diff --git a/claude_desktop/CHANGELOG.md b/claude_desktop/CHANGELOG.md
index 70bda5d12e..9dfed9c476 100644
--- a/claude_desktop/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/claude_desktop/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 - Run Claude Desktop with --disable-dev-shm-usage and drop the misplaced shm_size env var (Home Assistant ignores shm_size), fixing Electron renderer crashes on the default 64 MB /dev/shm.
 
 ## 1.2 (07-07-2026)
+- Add baked-in git/GitHub CLI support with optional startup credential configuration.
 
 - Fix Selkies startup by creating the s6 environment directory and XDG runtime directory before services start.
 
diff --git a/claude_desktop/Dockerfile b/claude_desktop/Dockerfile
index 618e602e32..ce94689de0 100644
--- a/claude_desktop/Dockerfile
+++ b/claude_desktop/Dockerfile
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@ RUN curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/claude-desktop-archive-keyring.asc https://d
         python3-pip \
         gnome-keyring \
         libsecret-1-0 \
-        dbus-x11 && \
+        dbus-x11 \
+        git gh && \
     apt-get clean && \
     rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
diff --git a/claude_desktop/README.md b/claude_desktop/README.md
index beced8c4f1..97338dc242 100644
--- a/claude_desktop/README.md
+++ b/claude_desktop/README.md
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ Claude Desktop sign-in requires a claude.ai plan that supports the Desktop app.
 - Persistent `$HOME` under `/config/data`, preserving Claude Desktop and Claude Code sign-in state across restarts.
 - Optional runtime Claude Desktop updates from Anthropic's apt repository.
 - Optional extra apt and pip package installation.
+- Baked-in `git` and GitHub CLI (`gh`) with optional startup credential configuration.
 - Custom script support through the repository standard `claude_desktop.sh` script.
 - Optional bundled Claude Code optimization tools: headroom, rtk, and caveman.
 - Low-power defaults: GPU device mapping, `AUTO_GPU=1`, `SELKIES_FRAMERATE=30`, `/tmp` tmpfs, and `$HOME/.cache` redirected to `/tmp/cache`.
@@ -40,6 +41,10 @@ Claude Desktop sign-in requires a claude.ai plan that supports the Desktop app.
 | `install_headroom` | `true` | Make the baked-in `headroom` command available and log a usage hint. |
 | `install_rtk` | `true` | Configure the rtk Claude Code `PreToolUse` hook in the persistent Claude Code settings. |
 | `install_caveman` | `true` | Install the caveman Claude Code plugin into the persistent Claude Code home. |
+| `install_github_cli` | `true` | Enable first-start checks and setup for the baked-in `git` and `gh` commands. |
+| `github_token` | | Optional GitHub personal access token used to authenticate `gh` and configure Git credentials for GitHub. |
+| `github_username` | | Optional global Git author name. |
+| `github_email` | | Optional global Git author email. |
 | `additional_apps` | | Comma-separated Debian apt packages to install at startup, for example `htop,git`. |
 | `additional_pip` | | Comma-separated pip packages to install at startup. Installs use `--break-system-packages`. |
 | `data_location` | `/config/data` | Persistent home directory location. Keep this persistent so Claude sign-in survives restarts. |
diff --git a/claude_desktop/config.yaml b/claude_desktop/config.yaml
index c9b3124fed..6ec8cf444f 100644
--- a/claude_desktop/config.yaml
+++ b/claude_desktop/config.yaml
@@ -35,7 +35,11 @@ options:
   additional_apps: ""
   additional_pip: ""
   auto_update: true
+  github_email: ""
+  github_token: ""
+  github_username: ""
   install_caveman: true
+  install_github_cli: true
   install_headroom: true
   install_rtk: true
 panel_admin: false
@@ -63,7 +67,11 @@ schema:
   additional_apps: str?
   additional_pip: str?
   auto_update: bool?
+  github_email: str?
+  github_token: password?
+  github_username: str?
   install_caveman: bool
+  install_github_cli: bool
   install_headroom: bool
   install_rtk: bool
 slug: claude_desktop
diff --git a/claude_desktop/rootfs/etc/cont-init.d/83-github_cli.sh b/claude_desktop/rootfs/etc/cont-init.d/83-github_cli.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..1c7a1bd2a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/claude_desktop/rootfs/etc/cont-init.d/83-github_cli.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+#!/usr/bin/with-contenv bashio
+# shellcheck shell=bash
+set -e
+set -o pipefail
+
+if ! bashio::config.true 'install_github_cli'; then
+    bashio::log.info "GitHub CLI setup disabled"
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+if ! command -v git > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+    bashio::log.warning "git is not available"
+fi
+
+if ! command -v gh > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+    bashio::log.warning "gh is not available"
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+if bashio::config.has_value 'github_username'; then
+    git config --global user.name "$(bashio::config 'github_username')"
+fi
+
+if bashio::config.has_value 'github_email'; then
+    git config --global user.email "$(bashio::config 'github_email')"
+fi
+
+if bashio::config.has_value 'github_token'; then
+    token="$(bashio::config 'github_token')"
+    mkdir -p "$HOME/.config/gh"
+    chmod 700 "$HOME/.config/gh"
+    export GH_TOKEN="$token"
+    export GITHUB_TOKEN="$token"
+    if gh auth status --hostname github.com > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+        bashio::log.info "GitHub CLI already authenticated for github.com"
+    else
+        bashio::log.info "Configuring GitHub CLI authentication for github.com"
+        printf '%s\n' "$token" | gh auth login --hostname github.com --with-token || bashio::log.warning "GitHub CLI authentication failed"
+    fi
+    gh auth setup-git --hostname github.com || bashio::log.warning "GitHub CLI git credential setup failed"
+else
+    bashio::log.info "GitHub CLI available. Set github_token to authenticate gh and git operations."
+fi