GitHub Automation

Automate GitHub repository management, issue tracking, pull request workflows, branch operations, and CI/CD using the gh CLI.

Core Workflows

1. Create and Manage Issues

# List issues
gh issue list --state open --limit 20

# Create issue
gh issue create --title "Bug: login fails" --body "Steps to reproduce..." --label bug

# Add comment
gh issue comment 42 --body "Fixed in PR #43"

# Search issues
gh search issues "auth error" --repo owner/repo

Tips:

• gh issue list returns both issues AND PRs; filter with --label
• Only users with push access can set assignees and labels

2. Manage Pull Requests

# List PRs
gh pr list --state open

# Create PR
gh pr create --title "feat: add auth" --body "## Summary..."

# Review PR
gh pr diff 42
gh pr review 42 --approve

# Merge PR (verify CI first)
gh pr checks 42
gh pr merge 42 --squash

Tips:

• Always check CI status before merging: gh pr checks
• Require explicit user confirmation before merging

3. Manage Repositories and Branches

# List repos
gh repo list --limit 20

# Create repo
gh repo create my-app --private --clone

# List branches
gh api repos/owner/repo/branches --jq '.[].name'

# Create branch from current
git checkout -b feature/new-thing
git push -u origin feature/new-thing

4. Search Code and Commits

# Search code
gh search code "API_KEY" --repo owner/repo

# List commits
gh api repos/owner/repo/commits --jq '.[].commit.message' | head -20

# Get commit details
gh api repos/owner/repo/commits/SHA

Tips:

• Code search only indexes files under 384KB on default branch
• Maximum 1000 results returned

5. Manage CI/CD and Deployments

# List workflows
gh workflow list

# Trigger workflow
gh workflow run ci.yml --ref main

# Check run status
gh run list --workflow ci.yml --limit 5

# View run logs
gh run view RUN_ID --log

6. Manage Users and Permissions

# List collaborators
gh api repos/owner/repo/collaborators --jq '.[].login'

# Check permissions
gh api repos/owner/repo/collaborators/username/permission --jq '.permission'

# Branch protection
gh api repos/owner/repo/branches/main/protection

Safety Rules

• Always verify PR mergeable status before merge
• Require explicit user confirmation for destructive operations
• Check CI status before merging
• Repo deletion is irreversible - double confirm

Quick Reference

Task	Command
List repos	gh repo list
Create issue	gh issue create
List PRs	gh pr list
Create PR	gh pr create
Merge PR	gh pr merge
Check CI	gh pr checks
Search code	gh search code
List workflows	gh workflow list
Trigger workflow	gh workflow run