GitHub CLI (gh)

Overview

Expert guidance for GitHub CLI (gh) operations and workflows. Use this skill for command-line GitHub operations including pull request management, issue tracking, repository operations, workflow automation, and codespace management.

Key capabilities:

• Create and manage pull requests from the terminal
• Track and organize issues efficiently
• Search across all of GitHub (repos, issues, PRs)
• Manage labels and project organization
• Trigger and monitor GitHub Actions workflows
• Work with codespaces
• Automate repository operations and releases

Safety Rules

CRITICAL: This skill NEVER uses destructive gh CLI operations.

This skill focuses exclusively on safe, read-only, or reversible GitHub operations. The following commands are PROHIBITED and must NEVER be used:

Permanently destructive commands:

• gh repo delete - Repository deletion
• gh repo archive - Repository archival
• gh release delete - Release deletion
• gh release delete-asset - Asset deletion
• gh run delete - Workflow run deletion
• gh cache delete - Cache deletion
• gh secret delete - Secret deletion
• gh variable delete - Variable deletion
• gh label delete - Label deletion
• gh ssh-key delete - SSH key deletion (can lock out users)
• gh gpg-key delete - GPG key deletion
• gh codespace delete - Codespace deletion
• gh extension remove - Extension removal
• gh gist delete - Gist deletion
• Bulk deletion operations using xargs with any destructive commands
• Shell commands: rm -rf (except for temporary file cleanup)

Allowed operations:

• Creating resources (PRs, issues, releases, labels, repos)
• Viewing and listing (status, logs, information, searches)
• Updating and editing existing resources
• Closing PRs/issues (reversible - can be reopened)
• Canceling workflow runs (stops execution without deleting data)
• Merging pull requests (after proper review)
• Read-only git operations (git status, git log, git diff)

Installation & Setup

# Login to GitHub
gh auth login

# Check authentication status
gh auth status

# Configure git to use gh as credential helper
gh auth setup-git

Pull Requests

Creating PRs

# Create PR interactively
gh pr create

# Create PR with title and body
gh pr create --title "Add feature" --body "Description"

# Create PR to specific branch
gh pr create --base main --head feature-branch

# Create draft PR
gh pr create --draft

# Create PR from current branch
gh pr create --fill  # Uses commit messages

Viewing PRs

# List PRs
gh pr list

# List my PRs
gh pr list --author @me

# View PR details
gh pr view 123

# View PR in browser
gh pr view 123 --web

# View PR diff
gh pr diff 123

# Check PR status
gh pr status

Managing PRs

# Checkout PR locally
gh pr checkout 123

# Review PR
gh pr review 123 --approve
gh pr review 123 --comment --body "Looks good!"
gh pr review 123 --request-changes --body "Please fix X"

# Merge PR
gh pr merge 123
gh pr merge 123 --squash
gh pr merge 123 --rebase
gh pr merge 123 --merge

# Close PR
gh pr close 123

# Reopen PR
gh pr reopen 123

# Ready draft PR
gh pr ready 123

# Update PR branch with base branch
gh pr update-branch 123

PR Checks

# View PR checks
gh pr checks 123

# Watch PR checks
gh pr checks 123 --watch

Issues

Creating Issues

# Create issue interactively
gh issue create

# Create issue with title and body
gh issue create --title "Bug report" --body "Description"

# Create issue with labels
gh issue create --title "Bug" --label bug,critical

# Assign issue
gh issue create --title "Task" --assignee @me

Viewing Issues

# List issues
gh issue list

# List my issues
gh issue list --assignee @me

# List by label
gh issue list --label bug

# View issue details
gh issue view 456

# View in browser
gh issue view 456 --web

Managing Issues

# Close issue
gh issue close 456

# Reopen issue
gh issue reopen 456

# Edit issue
gh issue edit 456 --title "New title"
gh issue edit 456 --add-label bug
gh issue edit 456 --add-assignee @user

# Comment on issue
gh issue comment 456 --body "Update"

# Create branch to work on issue
gh issue develop 456 --checkout

Repository Operations

Repository Info

# View repository
gh repo view

# View in browser
gh repo view --web

# Clone repository
gh repo clone owner/repo

# Fork repository
gh repo fork owner/repo

# List repositories
gh repo list owner

Repository Management

# Create repository
gh repo create my-repo --public
gh repo create my-repo --private

# Sync fork
gh repo sync owner/repo

# Set default repository
gh repo set-default

Search

Search across all of GitHub for repositories, issues, and pull requests.

Search Repositories

# Search for repositories
gh search repos "machine learning" --language=python

# Search with filters
gh search repos --stars=">1000" --topic=kubernetes

Search Issues

# Search issues across GitHub
gh search issues "bug" --label=critical --state=open

# Exclude results (note the -- to prevent flag interpretation)
gh search issues -- "memory leak -label:wontfix"

Search Pull Requests

# Search PRs
gh search prs --author=@me --state=open

# Search with date filters
gh search prs "refactor" --created=">2024-01-01"

Labels

Manage repository labels for issue and PR organization.

