Verification Checklist

Work through every item on this list before moving to the next module. Each item tells you exactly what to check and what a passing result looks like.

Complete every item before moving on. These aren't just ticks in a box — each one confirms a specific capability that the rest of the program depends on.

If something fails: Don't spend more than 10 minutes troubleshooting on your own. Take a screenshot of the error and send it to the group. These issues are almost always quick to fix once someone else looks at them.

GitHub account

Account exists and email is verified

Go to github.com. You should be logged in automatically (your username appears in the top right corner).

Expected: Your username visible in the top-right. Clicking it shows your profile page.

If not: You may have created the account but not verified the email. Check your Gmail for the verification email from GitHub. Click the link in that email.

Check — click your profile photo in the top-right corner of any GitHub page. A dropdown should appear showing your username at the top. If you see "Sign in" instead, log in before continuing.

Profile is complete

Go to github.com/your-username. Your profile page should show:

A profile photo (not the grey initials placeholder)
A bio (one sentence about your background)
Location set

If any are missing: Click Edit profile on your profile page and complete the missing fields.

Check — visit your profile page in a new browser tab. Confirm the photo, bio, and location are all visible on the left side of the page. A profile without a photo looks like an abandoned account.

Two-factor authentication is active

Go to Settings → Password and authentication → Two-factor authentication.

Expected: A green confirmation message saying "Two-factor authentication is enabled."

If not enabled: This is a security requirement for this program. Complete the 2FA setup from the Account Setup page before continuing.

Check — the Two-factor authentication section should show a green indicator and the text "Enabled". A yellow warning means the setup was not completed.

Recovery codes are stored in VaultMate

Open VaultMate. Search for "GitHub Recovery Codes". Confirm the entry exists and contains the 16 codes GitHub provided.

If missing: Log in to GitHub → Settings → Password and authentication → Two-factor authentication → Show recovery codes. Copy and save them to VaultMate now.

Recovery codes are your only way back into your GitHub account if you lose your phone. If they are not in VaultMate, stop and save them before moving on.

Repository

A repository exists on GitHub

Go to github.com/your-username. The Repositories tab should show at least one repository.

Expected: At least one repository listed with a name, visibility (Public or Private), and a description.

If not: Complete the "First Repository" page and create a repository before continuing.

Check — click the Repositories tab on your GitHub profile. You should see at least one repository with a name and description. An empty list means the repository was not yet created.

Repository is cloned to your laptop

Open your terminal and navigate to where you cloned the repository. Run ls (or dir on Windows).

Expected: You see the files from your repository — at minimum README.md.

If not: Clone the repository using git clone https://github.com/your-username/your-repo.git.

Check — running ls inside your cloned folder should show README.md at minimum. If the folder is empty or you see "No such file or directory", the clone did not complete.

First commit is visible on GitHub

Go to your repository on GitHub. Click on README.md in the file list. Then click the History button (a clock icon, top right of the file view).

Expected: At least one commit in the history. If you followed the First Repository page, you should see "Update README with project description" or similar.

If not: Make a small change to your README.md locally, commit it with git commit -m "update readme", and push with git push.

Personal Access Token

PAT is created

Go to GitHub → Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens → Tokens (classic).

Expected: At least one token listed with a name (e.g., "VS Code - Work Laptop"), an expiry date, and the repo scope visible.

If not: Complete the PAT Tokens page and generate a token.

Check — your token should appear in the list with the name you gave it and an expiry date in the future. If the expiry date is in the past, the token has expired — delete it and generate a new one.

PAT is stored in VaultMate

Open VaultMate. Search for "GitHub PAT". Confirm the entry exists with the full token value (the ghp_xxxx... string).

If not: You cannot retrieve your token from GitHub — only delete and regenerate it. If you don't have a copy, generate a new token and save it to VaultMate immediately.

A PAT with repo scope gives full read and write access to all your repositories. If it is not in VaultMate and you cannot find it, revoke it and generate a new one. Never leave a token unaccounted for.

PAT works for git push

In your terminal, navigate to your cloned repository. Make a small change to README.md, then run git add README.md && git commit -m "test push" && git push.

