Gh CLI

GitHub CLI Patterns

Common gh CLI patterns for PR operations, especially review comments and thread resolution.

When to Use

• Replying to PR review comments
• Resolving review threads
• Querying PR review data
• Any gh api or gh api graphql operation

PR Review Comments

Reply to a Review Comment (REST API)

Correct endpoint: /repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pr}/comments/{comment_id}/replies

# Reply to a specific review comment
gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/PR_NUMBER/comments/COMMENT_ID/replies \
  -X POST \
  -f body="Your reply message here"

Example:

gh api repos/erikpr1994/myrepo/pulls/123/comments/2705458190/replies \
  -X POST \
  -f body="Fixed in commit abc123"

Common Mistake - Wrong Endpoint

# WRONG - This creates a NEW comment, not a reply
gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/PR_NUMBER/comments \
  -X POST \
  -f body="..." \
  -f in_reply_to=COMMENT_ID  # This field doesn't work here!

# CORRECT - Use the /replies sub-endpoint
gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/PR_NUMBER/comments/COMMENT_ID/replies \
  -X POST \
  -f body="..."

List All PR Comments

# Get all review comments on a PR
gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/PR_NUMBER/comments \
  --jq '.[] | {id: .id, user: .user.login, body: .body[:80], path: .path}'

Review Threads (GraphQL)

Get All Review Threads

# List all review threads with resolution status
gh api graphql -f query='
query {
  repository(owner: "OWNER", name: "REPO") {
    pullRequest(number: PR_NUMBER) {
      reviewThreads(first: 100) {
        nodes {
          id
          isResolved
          comments(first: 1) {
            nodes {
              body
              author { login }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}'

Get Only Unresolved Threads

# Count unresolved threads
gh api graphql -f query='
query {
  repository(owner: "OWNER", name: "REPO") {
    pullRequest(number: PR_NUMBER) {
      reviewThreads(first: 100) {
        nodes {
          id
          isResolved
        }
      }
    }
  }
}' | jq '[.data.repository.pullRequest.reviewThreads.nodes[] | select(.isResolved == false)] | length'

Resolve a Review Thread

# Resolve a thread by its ID
gh api graphql -f query='
mutation {
  resolveReviewThread(input: {threadId: "THREAD_ID"}) {
    thread {
      isResolved
    }
  }
}'

Example with actual thread ID:

gh api graphql -f query='
mutation {
  resolveReviewThread(input: {threadId: "PRRT_kwDONAi3wc6XYZABC"}) {
    thread {
      isResolved
    }
  }
}'

GraphQL Variable Escaping

The Problem

GraphQL uses $ for variables, but bash also interprets $. This causes issues:

# BROKEN - bash interprets $owner as a shell variable
gh api graphql -f query='query($owner: String!) { ... }'
# Error: Expected VAR_SIGN, actual: UNKNOWN_CHAR ("")

Solution 1: Hardcode Values (Simplest)

# Works - no variables to escape
gh api graphql -f query='
query {
  repository(owner: "erikpr1994", name: "myrepo") {
    pullRequest(number: 123) {
      title
    }
  }
}'

Solution 2: Use -F for GraphQL Variables

# Works - use -F (uppercase) for typed parameters
gh api graphql \
  -F owner="erikpr1994" \
  -F repo="myrepo" \
  -F pr=123 \
  -f query='
query($owner: String!, $repo: String!, $pr: Int!) {
  repository(owner: $owner, name: $repo) {
    pullRequest(number: $pr) {
      title
    }
  }
}'

Note: -F (uppercase) passes typed values. -f (lowercase) passes strings.

Solution 3: Escape the Dollar Signs

# Works - escape $ with backslash
gh api graphql -f query='
query(\$owner: String!, \$repo: String!, \$pr: Int!) {
  repository(owner: \$owner, name: \$repo) {
    pullRequest(number: \$pr) {
      title
    }
  }
}' -F owner="erikpr1994" -F repo="myrepo" -F pr=123

Recommendation

Use hardcoded values when possible (Solution 1). It's simpler and avoids escaping issues. Only use variables when you need dynamic values.

Complete Workflow: Process PR Review Threads

Step 1: Get Unresolved Threads

# Get thread IDs and first comment
gh api graphql -f query='
query {
  repository(owner: "OWNER", name: "REPO") {
    pullRequest(number: PR_NUMBER) {
      reviewThreads(first: 100) {
        nodes {
          id
          isResolved
          comments(first: 1) {
            nodes {
              id
              body
              author { login }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}' | jq '.data.repository.pullRequest.reviewThreads.nodes[] | select(.isResolved == false)'

Step 2: Reply to Each Comment

# For each unresolved thread, reply to its comment
gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/PR_NUMBER/comments/COMMENT_ID/replies \
  -X POST \
  -f body="Fixed in commit abc123"

Step 3: Resolve Each Thread

# Resolve the thread
gh api graphql -f query='
mutation {
  resolveReviewThread(input: {threadId: "THREAD_ID_HERE"}) {
    thread { isResolved }
  }
}'

Step 4: Verify All Resolved

# Should return 0
gh api graphql -f query='
query {
  repository(owner: "OWNER", name: "REPO") {
    pullRequest(number: PR_NUMBER) {
      reviewThreads(first: 100) {
        nodes { isResolved }
      }
    }
  }
}' | jq '[.data.repository.pullRequest.reviewThreads.nodes[] | select(.isResolved == false)] | length'

Other Useful Patterns

Get PR Details

gh pr view PR_NUMBER --json number,title,state,reviewDecision,statusCheckRollup

List PR Checks

gh pr checks PR_NUMBER
gh pr checks PR_NUMBER --watch  # Wait for completion

Request Reviewers

gh pr edit PR_NUMBER --add-reviewer username1,username2

Create PR

gh pr create --title "feat: my feature" --body "Description here"

Merge PR

gh pr merge PR_NUMBER --squash --delete-branch

Quick Reference

Common Errors

Integration

Used by:

• submit-pr (Phase 6 - review feedback)
• pr-feedback-tracker
• coderabbit

Related:

• git-expert
• pr-workflow