GitHub CLI: Search Repositories

Overview

Search for repositories across GitHub using gh search repos. Filter by stars, forks, language, topics, license, and more.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when searching for repositories across GitHub:

• Finding repositories by popularity (stars/forks)
• Searching by programming language or topics
• Finding repos with good first issues
• Filtering by license or archived status
• Searching in specific organizations or by owner
• Need to exclude certain results (requires -- flag)

Syntax

gh search repos [<query>] [flags]

Key Flags Reference

Repository Attributes

Flag	Purpose	Example
--language <string>	Programming language	--language python
--topic <strings>	Repository topics	--topic machine-learning
--license <strings>	License type	--license mit
--archived {true|false}	Archived state	--archived false
--owner <strings>	Repository owner	--owner github
--visibility <string>	Visibility: public, private, internal	--visibility public

Popularity Metrics

Flag	Purpose	Example
--stars <number>	Star count	--stars ">1000"
--forks <number>	Fork count	--forks ">100"
--followers <number>	Follower count	--followers ">50"
--size <string>	Size in KB	--size "100..1000"

Issue Counts

Flag	Purpose	Example
--good-first-issues <number>	"Good first issue" label count	--good-first-issues ">=5"
--help-wanted-issues <number>	"Help wanted" label count	--help-wanted-issues ">=3"

Date Filters

Flag	Purpose	Example
--created <date>	Creation date	--created ">2024-01-01"
--updated <date>	Last update date	--updated ">2024-06-01"

Search Scope

Flag	Purpose	Example
--match <strings>	Search in: name, description, readme	--match name
--include-forks {false|true|only}	Include/exclude forks	--include-forks false

Output & Sorting

Flag	Purpose	Example
-L, --limit <int>	Max results (default: 30)	--limit 100
--sort <string>	Sort by: stars, forks, updated, etc.	--sort stars
--order <string>	Sort direction: asc or desc	--order desc
--json <fields>	JSON output	--json name,stargazersCount,language
-w, --web	Open in browser	-w

JSON Output Fields

createdAt, defaultBranch, description, forksCount, fullName, hasDownloads, hasIssues, hasPages, hasProjects, hasWiki, homepage, id, isArchived, isDisabled, isFork, isPrivate, language, license, name, openIssuesCount, owner, pushedAt, size, stargazersCount, updatedAt, url, visibility, watchersCount

Exclusion Syntax (Critical!)

When using inline query exclusions (negations with -), you MUST use the -- separator:

✅ Correct: gh search repos -- "search-terms -qualifier:value" ❌ Wrong: gh search repos "search-terms" --flag=-value ❌ Wrong: gh search repos "search-terms" --flag=!value ❌ Wrong: gh search repos --language=-Go

Examples:

• gh search repos -- "cli -language:go" (exclude language)
• gh search repos -- "starter -archived:true" (exclude archived)
• gh search repos -- "web -topic:deprecated" (exclude topic)
• gh search repos -- "library -license:gpl-3.0" (exclude license)

Why the -- separator is required: The -- tells the shell to stop parsing flags and treat everything after it as arguments. Without it, -qualifier:value inside quotes may be misinterpreted.

Critical Syntax Rules

When to Use Flag Syntax vs Query Syntax

Decision Tree:

Does your search include:
  - Any exclusions (NOT, minus, without, except)?  → Use Query Syntax with `--`
  - Complex boolean logic (OR, AND)?              → Use Query Syntax with `--`

Otherwise:
  - Simple positive filters only?                  → Use Flag Syntax

Flag Syntax (for positive filters):

gh search repos "cli" --language go --stars ">100"

Query Syntax with -- (required for exclusions):

gh search repos -- "cli -language:javascript -archived:true"

⚠️ NEVER mix both syntaxes in a single command!

1. Exclusions and Negations

CRITICAL: When excluding results, you MUST use query syntax with the -- separator.