List and View Labels

# List all labels in repository
gh label list

Create and Edit Labels

# Create new label
gh label create "priority: high" --color FF0000 --description "High priority items"

# Edit existing label
gh label edit "bug" --color FFAA00 --description "Something isn't working"

Clone Labels Between Repos

# Clone labels from another repository
gh label clone owner/source-repo

Codespaces

Manage GitHub Codespaces directly from the terminal.

List and Create Codespaces

# List codespaces
gh codespace list

# Create new codespace
gh codespace create --repo owner/repo

Connect to Codespaces

# SSH into codespace
gh codespace ssh

# Open in VS Code
gh codespace code

# Open in JupyterLab
gh codespace jupyter

Manage Codespace Files

# Copy files to/from codespace
gh codespace cp local-file.txt remote:~/path/
gh codespace cp remote:~/path/file.txt ./local-dir/

# View logs
gh codespace logs

Releases

Creating Releases

# Create release
gh release create v1.0.0

# Create release with notes
gh release create v1.0.0 --notes "Release notes"

# Create release with files
gh release create v1.0.0 dist/*.tar.gz

# Create draft release
gh release create v1.0.0 --draft

# Generate release notes automatically
gh release create v1.0.0 --generate-notes

Managing Releases

# List releases
gh release list

# View release
gh release view v1.0.0

# Download release assets
gh release download v1.0.0

Gists

# Create gist
gh gist create file.txt

# Create gist from stdin
echo "content" | gh gist create -

# List gists
gh gist list

# View gist
gh gist view <gist-id>

# Edit gist
gh gist edit <gist-id>

Configuration

# Set default editor
gh config set editor vim

# Set default git protocol
gh config set git_protocol ssh

# View configuration
gh config list

# Set browser
gh config set browser firefox

Quick Reference

Common gh operations at a glance:

Operation	Command	Common Flags
Create PR	gh pr create	--draft, --fill, --base, --title
List PRs	gh pr list	--author @me, --label, --state
View PR	gh pr view <number>	--web, --comments
Merge PR	gh pr merge <number>	--squash, --rebase, --delete-branch
Create issue	gh issue create	--title, --body, --label
List issues	gh issue list	--assignee @me, --label, --state
View issue	gh issue view <number>	--web, --comments
Clone repo	gh repo clone <repo>	-- (to pass git flags)
Fork repo	gh repo fork	--clone, --remote
View repo	gh repo view	--web
Create release	gh release create <tag>	--title, --notes, --draft
Run workflow	gh workflow run <name>	--ref, --field
Watch run	gh run watch <id>	--exit-status
Search repos	gh search repos <query>	--language, --stars
Create label	gh label create <name>	--color, --description
Create codespace	gh codespace create	--repo, --branch
SSH to codespace	gh codespace ssh	--codespace

Additional Resources

Reference Guides

For detailed patterns and advanced usage, see:

• Workflows & Actions - GitHub Actions workflows, runs, cache management, and CI/CD integration patterns
• Advanced Features - Aliases, API access, extensions, secrets, SSH/GPG keys, organizations, projects, and advanced scripting
• Automation Workflows - Common automation patterns, daily reports, release automation, and team collaboration workflows
• Troubleshooting - Solutions for authentication, permissions, rate limiting, and common errors

Example Scripts

Practical automation scripts (see examples/ directory):

• auto-pr-create.sh - Automated PR creation workflow
• issue-triage.sh - Bulk issue labeling and assignment
• workflow-monitor.sh - Watch and notify on workflow completion
• release-automation.sh - Complete release workflow automation

External Documentation

• Official Manual: https://cli.github.com/manual
• GitHub Community: https://github.com/cli/cli/discussions
• API Documentation: https://docs.github.com/en/rest
• Extension Marketplace: https://github.com/topics/gh-extension

JSON Output

Use --json flag for structured output. Always verify field names with --help as they differ from GitHub API names.

# Check available JSON fields for any command
gh repo view --help | grep -A 50 "JSON FIELDS"
gh pr list --help | grep -A 50 "JSON FIELDS"

Common JSON Field Corrections

Wrong (API-style)	Correct (gh CLI)
stargazersCount	stargazerCount
forksCount	forkCount
watchersCount	watchers
openIssuesCount	issues

Repository View Fields

# Common fields for gh repo view --json
gh repo view owner/repo --json name,description,stargazerCount,forkCount,updatedAt,url,readme

Tips

1. Use --web flag to open items in browser for detailed view
2. Leverage interactive prompts by omitting parameters - most commands support interactive mode
3. Apply filters with --author, --label, --state to narrow down lists efficiently
4. Add --json flag to enable scriptable output for automation
5. Always check --help for valid JSON field names - they differ from GitHub API
6. Use gh repo create --template to scaffold from template repositories
7. Enable auto-merge with gh pr merge --auto for PRs that pass checks