diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint.yml b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
index 26a3424..e0877ab 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
@@ -12,5 +12,5 @@ jobs:
       run: node_modules/.bin/eslint src
     - name: confirm js artifact matches source
       run: |
-        make dist/index.js
+        make -B dist/index.js
         git diff --exit-code
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index af954c3..c02b509 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ Your customers are deploying to different kinds of hardware, and prototyping on
             ref: ${{ github.sha }}
             key-id: ${{ secrets.viam_key_id }}
             key-value: ${{ secrets.viam_key_value }}
+            token: ${{ github.token }} # only required for private git repos
     ```
 
 1. Add your build commands in your meta.json ([instructions below](#build-commands)).
diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
index ef8aa89..a360271 100644
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ inputs:
     description: Version to set for the module. If missing, your module will build but not upload.
   ref:
     description: The git ref to build. This will usually be a sha, but can be a branch or anything supported by git checkout.
+  token:
+    description: Pass `github.token` if this is a private repository.
 
 runs:
   using: node20
diff --git a/dist/index.js b/dist/index.js
index a7cc0ea..1eb0341 100644
--- a/dist/index.js
+++ b/dist/index.js
@@ -26968,6 +26968,9 @@ function parseBuildId(stdout) {
     if (config.ref) {
         startArgs.push('--ref', config.ref);
     }
+    if (getInput('token')) {
+        startArgs.push('--token', getInput('token'));
+    }
     const spawnRet = spawnSync(cliPath, startArgs);
     checkSpawnSync(spawnRet);
     const buildId = parseBuildId(spawnRet.stdout);
diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index a3d8751..d099833 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -122,6 +122,9 @@ function parseBuildId(stdout) {
     if (config.ref) {
         startArgs.push('--ref', config.ref);
     }
+    if (getInput('token')) {
+        startArgs.push('--token', getInput('token'));
+    }
     const spawnRet = spawnSync(cliPath, startArgs);
     checkSpawnSync(spawnRet);
     const buildId = parseBuildId(spawnRet.stdout);