersecretstring@git-codecommit.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/v1/repos/awesome-microservice

Next, store this string in a file, I might name it something like:

$HOME/.git-credentials.awesome-microservice

Now that you have your credential file, we need to tell the git binaries where to find the credential. Create/update your $HOME/.gitconfig file with a new credential section for your CodeCommit credentials:

[credential "https://git-codecommit.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/v1/repos/awesome-microservice"]
  helper = store --file /Users/jsmith/.git-credentials.awesome-microservice

 
At this point, you should be able to clone down your repo from CodeCommit without having to input a username/password. If you have other repos to access, in CodeCommit or someplace else, you can repeat these steps if you use HTTPS and static git credentials to connect to those repos.