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GitHub Adds repository_creation:write and installation_repositories:write Permissions for Apps and PATs, Saying Repo Admins Can Add Approved Apps

GitHub says GitHub Apps and fine-grained PATs get two new repository permissions, repository admins can add org-approved apps, and apps gain offline_access.

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Overview

GitHub has announced a set of changes to GitHub Apps aimed at least privilege and app management. In a GitHub Changelog entry dated October 13, 2026, the company says it is “releasing several GitHub Apps improvements today that help developers move off of classic PATs, improve GitHub App management, and request fewer sensitive permissions.” The entry covers two new permissions, a relaxed rule for repository administrators, an offline_access scope, wider visibility between apps and a new credentials tab.

New Permissions

The changelog says two new repository fine-grained permissions have been added, “available to both fine-grained PATs and GitHub Apps.”

  • repository_creation:write. According to the changelog, an app or PAT previously needed repository_administration:write to create a repository, a permission that “also grants other repository administration features like deletion and transfer.” The new permission lets a caller create repositories without it. GitHub says the creating app or user is given access to the new repository, and that an app using the permission “still requires an organization administrator to install the app.”
  • installation_repositories:write. The changelog says the organization-level API for adding a repository to an installation, and its removal counterpart, now support GitHub Apps and fine-grained PATs, where they previously supported only the coarse-grained repo scope. With the permission on a repository, the caller can add or remove it from any installation in the organization. GitHub says a user caller must also be an organization owner or an administrator on that repository.

GitHub’s permissions reference for fine-grained PATs has sections headed Repository creation and GitHub App installation repository access under repository permissions, which correspond to these two permissions.

Repository Administrators and Approved Apps

According to the changelog, apps that requested organization-level access were historically blocked from installation by a repository administrator. GitHub says the restriction is relaxed when the app is already installed in the organization: “Repository administrators can now edit an existing installation to add their repositories to an app without requiring organization owner approval.” The entry adds that, with the new permission, three sensitive permission sets still require organization owner approval: all organization-level permissions, repository administration and repository creation. It points to a docs section on restricting app installation to organization owners for organizations that want to prevent repository administrators from adding apps to their repositories.

Tokens, App Visibility and Credentials

  • offline_access. The changelog says GitHub Apps now support the offline_access scope, like OAuth apps, to help developers who disabled token expiration migrate gradually to expiring user access tokens. When it is requested, the app receives a refresh token in addition to the expiring access token. GitHub’s token refresh documentation states: “When you request offline_access, you will receive an expiring user access token and a refresh token even if your app is configured not to use expiring user access tokens.”
  • App visibility. Per the changelog, apps can use the Get an app API to fetch details of private and internal apps that share some ownership. Apps in the same organization can fetch each other’s details regardless of visibility, an internal app can be fetched by another app in the same enterprise, and an enterprise-owned app can fetch details about apps owned by organizations in that enterprise.
  • Credentials tab. GitHub says app credentials are now managed from a dedicated Credentials tab, which also “sets aside space for our upcoming workload federation credentials.”

Availability

The changelog says the improvements “will be available in GHES 3.24,” except offline_access, which “will be included in GHES 3.23.” The entry says GitHub is “releasing” the changes “today” but, as read on October 14, 2026, does not give a rollout schedule or any plan-specific limits for GitHub.com, and does not state whether any setting is on or off by default.

What We Don’t Know

The sources reviewed are GitHub’s own changelog and documentation; no independent reporting was reviewed. The changelog does not say how many apps or organizations are affected, and it does not describe how administrators can audit which repositories repository administrators add to approved apps. The workload federation credentials are described only as upcoming, with no date.