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You’ll see one of these on cargo fetch / cargo build / gen genie build:
failed to acquire username/password from local configuration
fatal: could not read Username for 'https://github.com': terminal prompts disabled

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Why it happens

The workshop repos pull framework dependencies from the private gen-bc/gen-framework-preview GitHub repo over HTTPS. Cargo delegates the fetch to the git CLI (because .cargo/config.toml sets net.git-fetch-with-cli = true), so git has to be able to authenticate non-interactively. The token flows host → container like this:
host gh keyring ──(gh auth token)──> host env GH_TOKEN
   └─ devcontainer.json "GH_TOKEN": "${localEnv:GH_TOKEN}"
        └─ container env GH_TOKEN
             └─ post-create.sh installs a git credential helper that feeds
                username=x-access-token / password=$GH_TOKEN to git over HTTPS
                  └─ cargo fetch (git-fetch-with-cli) authenticates
Anything that breaks a link produces the errors above.

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Step-by-step diagnosis

1. Confirm git-fetch-with-cli is enabled
cat .cargo/config.toml      # should contain [net] git-fetch-with-cli = true
[net] only works in .cargo/config.toml, NOT in Cargo.toml. If you see warning: unused manifest key: net during a build, you have a stray [net] block in Cargo.toml — remove it; it does nothing there.
2. Check whether the token reached the container
[ -n "$GH_TOKEN" ] && echo "GH_TOKEN set (${#GH_TOKEN} chars)" || echo "GH_TOKEN EMPTY"
gh auth status
  • GH_TOKEN EMPTY → the token never made it in. Fix on the host: 
    # host shell:
export GH_TOKEN=$(gh auth token)
    gh stores its token in the OS keyring, not as an env var, so you must export it. Then relaunch VS Code from that terminal (code .) or set it machine-wide and rebuild the container: 
    # macOS, persists across logins:
launchctl setenv GH_TOKEN "$(gh auth token)"
  • GH_TOKEN set → continue.
3. Reproduce the failure with a raw git fetch
GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT=0 git ls-remote https://github.com/gen-bc/gen-framework-preview HEAD
  • Returns a commit SHA → auth works; your problem is elsewhere (network, wrong tag/ref, Cargo.lock). Stop here.
  • gh: not found or could not read Username → the credential helper is broken. Continue to step 4.
4. Inspect the git credential helper
git config --global --get-all credential.https://github.com.helper
which gh
The classic failure: the helper points at a host path that doesn’t exist in the Linux container, e.g.:
!/opt/homebrew/bin/gh auth git-credential
This happens because VS Code’s “Dev Containers” extension copies your host ~/.gitconfig into the container, including the credential helper line that gh auth setup-git wrote on your Mac (which hard-codes /opt/homebrew/bin/gh).5. Fix the credential helper (immediate, in the running container)Replace the broken helper with a token-backed one that doesn’t depend on where gh lives:
git config --global --unset-all credential.https://github.com.helper 2>/dev/null || true
git config --global --unset-all credential.https://gist.github.com.helper 2>/dev/null || true
git config --global credential.helper "" 2>/dev/null || true
git config --global --add credential.https://github.com.helper \
  '!f() { if [ "$1" = get ] && [ -n "${GH_TOKEN:-}" ]; then echo username=x-access-token; echo "password=${GH_TOKEN}"; fi; }; f'
Verify:
GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT=0 git ls-remote https://github.com/gen-bc/gen-framework-preview HEAD
6. Make the fix durableThe container’s ~/.gitconfig isn’t on a persistent volume, and VS Code re-injects the host gitconfig on every connect, so step 5 alone is temporary. Pick one permanent fix:
  • Preferred — stop VS Code copying the host gitconfig. Add to VS Code user settings.json: 
    "dev.containers.copyGitConfig": false
  • Or fix the host gitconfig so the copied path is valid in both OSes — use a bare gh instead of an absolute Homebrew path: 
    git config --global --replace-all credential.https://github.com.helper '!gh auth git-credential'
git config --global --replace-all credential.https://gist.github.com.helper '!gh auth git-credential'
    gh resolves to /opt/homebrew/bin/gh on the host and /usr/bin/gh in the container, so the same line works in both.
7. Force a real authenticated fetch to prove it end-to-endA plain Rebuild Container doesn’t re-fetch — the cargo cache volume keeps the cached git deps. Force a real network fetch:
export PATH="/home/vscode/.cargo/bin:$PATH"
export CARGO_TARGET_DIR="/workspaces/<repo>/devcontainer_target"
rm -rf ~/.cargo/git/db/gen-framework-preview-* ~/.cargo/git/checkouts/gen-framework-preview-*
cd <contract-workspace>
cargo fetch    # should print: Updating git repository `https://github.com/gen-bc/...`

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One-liner triage

Inside the container:
echo "GH_TOKEN: ${GH_TOKEN:+set}${GH_TOKEN:-EMPTY}"; \
git config --global --get-all credential.https://github.com.helper; \
which gh; \
GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT=0 git ls-remote https://github.com/gen-bc/gen-framework-preview HEAD | head -1

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Host vs container quick reference

ConcernHost (macOS)Container (Ubuntu)
gh binary location/opt/homebrew/bin/gh/usr/bin/gh
gh credential storageOS keyringGH_TOKEN env / gh-auth volume
Token as env var?No (keyring) — export GH_TOKEN=$(gh auth token) to exposeYes, via ${localEnv:GH_TOKEN}
git credential storageosxkeychainhelper backed by GH_TOKEN
Why helpers break—host path /opt/homebrew/bin/gh doesn’t exist here
remoteEnv from devcontainer.json is only applied to the VS Code terminal, not to docker exec sessions. If you’re shelling in directly, export them yourself before running cargo / gen:
export PATH="/home/vscode/.cargo/bin:$PATH"
export CARGO_TARGET_DIR="/workspaces/<repo>/devcontainer_target"
VS Code’s cargo wrapper inside the devcontainer can strip PATH, leaving rust-analyzer unable to invoke the right toolchain. Symptom: code compiles fine on the command line, but the IDE shows no errors or shows stale ones.Workarounds:
  • Reload the VS Code window after the container finishes setting up (Developer: Reload Window).
  • Confirm which cargo resolves inside the integrated terminal (the one VS Code reuses for rust-analyzer) to /home/vscode/.cargo/bin/cargo, not /usr/bin/cargo.
  • If still wrong, add ~/.cargo/bin explicitly to the front of PATH in the VS Code terminal profile.
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