Error messages

Git: “Could not resolve host: github.com” on Mac

Q: Is GitHub down?

Maybe, but a lookup error is usually local. If dscacheutil finds other names but not github.com, look at your DNS or filter.

Git could not get an address for github.com. For HTTPS remotes, Git prints curl's message. For SSH remotes, ssh prints its own message.

Applies to: Git that macOS or Homebrew installs, on all current macOS versions. The text was checked with Git 2.56 and OpenSSH 10.5.Checked: 29 October 2026

Symptoms

Git shows fatal: unable to access 'https://github.com/…/': Could not resolve host: github.com.
With an SSH remote, ssh shows Could not resolve hostname github.com: nodename nor servname provided, or not known.
git clone, git pull and git push all fail.

Likely causes

No connection or no DNS. The Mac cannot look up any name.
A proxy that Git does not use. On a network that needs a proxy, Git needs http.proxy or proxy variables.
A VPN or DNS filter. A VPN's DNS server or a filter can fail to answer for github.com.
A wrong remote URL. A typing error in the remote gives a name that does not exist.

How to check

Show the remote URLs of the repository.
```
git remote -v
```
Look up github.com through the macOS resolver.
```
dscacheutil -q host -a name github.com
```
Show Git's proxy setting and your proxy variables.
```
git config --get http.proxy
env | grep -i proxy
```
Test the HTTPS path with curl.
```
curl -I https://github.com
```

How to fix it

If the lookup fails for every name, fix DNS. See DNS not resolving on a Mac.

If the network needs a proxy, set it for Git.

git config --global http.proxy http://proxy.example.com:8080

If an old proxy setting is wrong, remove it.
```
git config --global --unset http.proxy
```

Correct the remote URL if it has a typing error.

git remote set-url origin https://github.com/OWNER/REPO.git

With Kilobat

Kilobat's connection doctor tests the host layer by layer: network, proxy, DNS, rules, IPv4, IPv6, TLS and the server. It names the layer that failed.
```
kilobat why github.com
```
These Kilobat checks are free. AI agents run them through MCP with diagnose_connection and diagnose_network. See Find why one site or API won't connect.

Questions

Is GitHub down?

Maybe, but a lookup error is usually local. If dscacheutil finds other names but not github.com, look at your DNS or filter.

Sources

curl: libcurl error codes
git-config(1), http.proxy, man page installed with macOS 27.2 (Git 2.56)
ssh(1) and dscacheutil(1), man page installed with macOS 27.2

Sources checked on 29 October 2026. Man pages are the ones installed with macOS; open one with man <name> in Terminal.