How do I install the Github CLI skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add jonhill90/github-cli in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

What does the Github CLI skill do?

Manage GitHub via CLI including pull requests, issues, workflows, actions, releases, and repositories. Use when working with GitHub, gh commands, GitHub Actions CI/CD, PRs, issues, releases, or repository management. It is listed under DevOps & Infra on SkillMD.

Is Github CLI safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Github CLI?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Github CLI free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Github CLI?

jonhill90 (@jonhill90) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Github CLI by jonhill90 — Agent Skill

Name: Github CLI
Author: jonhill90

GitHub CLI

Manage GitHub resources using the gh command-line tool.

CLI Version: 2.65.0+

Prerequisites

# Install GitHub CLI
brew install gh          # macOS
sudo apt install gh      # Debian/Ubuntu
winget install GitHub.cli # Windows
conda install -c conda-forge gh  # Conda

# Verify installation
gh --version

Authentication

Two methods: interactive browser login or token-based for CI/CD.

Interactive Login

# Browser-based login (default)
gh auth login

# Select GitHub.com or GitHub Enterprise
gh auth login --hostname github.example.com

# Choose protocol (HTTPS or SSH)
gh auth login --git-protocol ssh

Token-Based (CI/CD, automation)

# Login with token from stdin
echo $MY_TOKEN | gh auth login --with-token

# Or set environment variable (skips login entirely)
export GH_TOKEN=$MY_TOKEN
# Alternative variable name
export GITHUB_TOKEN=$MY_TOKEN

Verify and Manage Auth

# Check current auth status
gh auth status

# Switch between accounts
gh auth switch

# Refresh token scopes
gh auth refresh --scopes repo,read:org

# Set default repository for current directory
gh repo set-default OWNER/REPO

# Logout
gh auth logout

CLI Structure

gh pr          create | list | view | merge | review | checks | checkout | close | reopen | edit | ready | diff | comment
gh issue       create | list | view | close | reopen | edit | comment | delete | pin | transfer | develop | lock
gh workflow    list | view | run | enable | disable
gh run         list | view | watch | download | rerun | cancel
gh release     create | list | view | download | edit | delete | upload
gh repo        create | clone | fork | view | edit | list | sync | archive | rename | delete
gh api         REST and GraphQL API calls
gh label       create | list | edit | delete | clone
gh secret      set | list | delete (repo/org/env scopes)
gh variable    set | list | get | delete (repo/org/env scopes)
gh search      repos | issues | prs | code | commits
gh gist        create | list | view | edit | delete | clone
gh codespace   create | list | code | ssh | stop | delete
gh extension   install | list | upgrade | remove
gh alias       set | list | delete
gh config      set | get | list
gh status      Cross-repo dashboard

Pull Requests

Create PR

# Basic PR from current branch
gh pr create --title "Feature: new login flow" --body "Description here"

# Draft PR with reviewers, labels, and assignees
gh pr create \
  --title "Feature: new login flow" \
  --draft \
  --reviewer user1,user2 \
  --assignee @me \
  --label "enhancement" \
  --milestone "v2.0"

# Auto-fill title and body from commits
gh pr create --fill

# Specify base and head branches
gh pr create --base main --head feature/login --title "Login feature"

List and View PRs

# List open PRs
gh pr list

# Filter by state, author, label
gh pr list --state merged --author @me --limit 10
gh pr list --label "bug" --base main

# View PR details
gh pr view 123
gh pr view 123 --web          # Open in browser
gh pr view 123 --json title,state,reviews

