Open the configuration in the Admin Panel under Manage > Plugins via the plugin Plugin Update Checker and its instance. The plugin is a singleton and has exactly one instance. The field labels appear in English by default. Both fields are optional, the plugin also works with the defaults.
| Field | Type | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cache Duration (hours) | Text field, up to 4 characters | 6 |
How many hours a successful GitHub response is reused before GitHub is asked again. |
| GitHub Token (optional) | Text field, up to 255 characters | empty | Personal access token, sent with every GitHub request as an Authorization: Bearer header. |
The hint texts in the Admin Panel read: How long to cache GitHub API responses (default: 6 hours) and Personal Access Token for higher API rate limits (60/h without, 5000/h with token).
1.5 counts as 1.0 or a non-numeric value results in the default of 6 hours.Without a token the plugin queries GitHub anonymously. According to the field's hint text this allows 60 requests per hour, and 5000 with a token. With an empty cache, one request per checked plugin is needed. You therefore only need a token with many plugins or if you run into rate limit messages described under Troubleshooting.
The field is an ordinary text field, not a password field. The token is stored in plain text in the plugin configuration and is visible to every admin who opens the configuration. Use a token without any permissions.
Private repositories can only be checked if the token has access to them. Without a token only public access is possible.