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My YC company is a GitHub app [1] and the "act on your behalf" thing is just a really poorly written message for the new (github apps vs oauth apps) apps interf

My YC company is a GitHub app [1] and the "act on your behalf" thing is just a really poorly written message for the new (github apps vs oauth apps) apps interface. There's even a hilarious thread on the github forum itself about "act on your behalf" when all it requests is your email and avatar [2] Ironically the newer apps system does have fine grained permissions, but seems more intrusive because of the strange wording [1] https://LayerCI.com https://LayerCI.com [2] https://github.community/t/why-does-this-forum-need-permission-to-act-on-my-behalf/120453 https://github.community/t/why-does-this-forum-need-permissi...

colinchartier 6y ago
I realize that the thread is even by the same author as OP as well!
jonperl 6y ago
For QA Wolf we created a separate GitHub OAuth app just to avoid this UX bug
ihuman 6y ago
I can confirm this. I just created an app with 0 permissions (everything set to "no access"), and the page looks exactly like the screenshot in the article.
LysPJ 6y ago
The wording of the "act on your behalf" message is very frustrating indeed. I don't like to think about how many app installs I've lost due to the wording of this message. I've had worried users query me about it directly, but presumably many more have just abandoned the installation without contacting me. Here's another GitHub forum thread asking about it: https://github.community/t/enable-you-to-trigger-actions-in-github/117938/12 https://github.community/t/enable-you-to-trigger-actions-in-... A trivial wording change would go a long way toward fixing this problem. Unfortunately according to GitHub Support (post 15 in that thread) "The current wording is not considered a bug." :-(
evanelias 6y ago
Totally agree. I really wish GitHub would revise all of their permission wording. Several of these are unnecessarily scary or just plain weird, such as "Read access to emails" to refer to ability of an app to see your email address.

colinchartier 6y ago

I realize that the thread is even by the same author as OP as well!

jonperl 6y ago

For QA Wolf we created a separate GitHub OAuth app just to avoid this UX bug

ihuman 6y ago

I can confirm this. I just created an app with 0 permissions (everything set to "no access"), and the page looks exactly like the screenshot in the article.

LysPJ 6y ago

The wording of the "act on your behalf" message is very frustrating indeed. I don't like to think about how many app installs I've lost due to the wording of this message. I've had worried users query me about it directly, but presumably many more have just abandoned the installation without contacting me. Here's another GitHub forum thread asking about it: https://github.community/t/enable-you-to-trigger-actions-in-github/117938/12 https://github.community/t/enable-you-to-trigger-actions-in-... A trivial wording change would go a long way toward fixing this problem. Unfortunately according to GitHub Support (post 15 in that thread) "The current wording is not considered a bug." :-(

evanelias 6y ago

Totally agree. I really wish GitHub would revise all of their permission wording. Several of these are unnecessarily scary or just plain weird, such as "Read access to emails" to refer to ability of an app to see your email address.