Expected: The push succeeds — output shows Writing objects: 100% and no error.

If Git asks for username and password: Enter your GitHub username, then paste your PAT as the password. After one successful push, Windows Credential Manager will remember it and stop asking.

If you get Authentication failed: Your PAT may have been entered incorrectly, or it may have expired. Go to Settings → Developer settings and check if the token still exists and has not expired. If expired, generate a new one.

Check — after the push, go to your repository on GitHub and click Commits. Your "test push" commit should appear at the top of the list. If it does, the PAT is working correctly.

VS Code integration

Open VS Code. Click the accounts icon (person silhouette, bottom of the left sidebar).

Expected: Your GitHub username appears in the accounts menu, not "Sign in with GitHub."

If showing "Sign in": Click it and complete the browser authorization flow.

Check — click the person icon at the bottom of the VS Code left sidebar. You should see your GitHub username listed. If you still see "Sign in with GitHub to use GitHub Pull Requests and Issues", the authorization did not complete.

Source Control panel shows your repository

Open your cloned project folder in VS Code (File → Open Folder). Click the Source Control icon in the left sidebar (branching icon, or press Ctrl+Shift+G).

Expected: The Source Control panel shows "SOURCE CONTROL" at the top, and either "No changes" (if nothing is modified) or a list of changed files.

If the Source Control panel shows "No source control providers registered": VS Code cannot find a Git repository. Make sure you opened the folder that contains the .git hidden folder (the root of your cloned repository, not a subfolder inside it).

Check — make a trivial change to any file in the project (add a space to README.md and save). The file should immediately appear under "Changes" in the Source Control panel with an M next to it. Undo the change with Ctrl+Z.

GitLens is showing blame annotations

Open any file in your project. Move your cursor to any line that has at least one commit associated with it (for example, a line in README.md that you have already committed).

Expected: A faint grey annotation appears at the end of the line showing the commit author and date — something like You, 5 minutes ago • Initial content.

If no annotation appears: Check that GitLens is installed. Press Ctrl+Shift+X, search "GitLens", and confirm it shows as "Installed". If it is installed but showing nothing, try closing and reopening VS Code.

Check — open README.md and move your cursor to the first line. A faint annotation should appear to the right of the line text. If you see nothing, hover over the end of the line — the annotation may appear on hover in some GitLens configurations.

Complete workflow test

This final test runs through the entire cycle end-to-end.

Create a new branch

In your terminal (in your project folder), run git checkout -b test/verification.

Expected: Switched to a new branch 'test/verification'

Make a change

Open VS Code. Edit README.md — add a line like "Verification complete."

Stage and commit using VS Code Source Control panel

Open the Source Control panel (Ctrl+Shift+G). Click the + next to README.md to stage it. Type "Verification test commit" in the message box. Press Ctrl+Enter.

Expected: The file disappears from the Changes list (it's committed).

Push the branch to GitHub

In the Source Control panel, click the three-dots menu (...) and select Push. Or in the terminal, run git push -u origin test/verification.

Expected: The branch appears on GitHub. Go to your repository on GitHub → click the branch dropdown (it usually says "main") → you will see "test/verification" in the list.

Open a pull request

On GitHub, you'll see the yellow banner: "test/verification had recent pushes — Compare & pull request." Click it. Give the PR a title. Click Create pull request.

Expected: The PR page opens showing your commit and the diff.

Merge and clean up

Click Merge pull request → Confirm merge → Delete branch.

Switch back to main in your terminal: run git checkout main && git pull.

Expected: You are on main. git pull brings down the merged changes.

Check — after merging, go to your repository's Code tab on GitHub. The "Verification complete." line you added to README.md should now be visible in the main branch. Click Commits to confirm your commit appears in the main history.

Summary — what you now have

If every item above passed, you have a fully functional GitHub setup:

This is the complete developer workflow you'll use every day. Send a screenshot of your GitHub profile page to the WhatsApp group with the message: "GitHub setup complete."

Complete every item before moving on. These aren't just ticks in a box — each one confirms a specific capability that the rest of the program depends on.

GitHub account

Account exists and email is verified

Go to github.com. You should be logged in automatically (your username appears in the top right corner).

