How do I install the Ghrepo skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add jsonlee12138/ghrepo 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.

Is Ghrepo 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 Ghrepo?

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 Ghrepo free to use?

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

Who published Ghrepo?

jsonlee12138 (@jsonlee12138) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Ghrepo by jsonlee12138 — Agent Skill

Name: Ghrepo
Author: jsonlee12138

Ghrepo

CLI tool for GitHub repository contents - browse, inspect, download, create, update, and delete files in any GitHub repository without cloning. Use when the agent needs to: (1) List directory contents of a remote GitHub repo, (2) Read/cat file contents from GitHub, (3) Download files or directories from GitHub to local filesystem, (4) Check file/directory metadata (type, SHA, size), (5) Create or update files in a GitHub repo (with commit message), (6) Delete files from a GitHub repo (with commit message), (7) Verify GitHub token authentication, (8) Initialize a project with AGENTS.md for a target repo. Triggers: "github repo", "remote file", "ghrepo", "browse repo", "download from github", "upload to github", "delete from github", "repo contents", "init repo".

jsonlee12138 941b898 2 files · 7.5 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

ghrepo - GitHub Repository Contents CLI

Prerequisites

ghrepo binary in PATH (install via brew tap JsonLee12138/ghrepo && brew install ghrepo, or go install)
A GitHub token set via GITHUB_TOKEN, GH_TOKEN, or --token flag
For write/delete operations: token needs Contents: Read and Write scope

Quick Reference

ghrepo init <owner/repo>                                    # create AGENTS.md
ghrepo auth check                                          # verify token
ghrepo ls <owner/repo> <path> [--ref <ref>] [--recursive]  # list directory
ghrepo stat <owner/repo> <path> [--ref <ref>]               # file/dir metadata
ghrepo cat <owner/repo> <path> [--ref <ref>]                # output file content
ghrepo get <owner/repo> <path> --out <local> [--overwrite]  # download to local
ghrepo put <owner/repo> <path> -m <msg> --file <local> [-b <branch>] [-y] # create/update
ghrepo rm <owner/repo> <path> -m <msg> [-b <branch>] [-y]  # delete file

Global Flags

Flag	Description
`--token <t>`	GitHub PAT (overrides env vars)
`--api-base <url>`	Custom API URL (for GHES)
`--timeout <dur>`	HTTP timeout (default `15s`)
`--json`	Structured JSON output
`--verbose`	Debug logging (never prints token)

Commands

Initialize Project

ghrepo init owner/repo

Creates AGENTS.md in the current directory with the target repo and command reference. No token required. Fails if AGENTS.md already exists.

Read Operations

List directory:

ghrepo ls octocat/Hello-World src/
ghrepo ls octocat/Hello-World src/ --recursive --json

Read file to stdout:

ghrepo cat octocat/Hello-World README.md
ghrepo cat octocat/Hello-World README.md --ref v1.0 > local.md

Get metadata:

ghrepo stat octocat/Hello-World README.md --json

Download files/directories:

ghrepo get octocat/Hello-World README.md --out ./README.md
ghrepo get octocat/Hello-World docs/ --out ./local-docs --overwrite

Write Operations (require confirmation)

Create or update a file:

# From local file (interactive confirmation)
ghrepo put owner/repo path/to/file.txt -m "add file" --file ./local.txt

# From stdin (requires --yes since stdin is consumed)
echo "content" | ghrepo put owner/repo file.txt -m "create" --stdin --yes

# Skip confirmation + specify branch
ghrepo put owner/repo config.yml -m "update" --file ./config.yml -b develop --yes

Delete a file:

ghrepo rm owner/repo old-file.txt -m "remove file"
ghrepo rm owner/repo old-file.txt -m "cleanup" -b main --yes

Auth

ghrepo auth check
ghrepo auth check --json

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
10	Auth failure (missing/invalid token)
11	Permission denied
12	Not found
13	Bad arguments
14	Network/timeout error
15	Rate limited
16	Local write failure
17	User cancelled operation

Key Behaviors

put auto-detects create vs update (no need to specify SHA)
put and rm show confirmation prompt by default; use --yes/-y to skip
put requires exactly one of --file or --stdin for content source
put and rm require -m/--message for commit message
--ref works on all read commands (branch, tag, or SHA)
get preserves directory structure when downloading folders
All commands respect --json for machine-readable output

For detailed usage docs, see references/commands.md.