Exclusion Syntax Rules:

1. Use the -- separator before your query
2. Use -qualifier:value format (dash prefix for negation)
3. Quote the entire query string

Examples:

Single exclusion:

# Exclude specific language
gh search repos -- "web framework -language:javascript"

# Exclude archived repos
gh search repos -- "cli tool -archived:true"

Multiple exclusions:

# Exclude multiple languages
gh search repos -- "game engine -language:javascript -language:python"

# Exclude archived and small repos
gh search repos -- "starter -archived:true -stars:<10"

Combine with positive filters using flags:

# Wrong - mixing syntaxes:
gh search repos "cli" --language go -archived:true  # ❌

# Correct - use query syntax for everything when excluding:
gh search repos -- "cli language:go -archived:true"  # ✅

PowerShell exclusions:

# Use --% to prevent PowerShell parsing
gh --% search repos -- "cli -language:javascript"

Common Exclusion Patterns:

User Request	Command
"Find repos but not archived"	gh search repos -- "starter -archived:true"
"Repos excluding specific language"	gh search repos -- "web framework -language:php"
"Repos not in specific topic"	gh search repos -- "cli -topic:deprecated"
"Repos excluding multiple languages"	gh search repos -- "game -language:javascript -language:css"
"Repos not forks"	gh search repos -- "template -is:fork" (or use --include-forks false)
"Repos excluding low stars"	gh search repos -- "framework -stars:<100"
"Repos not with specific license"	gh search repos -- "library -license:gpl-3.0"

2. Special Values

• Multiple topics: --topic unix,terminal
• Boolean flags: --archived false or --archived true
• Fork inclusion: --include-forks false|true|only

3. Quoting Rules

Multi-word search:

gh search repos "machine learning"

Comparison operators need quotes:

gh search repos "python" --stars ">1000"

Ranges use quotes:

gh search repos "cli" --stars "100..500"

Common Use Cases

Find popular Python repos:

gh search repos "data science" --language python --stars ">5000"

Find repos with good first issues:

gh search repos --language javascript --good-first-issues ">=10"

Find recently updated repos:

gh search repos "react" --updated ">2024-01-01" --stars ">100"

Find repos by topic:

gh search repos --topic machine-learning --language python

Find repos by license:

gh search repos "web framework" --license mit,apache-2.0

Exclude archived repos:

gh search repos "cli tool" --archived false

Find repos by organization:

gh search repos --owner microsoft --visibility public

Exclude forks:

gh search repos "starter" --include-forks false

Find only forks:

gh search repos "template" --include-forks only

Find repos in star range:

gh search repos "game engine" --stars "100..1000"

Exclude specific language:

gh search repos -- "cli -language:go"

Search in name only:

gh search repos "awesome" --match name

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Problem	Fix
--language="NOT javascript" or --archived=-true	Flag syntax doesn't support negation	Use query: -- "-language:javascript" or -- "-archived:true"
gh search repos cli -language:js	-language interpreted as flag	Use --: -- "cli -language:js"
"cli NOT language:js"	NOT keyword doesn't work	Use -: -- "cli -language:js"
Mixing syntaxes: --stars ">100" "cli -language:js"	Can't mix flags with query qualifiers	Use query for all: -- "cli stars:>100 -language:js"
Not quoting comparisons	Shell interprets >	Quote: --stars ">1000"
--archived archived	Invalid value	Use boolean: --archived true or false
Not quoting multi-word search	Searches separately	Quote: "machine learning"
Using @ with owner	Invalid syntax	Drop @: --owner github
PowerShell without --%	Breaks with exclusions	Add: gh --%

Installation Check

If gh command not found:

# Check if gh is installed
which gh

# Install: https://cli.github.com/manual/installation

If not authenticated:

# Authenticate with GitHub
gh auth login

Comparison Operators

• > - Greater than
• >= - Greater than or equal
• < - Less than
• <= - Less than or equal
• .. - Range: 100..1000 or 2024-01-01..2024-12-31

Common Licenses

• mit - MIT License
• apache-2.0 - Apache License 2.0
• gpl-3.0 - GNU GPL v3
• bsd-2-clause - BSD 2-Clause
• bsd-3-clause - BSD 3-Clause
• mpl-2.0 - Mozilla Public License 2.0
• isc - ISC License

Match Field Options

• name - Search repository names only
• description - Search descriptions only
• readme - Search README files only

Example: gh search repos "documentation" --match readme

Related

• GitHub search syntax: https://docs.github.com/search-github/searching-on-github/searching-for-repositories
• For searching other resources: gh-search-code, gh-search-commits, gh-search-issues, gh-search-prs