# View PR diff
gh pr diff 123

# Show CI check status
gh pr checks 123
gh pr checks 123 --watch      # Watch until checks complete

Merge PR

# Merge (default merge commit)
gh pr merge 123

# Squash merge
gh pr merge 123 --squash

# Rebase merge
gh pr merge 123 --rebase

# Merge with options
gh pr merge 123 --squash --delete-branch --body "Squash commit message"

# Enable auto-merge (merges when checks pass)
gh pr merge 123 --auto --squash

Review PR

# Approve
gh pr review 123 --approve

# Request changes
gh pr review 123 --request-changes --body "Please fix the error handling"

# Leave a comment review
gh pr review 123 --comment --body "Looks good overall, minor suggestions"

Checkout and Edit PR

# Check out PR branch locally
gh pr checkout 123

# Mark draft as ready
gh pr ready 123

# Edit PR metadata
gh pr edit 123 --title "Updated title" --add-label "priority" --add-reviewer user3

# Close / reopen
gh pr close 123
gh pr reopen 123

Issues

Create Issue

# Basic issue
gh issue create --title "Bug: login fails on Safari" --body "Steps to reproduce..."

# Issue with metadata
gh issue create \
  --title "Feature request: dark mode" \
  --label "enhancement","ui" \
  --assignee user1,user2 \
  --milestone "v2.0" \
  --project "Roadmap"

List and View Issues

# List open issues
gh issue list

# Filter by state, label, assignee, milestone
gh issue list --state closed --label "bug" --assignee @me --limit 20
gh issue list --milestone "v2.0" --state all

# View issue details
gh issue view 456
gh issue view 456 --web           # Open in browser
gh issue view 456 --json title,state,labels,comments

Update Issues

# Close / reopen
gh issue close 456
gh issue close 456 --reason "not planned"
gh issue reopen 456

# Edit issue fields
gh issue edit 456 --title "Updated title" --add-label "priority" --remove-label "triage"
gh issue edit 456 --add-assignee user1 --milestone "v3.0"

# Add comment
gh issue comment 456 --body "Working on this now"

Workflows & Actions

gh workflow list                      # what exists
gh workflow run deploy.yml --ref main -f environment=staging
gh run list --workflow ci.yml --branch main --status failure
gh run view {run-id} --log-failed     # only the failing step
gh run watch {run-id} --exit-status   # block until done, exit with its status
gh run rerun {run-id} --failed
gh run download {run-id} --name build-output

--log-failed and --exit-status are the two worth remembering: the first skips the noise, the second makes a watch usable in a script.

Full surface — secrets, variables, cache, artifact patterns, CI scripting — in references/actions.md.

Releases

gh release list
gh release create v1.2.3 --generate-notes          # notes from merged PRs
gh release create v1.2.3 ./dist/*.tar.gz           # with assets
gh release create v1.2.3 --draft --target main
gh release view v1.2.3
gh release download v1.2.3 --pattern "*.tar.gz"
gh release edit v1.2.3 --draft=false               # publish a draft

--generate-notes writes the changelog from merged PR titles, so the release notes are only as good as the PR titles.

Asset management and repo settings in references/repos.md.

Repositories

# Clone repository
gh repo clone OWNER/REPO
gh repo clone OWNER/REPO -- --depth 1   # Shallow clone

# Fork repository
gh repo fork OWNER/REPO
gh repo fork OWNER/REPO --clone         # Fork and clone locally

# Create repository
gh repo create my-project --public --clone
gh repo create my-project --private --add-readme --license mit --gitignore Node

# View repository
gh repo view OWNER/REPO
gh repo view OWNER/REPO --web
gh repo view --json name,description,defaultBranchRef

# Edit repository settings
gh repo edit --description "New description"
gh repo edit --visibility private
gh repo edit --enable-wiki=false --enable-issues=true

# Sync fork with upstream
gh repo sync OWNER/REPO

# List repositories
gh repo list OWNER --limit 20 --language go --visibility public

Output Formats & JSON Queries

JSON Field Selection

# Select specific fields with --json
gh pr list --json number,title,state,author
gh issue view 456 --json title,labels,assignees

# Available fields vary by command — use --json without value to see options
gh pr list --json

JQ Filtering

# Filter with --jq (uses jq syntax)
gh pr list --json number,title,author --jq '.[].title'
gh pr list --json number,title,labels --jq '.[] | select(.labels[].name == "bug")'
gh issue list --json number,title --jq '.[] | "\(.number): \(.title)"'

