cli-gh

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
• Browse repositories, PRs, and files in the browser

Safety Rules

CRITICAL: This skill forbids destructive gh CLI operations except the controlled label-deletion workflow below.

This skill focuses on safe, read-only, or reversible GitHub operations. Treat destructive operations as prohibited unless this file explicitly defines an exception.

Controlled destructive exception:

gh label delete may be used only when every condition is met:

• The user explicitly asks to delete one or more repository labels.
• Before running any deletion command, present a deletion plan listing the target repository, exact label names, exact command(s), and the consequence that the labels will be removed from the repository and from existing issues and pull requests.
• The user explicitly approves that deletion plan in a subsequent message. The original deletion request, broad cleanup approval, prior consent, or silence is not approval.
• Run only the approved gh label delete <name> --repo OWNER/REPO --yes commands. If the repository, labels, or commands change, stop and present a revised plan for approval.

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 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)
• Reverting pull requests (creates a new revert PR)
• Canceling workflow runs (stops execution without deleting data)
• Merging pull requests (after proper review)
• Deleting repository labels only through the controlled destructive exception above
• Read-only git operations (git status, git log, git diff)

Installation & Setup

# Login to GitHub
gh auth login

# Login and copy OAuth code to clipboard automatically
gh auth login --clipboard

# Check authentication status
gh auth status

# Check auth status with JSON output
gh auth status --json

# 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

# Create PR with Copilot Code Review
gh pr create --reviewer @copilot

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

# View PR diff excluding specific files
gh pr diff 123 --exclude "*.lock"

# 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"

# Request Copilot Code Review
gh pr edit 123 --add-reviewer @copilot

# 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

# Revert a merged PR (creates a new revert PR)
gh pr revert 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"

# Use a Markdown issue template as interactive/editor starting body text
gh issue create --template "Bug Report"

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

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

# Set the issue type (GitHub.com and GHES 3.17+)
gh issue create --type Bug

--template cannot be combined with --body or --body-file; use it with prompts, --editor, or --web. For YAML issue forms, fetch and render the form fields yourself for non-interactive automation, or finish in the browser.

Viewing Issues

# List issues
gh issue list

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

# List by label
gh issue list --label bug

# Filter by issue type
gh issue list --type Bug

# Advanced issue search
gh issue list --search "is:open label:bug sort:created-desc"

# View issue details
gh issue view 456

# View in browser
gh issue view 456 --web

Managing Issues

# Close issue
gh issue close 456

# Close as duplicate, linking to the original issue
gh issue close 123 --duplicate-of 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

Discussions

When the user asks to list, view, create, edit, or comment on GitHub Discussions, see references/discussions.md. The gh discussion command set is in preview and subject to change.

Repository Operations

Repository Info

# View repository
gh repo view

# View in browser
gh repo view --web

# Clone repository
gh repo clone owner/repo

# Clone without adding upstream remote
gh repo clone owner/repo --no-upstream

# 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

# Configure the squash-merge commit message default
gh repo edit --squash-merge-commit-message COMMIT_MESSAGES

Workflows & Actions

When the user asks to trigger, monitor, cancel, rerun, or download artifacts from GitHub Actions workflows and runs, see references/workflows-actions.md.

Search

When the user asks to search GitHub repositories, issues, or pull requests, see references/search.md.

Labels

When the user asks to list, create, edit, delete, or clone repository labels, see references/labels.md.

Codespaces

When the user asks to list, create, connect to, or manage files within GitHub Codespaces, see references/codespaces.md.

Browse

Open repositories, files, and resources in the browser.

# Open current repo in browser
gh browse

# Open specific file
gh browse src/main.go

# Open file at specific line
gh browse src/main.go:42

# Open blame view for a file
gh browse --blame src/main.go

# Open Actions tab
gh browse --actions

# Open specific branch
gh browse --branch feature

Releases

When the user asks to create, list, view, or download GitHub releases, see references/releases.md.

Gists

When the user asks to create, list, view, or edit GitHub gists, see references/gists.md.

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

Advanced Features

When the user needs aliases, direct API access, extensions, secrets/variables, SSH/GPG keys, organization or project management, repository rulesets, attestations, Copilot Agent Tasks, gh skill management, reading repo file/directory contents without cloning, or issue types/sub-issues/blocking relationships, see references/advanced-features.md.

Automation & Scripting

When the user wants ready-made gh CLI automation patterns — code review workflows, issue triage, daily/weekly reports, bulk operations, CI monitoring, or team collaboration scripts, see references/automation-workflows.md.

Troubleshooting

When gh fails with auth/permission/rate-limit errors, or hits command errors, installation/config issues, or network problems, see references/troubleshooting.md.

Additional Resources

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

When the user wants to use --json flags or needs the correct gh CLI JSON field names, see references/json-output.md.

Tips

1. Leverage interactive prompts by omitting parameters - most commands support interactive mode
2. Use gh repo create --template to scaffold from template repositories
3. Enable auto-merge with gh pr merge --auto for PRs that pass checks