# Votes and feedback on a private repo's Board

> **TL;DR** On a Board of a private GitHub repository, anyone signed in with GitHub can vote, post feedback and comment, including people with no access to the repository. A Client whose sign-in holds the repo scope writes as themselves. Everyone else's posts and comments are written by the Gitback App, starting with "Posted by @login on Gitback", and their votes are kept by Gitback, one per GitHub account, with the total written into the item's body on GitHub. The Client approves the App's Discussions write permission once.

A private repository's Board can take votes, feedback and comments from people who cannot see the repository on GitHub. They sign in with GitHub as on any Board, and Gitback writes for them. If nobody has opened the Board yet, see [how to open a Board for your repo and claim it](/docs/getting-started).

## Who writes as themselves?

A Client whose sign-in granted the `repo` scope votes, posts and comments under their own GitHub account, exactly as on a public repository. Everyone else signed in, an End User with no access or a Client who has not claimed yet, writes through the Gitback App installed on the repository. Their sign-in only tells Gitback who they are.

## What does a vote do?

From a Client with `repo`, a vote is a 👍 reaction on the Issue or Discussion. From anyone else, it is a row Gitback keeps: one per GitHub account per item, so pressing Vote twice counts once, and pressing it again takes the vote back.

The count on the Board adds the two together and counts each account once. Roadmap lanes on the Board are ordered by that count, highest first.

On GitHub, the App keeps one line in the item's body with the total, for example **Votes on Gitback:** 12. It appears with the first vote and goes when the count is back to zero. It never lists who voted.

## What does a post or comment look like on GitHub?

It is authored by the Gitback App's bot account, and its first line is `Posted by @login on Gitback`, naming the person who wrote it. The Board shows that person as the author. If you stop using Gitback, the post, the comment and the vote line all stay in your repository and still read correctly.

## What do I need to approve?

Publishing the Board is what lets End Users write through the App; the Publish dialog says so. The App also needs permission to write Discussions on your repository, which you accept once on GitHub. Until you do:

- votes on roadmap items work, through the Issues permission the App already has;
- votes on feedback are counted on the Board, and the line in the item's body is written after you accept;
- posts and comments from End Users are refused with a message that the App lacks the permission.

## What are the limits?

- **A 👍 added on github.com waits for the next Gitback vote.** GitHub sends no webhook for a reaction, so the line in the item's body catches up the next time someone votes through Gitback. The Board's own count includes it the next time it reads the item from GitHub.
- **The App's writes share one budget.** Every post and comment the App makes for people on your Board counts against one installation's GitHub limit on new content, about 500 an hour.
- **The vote line is the App's.** It is rewritten from the count each time, never edited in place. An edit to the item's body made in the same moment as a vote can lose its change to that one line; the rest of the body is never touched.
- **On github.com, the App is the author.** GitHub shows the App's bot as the author of the posts and comments it writes, so the person's login lives on the first line.

## Does this work on a Custom Domain?

Yes. People sign in on [your Custom Domain](/docs/custom-domain) through the confirmation page on gitback.us, and their votes, posts and comments go through the App the same way.

## Frequently asked questions

### Do End Users need access to my private repository to vote?

No. They sign in with GitHub granting public_repo and read:user, as on any Board. Their token is only used to know who they are. The Gitback App writes to the repository for them.

### Who is the author on GitHub of a post from an End User?

The Gitback App's bot account. The post's first line is "Posted by @login on Gitback", naming the person's GitHub login, and the Board shows that login as the author.

### Where are the votes stored?

Gitback keeps one row per GitHub account per item, so nobody can vote twice. The Board's count adds those rows to any 👍 reactions collaborators leave on github.com, counting each account once. The total is written into the item's body as one line, Votes on Gitback followed by the number.

### Do I have to change anything in GitHub?

Accept the Gitback App's new Discussions write permission on your repository's installation. Until you do, roadmap votes still work, feedback votes are counted on the Board, and posts and comments from End Users are refused with a message saying the App lacks the permission.

### Does this change anything for a public repository's Board?

No. There every vote is a 👍 reaction and every post and comment is written by the person's own GitHub account.