Go Templates

# Format with --template
gh pr list --json number,title --template '{{range .}}#{{.number}} {{.title}}{{"\n"}}{{end}}'

Common Parameters

Parameter	Description
`--repo` / `-R`	Target repo as `OWNER/REPO` (overrides current directory)
`--json`	Select output fields (comma-separated)
`--jq`	Filter JSON output with jq expression
`--template`	Format output with Go template
`--web` / `-w`	Open in web browser
`--limit` / `-L`	Maximum number of items to return
`--state`	Filter by state (open, closed, merged, all)
`--label`	Filter by label
`--assignee`	Filter by assignee
`--milestone`	Filter by milestone
`--author`	Filter by author

Common Workflows

Create PR from current branch

BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)
gh pr create \
  --title "$(git log -1 --pretty=%s)" \
  --body "$(git log -1 --pretty=%b)" \
  --head "$BRANCH" \
  --base main

Review and merge PR

gh pr review 123 --approve
gh pr merge 123 --squash --delete-branch

Trigger workflow and wait for result

gh workflow run deploy.yml -f environment=staging
RUN_ID=$(gh run list --workflow deploy.yml --limit 1 --json databaseId --jq '.[0].databaseId')
gh run watch "$RUN_ID" --exit-status

Create release from latest tag

TAG=$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)
gh release create "$TAG" --generate-notes

Download latest CI artifacts

RUN_ID=$(gh run list --workflow ci.yml --status success --limit 1 --json databaseId --jq '.[0].databaseId')
gh run download "$RUN_ID" --name "build-output" --dir ./artifacts

Triage issues by label

# List untriaged issues and add label
gh issue list --search "no:label" --limit 50 --json number,title --jq '.[].number' | while read -r num; do
  gh issue edit "$num" --add-label "needs-triage"
done

References

For complete command details beyond the common operations above:

Actions, secrets, and variables — Workflow management, secrets, variables, cache, artifact patterns, CI scripting
Issues and labels — Issue templates, pin/transfer/develop, label CRUD, search, bulk operations
Repos and releases — Repo creation/settings, deploy keys, rulesets, release asset management
API, search, and advanced patterns — REST/GraphQL API, search commands, extensions, aliases, gists, codespaces, scripting patterns

Github CLI

File contents

GitHub CLI

Prerequisites

Authentication

Interactive Login

Token-Based (CI/CD, automation)

Verify and Manage Auth

CLI Structure

Pull Requests

Create PR

List and View PRs

Merge PR

Review PR

Checkout and Edit PR

Issues

Create Issue

List and View Issues

Update Issues

Workflows & Actions

Releases

Repositories

Output Formats & JSON Queries

JSON Field Selection

JQ Filtering

Go Templates

Common Parameters

Common Workflows

Create PR from current branch

Review and merge PR

Trigger workflow and wait for result

Create release from latest tag

Download latest CI artifacts

Triage issues by label

References

Frequently asked questions

Github CLI

File contents

GitHub CLI

Prerequisites

Authentication

Interactive Login

Token-Based (CI/CD, automation)

Verify and Manage Auth

CLI Structure

Pull Requests

Create PR

List and View PRs

Merge PR

Review PR

Checkout and Edit PR

Issues

Create Issue

List and View Issues

Update Issues

Workflows & Actions

Releases

Repositories

Output Formats & JSON Queries

JSON Field Selection

JQ Filtering

Go Templates

Common Parameters

Common Workflows

Create PR from current branch

Review and merge PR

Trigger workflow and wait for result

Create release from latest tag

Download latest CI artifacts

Triage issues by label

References

Related skills

Frequently asked questions

How do I install the Github CLI skill?

What does the Github CLI skill do?

Is Github CLI safe to use?

Which AI agents work with Github CLI?

Is Github CLI free to use?

Who published Github CLI?