GitHub CLI Search Plugin
A Claude Code plugin providing skills and commands for using GitHub CLI (gh) search effectively with correct syntax, quoting, and platform-specific handling.
What's Included
Search Skills:
- gh-search-code - Search code by file extension, language, path, content, size
- gh-search-commits - Search commits by author, date range, hash, message
- gh-search-issues - Search issues by label, state, assignee, author, dates
- gh-search-prs - Search PRs by draft/merge status, reviews, CI checks, branches
- gh-search-repos - Search repos by stars, forks, language, topics, licenses
- gh-cli-setup - Installation and troubleshooting for
gh CLI
- gh-search - General reference for syntax rules across all search types
Slash Commands:
/gh-search-code, /gh-search-commits, /gh-search-issues, /gh-search-prs, /gh-search-repos
Session-Start Hook:
Automatically loads skill awareness at session start so Claude knows how to construct correct gh commands immediately.
Installation
Claude Code (via Plugin Marketplace)
/plugin marketplace add aaddrick/helpful-tools-marketplace
/plugin install gh-cli-search@helpful-tools-marketplace
Verify Installation
Check that commands appear:
/help
# Should see:
# /gh-cli-search:gh-search-code - Search for code within GitHub repositories
# /gh-cli-search:gh-search-commits - Search commit history on GitHub
# /gh-cli-search:gh-search-issues - Search GitHub issues
# ...
Examples
# Search popular Python ML repos
gh search repos "machine learning" --language python --stars ">1000"
# Find your open issues without bug label (note the -- flag!)
gh search issues -- "is:open author:@me -label:bug"
# Find PRs awaiting your review
gh search prs --review-requested @me --state open
# Search for TODO comments in your org's JavaScript code
gh search code "TODO" --owner myorg --language javascript
# Find commits by author in date range
gh search commits --author octocat --author-date "2024-01-01..2024-12-31"
Critical Syntax Rules
- Exclusions require
-- flag on Unix/Linux/Mac: gh search issues -- "-label:bug"
- PowerShell needs
--%: gh --% search issues -- "query"
- Multi-word queries need quotes:
"machine learning" not machine learning
- Use
@me for current user, not @username
- Dates use ISO8601:
2024-01-01..2024-12-31
Requirements
- GitHub CLI (
gh) installed and authenticated
- GitHub account (public repos work without auth but with rate limits)
Testing
Run the comprehensive test suite (80 test scenarios):
/test-gh-skills
See testing/README.md for details.
Contributing
Test changes using TDD methodology, ensure cross-platform compatibility, update version in plugin.json. Follow the existing skill structure.
Resources
License
MIT License
aaddrick