Lineai GitHub App

The Lineai GitHub App connects your GitHub repositories to Lineai so pull request activity can drive Change Requests—impact analysis and comparisons for proposed changes—without relying on manually configured repository webhooks.

Getting started

Installing the Lineai Agent GitHub App is the fastest way to connect a repository to Lineai. After you sign in, Lineai guides you through connecting GitHub; detailed prompts and hints appear in the install experience itself.

Prerequisites

• A Lineai account with valid credentials (email and password).
• Admin or owner access to the GitHub organization or account where you will install the app (required to approve the installation and choose repositories).

Install flow (overview)

The install experience is intentionally short. At a high level:

1. Sign in to Lineai.
2. Open the install experience — for example the /install page after authentication, or the GitHub App install entry from your Lineai administrator settings.
3. Redirect to GitHub — Lineai sends you to the Lineai Agent installation page on GitHub. Your Lineai instance is passed as a routing parameter so GitHub can redirect back after approval.
4. Grant access on GitHub — choose the organization or account, select all repositories or only specific ones, and approve the requested permissions.
5. Return to Lineai — after approval, GitHub redirects back and Lineai links the installation to your account. You can then configure agents so pull request branches are scanned into the correct Scan Spaces.

You do not need to copy webhook URLs or create repository webhooks when using this path.

Permissions the app requests

During installation, GitHub shows the permissions the lineai-agent app requires. Lineai uses them only for repository integration, Change Requests, and related automation—not for unrelated access to your code.

Permission	Access	Why Lineai needs it
Contents	Read & write	Read repository files; open or update pull requests (for example when adding repository configuration).
Pull requests	Read & write	Receive pull request events and participate in Change Request workflows on GitHub.
Checks	Write	Publish check runs where your deployment uses them.
Metadata	Read-only	Required by GitHub to identify repositories (automatic).

The app is subscribed to Installation and Pull request events so Lineai is notified when the app is installed or updated and when pull request activity occurs. Additional event subscriptions may be used for advanced repository configuration sync; those do not change the permission scopes shown above.

Why use the GitHub App

Less setup in GitHub
With the app, GitHub delivers the pull request events Lineai needs through the app’s subscription. You do not need to add a separate repository webhook, copy a payload URL, or select individual webhook events for each repo (see Configuring GitHub Webhooks only if you must use that legacy path).

Scoped access
During installation you choose organization or account access and either all repositories or only selected ones. Permissions are explicit and revocable from GitHub’s Settings → Applications (or your org’s Third-party access settings).

Preferred authentication to GitHub
Lineai uses installation access tokens issued for the app when the app is installed on a repository. That avoids relying on a long-lived personal access token for GitHub API access when the app covers the repo.

Features that depend on GitHub App auth
Some GitHub APIs (for example Check runs) are intended for GitHub Apps. Using the Lineai GitHub App ensures Lineai can participate in those flows for your repositories when your deployment uses them.

Operational clarity
One integration—the app—carries both event delivery and API access tied to the installation, which is easier to audit and rotate than ad hoc webhooks and PATs spread across teams.

GitHub App vs other GitHub integrations

Lineai supports several GitHub integration paths. They solve different problems:

• GitHub App (this page) — connect repositories to Lineai, deliver pull request events, and authenticate with installation tokens. Use this for Change Requests and repository onboarding.
• Manual installation — step-by-step setup wizard when the GitHub App is unavailable. See Manual Installation.
• GitHub Actions — run Lineai agents or send build metadata from CI pipelines. See the Java agent GitHub Action, .NET agent GitHub Action, and Send Build Info documentation.
• Repository webhooks — legacy fallback when GitHub Apps are restricted. See Configuring GitHub Webhooks.

Relationship to Change Requests

The GitHub App handles how events and credentials are tied to GitHub. Lineai still needs repository-level Change Request settings (repository URL, branch pattern, scan space, retention, and so on) configured on the server by your Lineai administrator.

After the app is installed, configure agents to scan pull request branches into named Scan Spaces so Change Requests can locate the scan data. See Configuring Agents.

If you cannot use the GitHub App

Some environments restrict third-party GitHub Apps. In that case, use the Manual Installation setup wizard in the Lineai UI, or configure a repository webhook and supply credentials according to your security policy. Both paths require more manual steps in GitHub than the GitHub App.