The PAT needs these permissions:

For Gist Operations:

• gist - Create, read, update, and delete gists

For Cross-Repo Operations (create-gist-cross-repo.yml):

• repo - Full control of private repositories (or public_repo for public repos only)
  • Needed to checkout/read files from other repositories

How to Create the PAT:

1. Go to GitHub Settings > Developer settings > Personal access tokens > Tokens (classic)
2. Click "Generate new token (classic)"
3. Select scopes:

• ✅ gist - For all gist operations
• ✅ repo - If you need to access private repositories
• OR ✅ public_repo - If you only need to access public repositories

Summary:

• Minimum for basic gist workflows: gist
• For cross-repo workflow: gist + repo (or public_repo)
• For commenting on issues/releases: Also needs repo to read issue/release content

The PAT determines whose account the gists are created under - they'll appear in that user's gist list.