Expected: Your username visible in the top-right. Clicking it shows your profile page.

If not: You may have created the account but not verified the email. Check your Gmail for the verification email from GitHub. Click the link in that email.

Check — click your profile photo in the top-right corner of any GitHub page. A dropdown should appear showing your username at the top. If you see "Sign in" instead, log in before continuing.

Profile is complete

Go to github.com/your-username. Your profile page should show:

A profile photo (not the grey initials placeholder)
A bio (one sentence about your background)
Location set

If any are missing: Click Edit profile on your profile page and complete the missing fields.

Two-factor authentication is active

Go to Settings → Password and authentication → Two-factor authentication.

Expected: A green confirmation message saying "Two-factor authentication is enabled."

If not enabled: This is a security requirement for this program. Complete the 2FA setup from the Account Setup page before continuing.

Check — the Two-factor authentication section should show a green indicator and the text "Enabled". A yellow warning means the setup was not completed.

Recovery codes are stored in VaultMate

Open VaultMate. Search for "GitHub Recovery Codes". Confirm the entry exists and contains the 16 codes GitHub provided.

If missing: Log in to GitHub → Settings → Password and authentication → Two-factor authentication → Show recovery codes. Copy and save them to VaultMate now.

Recovery codes are your only way back into your GitHub account if you lose your phone. If they are not in VaultMate, stop and save them before moving on.

Repository

A repository exists on GitHub

Go to github.com/your-username. The Repositories tab should show at least one repository.

Expected: At least one repository listed with a name, visibility (Public or Private), and a description.

If not: Complete the "First Repository" page and create a repository before continuing.

Check — click the Repositories tab on your GitHub profile. You should see at least one repository with a name and description. An empty list means the repository was not yet created.

Repository is cloned to your laptop

Open your terminal and navigate to where you cloned the repository. Run ls (or dir on Windows).

Expected: You see the files from your repository — at minimum README.md.

If not: Clone the repository using git clone https://github.com/your-username/your-repo.git.

Check — running ls inside your cloned folder should show README.md at minimum. If the folder is empty or you see "No such file or directory", the clone did not complete.

First commit is visible on GitHub

Go to your repository on GitHub. Click on README.md in the file list. Then click the History button (a clock icon, top right of the file view).

Expected: At least one commit in the history. If you followed the First Repository page, you should see "Update README with project description" or similar.

If not: Make a small change to your README.md locally, commit it with git commit -m "update readme", and push with git push.

Personal Access Token

PAT is created

Go to GitHub → Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens → Tokens (classic).

Expected: At least one token listed with a name (e.g., "VS Code - Work Laptop"), an expiry date, and the repo scope visible.

If not: Complete the PAT Tokens page and generate a token.

PAT is stored in VaultMate

Open VaultMate. Search for "GitHub PAT". Confirm the entry exists with the full token value (the ghp_xxxx... string).

If not: You cannot retrieve your token from GitHub — only delete and regenerate it. If you don't have a copy, generate a new token and save it to VaultMate immediately.

PAT works for git push

In your terminal, navigate to your cloned repository. Make a small change to README.md, then run git add README.md && git commit -m "test push" && git push.

Expected: The push succeeds — output shows Writing objects: 100% and no error.

If Git asks for username and password: Enter your GitHub username, then paste your PAT as the password. After one successful push, Windows Credential Manager will remember it and stop asking.

Check — after the push, go to your repository on GitHub and click Commits. Your "test push" commit should appear at the top of the list. If it does, the PAT is working correctly.

VS Code integration

Open VS Code. Click the accounts icon (person silhouette, bottom of the left sidebar).

Expected: Your GitHub username appears in the accounts menu, not "Sign in with GitHub."

If showing "Sign in": Click it and complete the browser authorization flow.

Expected: You are on main. git pull brings down the merged changes.

Summary — what you now have

If every item above passed, you have a fully functional GitHub setup:

This is the complete developer workflow you'll use every day. Send a screenshot of your GitHub profile page to the WhatsApp group with the message: "GitHub setup complete."

Verification Checklist

On this page

Verification Checklist

On this page