Post: Announcing our GitHub App beta (#357)

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Co-authored-by: Eric Holscher <25510+ericholscher@users.noreply.github.com>

Author: stsewd

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+title: Announcing our GitHub App beta
+date: 2025-06-24
+description:
+category: Feature announcement
+tags: website, migration, github, authentication
+authors: Santos Gallegos
+status: published
+image: /images/github-app.png
+image_credit: Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@synkevych?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Roman Synkevych</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/black-and-white-penguin-toy-wX2L8L-fGeA?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a>
+
+We are excited to announce that we are migrating from our legacy GitHub OAuth2 application to a modern [GitHub App](https://docs.github.com/en/apps/overview).
+You can start using the new GitHub App today on Community by signing up for [beta access](#beta-access),
+and we plan to start testing with our Business users soon.
+
+## Why the change?
+
+GitHub Apps offer several improvements over traditional OAuth2 applications:
+
+- **More granular permissions.**
+  The GitHub App allows us to request only the permissions we need
+  -- no more broad, account-wide access.
+- **More control over repository access.**
+  You can choose exactly which repositories Read the Docs can access,
+  instead of granting access to all of them just to import a single one.
+- **No webhooks required.**
+  The GitHub App subscribes to the events it needs automatically when you install it.
+- **No need for deploy keys.**
+  To access private repositories the GitHub App uses a temporary read-only scoped token.
+- **Keeps working, even if access changes.**
+  If the user who originally connected the repository loses access,
+  the integration will continue working, since the GitHub App itself maintains access.
+- **Always in sync.**
+  The GitHub App subscribes to all required events and will always keep your project up to date with your repository.
+
+## Beta access
+
+The new GitHub App already offers the same functionality as our legacy OAuth2 application,
+we are inviting users to try it out and provide feedback,
+so we can smooth out any issues before the full rollout.
+
+Some things you should know before participating in the beta:
+
+- The beta is only available for [Read the Docs Community](https://app.readthedocs.org) users.
+  We will be expanding the beta to [Read the Docs Business](https://app.readthedocs.com) users soon.
+- The beta is available for existing and new users.
+- Existing users will be prompted to authorize our new GitHub App.
+  Your existing Read the Docs account will be linked to the new GitHub App,
+  and you won’t lose access to your existing projects.
+- You will be able to migrate your existing projects to the new GitHub App using the [migration page](https://app.readthedocs.org/accounts/migrate-to-github-app/).
+- Your existing projects will continue working using the legacy OAuth2 application,
+  you don't need to migrate them immediately.
+- Once you have connected your account to the new GitHub App,
+  you won't be able to link projects to repositories authorized for the legacy OAuth2 application.
+  You'll need to install the GitHub App into the repository before connecting it to a project on Read the Docs.
+- We recommend that you don't revoke access to the legacy OAuth2 application until the end of the beta period.
+
+If you would like to participate in the beta, you can follow these steps:
+
+- If you are an existing user with your GitHub account already linked to Read the Docs,
+  you can start the migration process from the [migration page](https://app.readthedocs.org/accounts/migrate-to-github-app/).
+- If you are a new user, from the [signup page](https://app.readthedocs.org/accounts/signup/) click on "Sign up using GitHub",
+  and select "Sign up using GitHub App".
+- If you are an existing user, but you don't have your GitHub account linked to Read the Docs,
+  from the [connected services pages](https://app.readthedocs.org/accounts/3rdparty/) click on "Add new connection",
+  select "Connect to GitHub", and then select "Connect to GitHub App".
+
+You can read more in [our documentation](https://docs.readthedocs.com/platform/stable/reference/git-integration.html#github-app).
+If you run into issues or have questions, [contact us via support](https://docs.readthedocs.com/platform/stable/support.html).
+
+## The future is looking bright
+
+This is just the beginning.
+For now, we’re focused on ensuring a seamless transition and providing feature parity with our legacy integration.
+But looking ahead, the GitHub App will enable us to build new features that are only possible with a GitHub App,
+and to better integrate with GitHub.