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Using Git with Docly Last updated: 13. Jul 2026

Clone a Docly folder with plain git, work locally, and push your changes back.

You can clone a Docly folder with plain git, work locally, and push your changes back. You don't need to install the Docly CLI.

How you sign in

Git always sends credentials as HTTP Basic over the wire. Docly does not accept your account password there. Instead, you install a small helper file — a "credential helper" — that opens your browser, lets you sign in to Docly as usual (including two-factor), and hands git a short-lived token.

So you sign in in the browser, not in the terminal. A password should never be pasted into git.

Step 1 — Download the helper file

The zip contains a single file: git-credential-docly (git-credential-docly.exe on Windows). It is self-contained — you don't need .NET installed.

Platform

Download

Windows (x64)

https://cloud.docly.net/downloads/git-credential-docly-win-x64.zip

macOS (Apple Silicon)

https://cloud.docly.net/downloads/git-credential-docly-osx-arm64.zip

macOS (Intel)

https://cloud.docly.net/downloads/git-credential-docly-osx-x64.zip

Linux (x64)

https://cloud.docly.net/downloads/git-credential-docly-linux-x64.zip

Step 2 — Put the file on your PATH

Unzip the file and put it in a folder that is on your PATH. The name MUST be kept exactly as it is: git finds the helper by looking for a program called git-credential-docly.

Windows: e.g. C:\Users\<you>\bin, and add that folder to PATH (Environment Variables).

macOS / Linux:

unzip git-credential-docly-osx-arm64.zip -d ~/bin
chmod +x ~/bin/git-credential-docly

On macOS the file is not signed yet. Remove the quarantine flag the first time, otherwise Gatekeeper will refuse to run it:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ~/bin/git-credential-docly

Check that git can find it:

git-credential-docly

(The command should start and wait for input — cancel with Ctrl+C. "command not found" means the folder is not on your PATH.)

Step 3 — Tell git to use the helper for Docly

Run this ONCE per Docly instance you use. Replace <instance> with your own Docly address (the one you open in the browser, e.g. docly.net):

git config --global credential.https://<instance>.helper docly

Example:

git config --global credential.https://docly.net.helper docly

Note: no trailing slash on the address. https://docly.net/ (with a slash) will NOT match, and git falls back to asking for a password — which does not work.

The line above produces this block in .gitconfig, which you can also write directly:

[credential "https://docly.net"]
    helper = docly

Step 4 — Clone

git clone https://<instance>/git/<folder>

Example:

git clone https://docly.net/git/Projects

Your browser opens, you sign in to Docly, and git continues on its own. After that you work completely normally:

git add .
git commit -m "Updated the report"
git push

What gets cloned

The folder is cloned with subfolders and documents, exactly as you see them in Docly. You only get what you have access to — git uses the same access rules as the rest of Docly, and two-factor applies as usual.

The folder's own settings live in the .docly file.

Troubleshooting

  • "Authentication failed" / git asks for a password: check that Step 3 has been run, and that the address is written WITHOUT a trailing slash.
  • "git: 'credential-docly' is not a git command": the file is not on your PATH, or has been renamed. The name must be exactly git-credential-docly.
  • The browser doesn't open: run git-credential-docly directly in the terminal and look for an error message.