Why `git pull` Says "Repository Not Found" (When the Repo Exists)

The error looks like a typo in the remote URL. Usually it isn't. On a machine with more than one GitHub account signed in, this message is GitHub's way of saying wrong identity, not wrong address. The symptom A repo clone that has worked for months suddenly can't fetch or pull. The remote URL hasn't changed. The repo hasn't been renamed or deleted; you can open it in the browser just fine. Yet the command line insists otherwise: $ git pull remote: Repository not found. fatal: repository 'https://github.com/<org> /<repo>.git/ ' not found Why GitHub's error is misleading For a private repository, GitHub won't confirm or deny that the repo exists to a caller who isn't authorized to see it. Confirming would leak information about private repos to anyone probing URLs. So instead of a clear 403 Forbidden , an unauthorized request gets treated the same as a repo that truly doesn't exist: a 404 , which git renders as Repository not found . "Repository not found" on a private repo almost always means the credential attached to this request can't see it. It's rarely a wrong URL. The usual cause: two accounts, one keychain This shows up most on machines used for both personal and organization-owned work: a personal GitHub account for side projects, and a separate account (or SSO identity) that actually holds access to the org's private repos. Credential helpers cache one token per host. If the cached token belongs to the personal account, every git operation silently authenticates as that account, including ones against the org repo it has no rights to. personal-account --(switch)--> org-account Active, no repo access Has repo access Diagnose it First, confirm the remote itself is fine. $ git remote -v If the URL opens in a browser while logged into the right account, the remote isn't the problem. Next, check which credential is actually cached. On macOS with the default helper: $ git credential-osxkeychain get <<< $'protocol=https \n host=github.com' username=personal-account