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Some achievements require a second GitHub account called a “helper account” to interact with your main account. This guide explains why it’s needed and how to set it up.

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Why a Helper Account?

Two achievements require interactions from another GitHub user:

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Galaxy Brain

This achievement requires accepted answers in GitHub Discussions. To earn it:
  1. Someone posts a question in a discussion
  2. You post an answer
  3. The original question author must mark your answer as accepted
Since you can’t mark your own answer as accepted, you need a helper account to ask the questions and mark your answers.

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YOLO

This achievement requires merging a PR without code review. The requirement:
  • You must merge a PR on a repository where pull request reviews are required
  • But GitHub doesn’t count self-merging as “YOLO”
  • The PR must be opened by someone else (the helper account)
So the helper account opens PRs, and you merge them without review.
Without a helper account, you can still earn Pair Extraordinaire, Pull Shark, and Quickdraw. Galaxy Brain and YOLO are optional.

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Creating a Helper Account

1

Create a new GitHub account

  1. Log out of your main GitHub account
  2. Go to github.com/signup
  3. Create a new account with a different email address
  4. Choose a simple username (e.g., your-username-helper)
  5. Complete the signup process
You can use Gmail’s + addressing: [email protected] counts as a different email but delivers to your main inbox.
2

Verify the email address

GitHub requires verified email addresses for most API operations. Check your email and click the verification link.
3

Generate a Personal Access Token

  1. While logged in as the helper account, go to Settings > Developer settings > Personal access tokens
  2. Click Generate new token → Generate new token (classic)
  3. Give it a descriptive name: Achievement CLI Helper
  4. Set expiration: Choose based on your needs (30 days, 60 days, or no expiration)
  5. Select scopes:
    • ✅ repo (Full control of private repositories)
    • ✅ write:discussion (Write access to discussions)
  6. Click Generate token
  7. Copy the token immediately - you won’t be able to see it again!
4

Add helper token to .env

Open your .env file in the project root and add:
HELPER_TOKEN=ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Replace ghp_xxx... with the token you just copied.
Keep both tokens secure! Never commit your .env file to version control or share tokens publicly. They provide full access to your repositories.

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Configuration File Setup

Your complete .env file should look like this: 
# Main account credentials
GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
GITHUB_USERNAME=your-main-username
TARGET_REPO=your-main-username/your-repo

# Helper account credentials (for Galaxy Brain and YOLO)
HELPER_TOKEN=ghp_yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

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Token Scopes Required

TokenRequired ScopesUsed For
GITHUB_TOKENrepoCreating branches, commits, PRs, merging, issues, discussions
HELPER_TOKENrepo, write:discussionOpening PRs (YOLO), asking questions in discussions (Galaxy Brain)

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Verifying Helper Account Setup

After adding the helper token, verify it’s working:
1

Restart the CLI

npm start
2

Check the status display

On the main menu, you should see:
✓ Helper account configured (Galaxy Brain/YOLO ready)
If you see this message, your helper account is properly configured!
3

Try a helper-required achievement

Select Run Achievements and choose either:
  • Galaxy Brain - Any tier
  • YOLO - Default tier
If the helper token is invalid or missing, you’ll see an error message.

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Helper Account Requirements

The helper account needs:

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For Galaxy Brain

  1. Access to the target repository (if private)
    • Invite the helper account as a collaborator
    • Settings > Collaborators and teams > Add people
    • Enter the helper account username
  2. Discussions enabled on the repository
    • Settings > Features > ✅ Discussions

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For YOLO

  1. Write access to the target repository
    • Same as above: Add as a collaborator
  2. No special branch protection required
    • YOLO works on repositories with or without branch protection
If your target repository is public, the helper account doesn’t need to be added as a collaborator. It can interact with public discussions and open PRs on any public repository.

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Adding Helper as Collaborator

If your target repository is private:
1

Go to repository settings

Navigate to your target repository on GitHub and click Settings.
2

Open collaborators settings

In the left sidebar, click Collaborators and teams.
3

Add the helper account

  1. Click Add people
  2. Enter your helper account’s username
  3. Select the helper account from the dropdown
  4. Choose permission level: Write (required for creating discussions and PRs)
  5. Click Add [username] to this repository
4

Helper accepts invitation

  1. Log in as the helper account
  2. Check notifications or email
  3. Accept the repository invitation

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Troubleshooting Helper Account Issues

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”Helper token not configured”

Problem: The CLI can’t find HELPER_TOKEN in your .env file.
Solution:
  1. Open .env in the project root
  2. Add HELPER_TOKEN=ghp_xxx... with your helper’s token
  3. Restart the CLI

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”Bad credentials” error for helper

Problem: The helper token is invalid or expired.
Solution:
  1. Log in to GitHub as the helper account
  2. Go to Settings > Developer settings > Personal access tokens
  3. Generate a new token with repo and write:discussion scopes
  4. Update HELPER_TOKEN in .env

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”Resource not accessible by integration”

Problem: The helper account lacks permissions for the operation.
Solution:
  1. Verify the helper account is a collaborator on the repository (if private)
  2. Check the token has the correct scopes: repo and write:discussion
  3. Regenerate the token if necessary

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”Discussions are not enabled”

Problem: Galaxy Brain requires discussions, but they’re not enabled on your repository.
Solution:
  1. Go to your repository on GitHub
  2. Settings > Features
  3. Check ✅ Discussions
  4. Wait a moment for the feature to activate
  5. Try again
See the Troubleshooting guide for more error solutions.

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Security Best Practices

Both your main token and helper token have full repository access. Treat them like passwords!

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Token Security

  1. Never commit tokens to Git
    • The .env file should be in .gitignore
    • Never push tokens to GitHub or any other service
  2. Use token expiration
    • Set tokens to expire after 30-60 days
    • Regenerate tokens periodically
  3. Revoke unused tokens
  4. Use a dedicated repository
    • Create a test repository specifically for earning achievements
    • Don’t use a repository with important code or data
    • This limits potential damage if tokens are compromised

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Helper Account Security

  1. Use a strong password - Even though it’s a helper account, secure it properly
  2. Enable 2FA (optional) - For extra security, though it’s not required for this use case
  3. Don’t use for other purposes - Keep this account dedicated to helping with achievements

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Alternative: Multiple Main Accounts

Instead of a helper account, you can use two main accounts and help each other:
  1. Alice’s main account + Bob’s main account
  2. Alice acts as Bob’s helper, Bob acts as Alice’s helper
  3. Both can earn Galaxy Brain and YOLO
This approach:
  • ✅ No need to create a throwaway account
  • ✅ Both accounts earn achievements
  • ❌ Requires coordinating with another person
  • ❌ Both people need to set up the CLI

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Cleaning Up After Completion

Once you’ve earned Galaxy Brain and YOLO:
1

Revoke the helper token

  1. Log in as the helper account
  2. Go to Settings > Developer settings > Personal access tokens
  3. Find the “Achievement CLI Helper” token
  4. Click Delete
2

Remove from collaborators (optional)

If you added the helper as a collaborator:
  1. Go to your repository settings
  2. Collaborators and teams
  3. Remove the helper account
3

Keep or delete the helper account

  • Keep: You can use it to help earn achievements on other repositories
  • Delete: Go to Settings > Account and delete the account
You might want to keep the helper account around in case you want to earn achievements on another repository or help a friend earn theirs!

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