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Appendix

What is a GitHub App, and why are you asking me to install one?

A GitHub App is a third-party tool that GitHub has vetted and approved. It's safer than older methods of connecting external tools to GitHub because it has a specific name ("Ship"), a defined set of permissions, and GitHub enforces those permissions. When the Ship wizard asks you to install the GitHub App, it's asking GitHub to give Ship permission to do specific things — like read your code, comment on pull requests, and listen for when your team opens a new PR.

The installation process is simple: you click a button in the wizard, GitHub takes you to a page asking "do you approve Ship doing this?", you say yes, and GitHub sends you back to Ship. The whole process takes about 30 seconds. If your company has a security team or IT department that reviews new tools before they're used, they may want to review the app first, but that's a one-time approval. Once it's installed, Ship can work without asking you again.

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