docs/content/admin/configuration/configuring-github-connect/about-github-connect.md

---
title: About GitHub Connect
intro: '{% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %} enhances {% data variables.product.product_name %} by giving you access to additional features and workflows that rely on the power of {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %}.'
versions:
  ghes: '*'
  ghae: '*'
type: overview
topics:
  - Enterprise
  - GitHub Connect
---

## About {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %}

{% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %} enhances {% data variables.product.product_name %} by allowing {% data variables.product.product_location %} to benefit from the power of {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} in limited ways. After you enable {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %}, you can enable additional features and workflows that rely on {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %}, such as {% ifversion ghes or ghae-issue-4864 %}{% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %} for security vulnerabilities that are tracked in the {% data variables.product.prodname_advisory_database %}{% else %}allowing users to use community-powered actions from {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} in their workflow files{% endif %}.

{% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %} does not open {% data variables.product.product_location %} to the public internet. None of your enterprise's private data is exposed to {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} users. Instead, {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %} transmits only the limited data needed for the individual features you choose to enable. Unless you enable license sync, no personal data is transmitted by {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %}. For more information about what data is transmitted by {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %}, see "[Data transmission for {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %}](#data-transmission-for-github-connect)."

Enabling {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %} will not allow {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} users to make changes to {% data variables.product.product_name %}.

To enable {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %}, you configure a connection between {% data variables.product.product_location %} and an organization or enterprise account on {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} that uses {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_cloud %}. For more information, see "[Managing {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %}](/admin/configuration/configuring-github-connect/managing-github-connect)."

After enabling {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %}, you will be able to enable features such as {% ifversion ghes %}automatic user license sync and {% endif %}{% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %}. For more information about all of the features available, see "[{% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %} features](#github-connect-features)."

## {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %} features

After you configure the connection between {% data variables.product.product_location %} and {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_cloud %}, you can enable individual features of {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %} for your enterprise.

Feature | Description | More information |
------- | ----------- | ---------------- |{% ifversion ghes %}
Automatic user license sync | Manage license usage across your {% data variables.product.prodname_enterprise %} deployments by automatically syncing user licenses from {% data variables.product.product_location %} to {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_cloud %}. | "[Enabling automatic user license sync for your enterprise](/admin/configuration/configuring-github-connect/enabling-automatic-user-license-sync-for-your-enterprise)"{% endif %}{% ifversion ghes or ghae-issue-4864 %}
{% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} | Allow users to find and fix vulnerabilities in code dependencies. | "[Enabling {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} for your enterprise](/admin/configuration/configuring-github-connect/enabling-dependabot-for-your-enterprise)"{% endif %}
{% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} actions | Allow users to use actions from {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} in workflow files. | "[Enabling automatic access to {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} actions using {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %}](/admin/github-actions/managing-access-to-actions-from-githubcom/enabling-automatic-access-to-githubcom-actions-using-github-connect)"
Unified search | Allow users to include repositories on {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} in their search results when searching from {% data variables.product.product_location %}. | "[Enabling {% data variables.product.prodname_unified_search %} for your enterprise](/admin/configuration/configuring-github-connect/enabling-unified-search-for-your-enterprise)"
Unified contributions | Allow users to include anonymized contribution counts for their work on {% data variables.product.product_location %} in their contribution graphs on {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %}. | "[Enabling {% data variables.product.prodname_unified_contributions %} for your enterprise](/admin/configuration/configuring-github-connect/enabling-unified-contributions-for-your-enterprise)"

## Data transmission for {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %} 

When you enable {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %} or specific {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %} features, a record on {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_cloud %} stores the following information about the connection.
{% ifversion ghes %}
- The public key portion of your {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_server %} license
- A hash of your {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_server %} license
- The customer name on your {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_server %} license
- The version of {% data variables.product.product_location_enterprise %}{% endif %}
- The hostname of {% data variables.product.product_location %}
- The organization or enterprise account on {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_cloud %} that's connected to {% data variables.product.product_location %}
- The authentication token that's used by {% data variables.product.product_location %} to make requests to {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_cloud %}
- If Transport Layer Security (TLS) is enabled and configured on {% data variables.product.product_location %}{% ifversion ghes %}
- The {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %} features that are enabled on {% data variables.product.product_location %}, and the date and time of enablement{% endif %}
- The dormancy threshold for your enterprise
- The number of dormant users for your enterprise
- A count of license-consuming seats, which does not include suspended users

{% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %} syncs the above connection data between {% data variables.product.product_location %} and {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_cloud %} weekly, from the day and approximate time that {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %} was enabled.

{% note %}

**Note:** No repositories, issues, or pull requests are ever transmitted from {% data variables.product.product_name %} to {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} by {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %}.

{% endnote %}

Additional data is transmitted if you enable individual features of {% data variables.product.prodname_github_connect %}.

Feature | Data | Which way does the data flow? | Where is the data used? | 
------- | ---- | --------- | ------ |{% ifversion ghes %}
Automatic user license sync | Each {% data variables.product.product_name %} user's user ID and email addresses | From {% data variables.product.product_name %} to {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_cloud %} | {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_cloud %} |{% endif %}{% ifversion ghes or ghae-issue-4864 %}
{% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %} | Vulnerability alerts | From {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} to {% data variables.product.product_name %} | {% data variables.product.product_name %} |{% endif %}{% if dependabot-updates-github-connect %}
{% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_updates %} | Dependencies and the metadata for each dependency's repository<br><br>If a dependency is stored in a private repository on {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %}, data will only be transmitted if {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} is configured and authorized to access that repository. | From {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} to {% data variables.product.product_name %} | {% data variables.product.product_name %} {% endif %}
{% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} actions | Name of action, action (YAML file from {% data variables.product.prodname_marketplace %}) | From {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} to {% data variables.product.product_name %}<br><br>From {% data variables.product.product_name %} to {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} | {% data variables.product.product_name %}
Unified search | Search terms, search results | From {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} to {% data variables.product.product_name %}<br><br>From {% data variables.product.product_name %} to {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} | {% data variables.product.product_name %} |
Unified contributions | Contribution counts | From {% data variables.product.product_name %} to {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} | {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %} |

## Further reading

- "[Enterprise accounts](/graphql/guides/managing-enterprise-accounts)" in the GraphQL API documentation