---name: ghrepodescription: CLI tool for GitHub repository contents - browse, inspect, download, create, update, and delete files in any GitHub repository without cloning. Use when the agent needs to: (1) List directory contents of a remote GitHub repo, (2) Read/cat file contents from GitHub, (3) Download files or directories from GitHub to local filesystem, (4) Check file/directory metadata (type, SHA, size), (5) Create or update files in a GitHub repo (with commit message), (6) Delete files from a GitHub repo (with commit message), (7) Verify GitHub token authentication, (8) Initialize a project with AGENTS.md for a target repo. Triggers: "github repo", "remote file", "ghrepo", "browse repo", "download from github", "upload to github", "delete from github", "repo contents", "init repo".---# ghrepo - GitHub Repository Contents CLI## Prerequisites- `ghrepo` binary in PATH (install via `brew tap JsonLee12138/ghrepo && brew install ghrepo`, or `go install`)- A GitHub token set via `GITHUB_TOKEN`, `GH_TOKEN`, or `--token` flag- For write/delete operations: token needs `Contents: Read and Write` scope## Quick Reference```bashghrepo init <owner/repo> # create AGENTS.mdghrepo auth check # verify tokenghrepo ls <owner/repo> <path> [--ref <ref>] [--recursive] # list directoryghrepo stat <owner/repo> <path> [--ref <ref>] # file/dir metadataghrepo cat <owner/repo> <path> [--ref <ref>] # output file contentghrepo get <owner/repo> <path> --out <local> [--overwrite] # download to localghrepo put <owner/repo> <path> -m <msg> --file <local> [-b <branch>] [-y] # create/updateghrepo rm <owner/repo> <path> -m <msg> [-b <branch>] [-y] # delete file```## Global Flags| Flag | Description ||------|-------------|| `--token <t>` | GitHub PAT (overrides env vars) || `--api-base <url>` | Custom API URL (for GHES) || `--timeout <dur>` | HTTP timeout (default `15s`) || `--json` | Structured JSON output || `--verbose` | Debug logging (never prints token) |## Commands### Initialize Project```bashghrepo init owner/repo```Creates `AGENTS.md` in the current directory with the target repo and command reference. No token required. Fails if `AGENTS.md` already exists.### Read Operations**List directory:**```bashghrepo ls octocat/Hello-World src/ghrepo ls octocat/Hello-World src/ --recursive --json```**Read file to stdout:**```bashghrepo cat octocat/Hello-World README.mdghrepo cat octocat/Hello-World README.md --ref v1.0 > local.md```**Get metadata:**```bashghrepo stat octocat/Hello-World README.md --json```**Download files/directories:**```bashghrepo get octocat/Hello-World README.md --out ./README.mdghrepo get octocat/Hello-World docs/ --out ./local-docs --overwrite```### Write Operations (require confirmation)**Create or update a file:**```bash# From local file (interactive confirmation)ghrepo put owner/repo path/to/file.txt -m "add file" --file ./local.txt# From stdin (requires --yes since stdin is consumed)echo "content" | ghrepo put owner/repo file.txt -m "create" --stdin --yes# Skip confirmation + specify branchghrepo put owner/repo config.yml -m "update" --file ./config.yml -b develop --yes```**Delete a file:**```bashghrepo rm owner/repo old-file.txt -m "remove file"ghrepo rm owner/repo old-file.txt -m "cleanup" -b main --yes```### Auth```bashghrepo auth checkghrepo auth check --json```## Exit Codes| Code | Meaning ||------|---------|| 0 | Success || 10 | Auth failure (missing/invalid token) || 11 | Permission denied || 12 | Not found || 13 | Bad arguments || 14 | Network/timeout error || 15 | Rate limited || 16 | Local write failure || 17 | User cancelled operation |## Key Behaviors- `put` auto-detects create vs update (no need to specify SHA)- `put` and `rm` show confirmation prompt by default; use `--yes`/`-y` to skip- `put` requires exactly one of `--file` or `--stdin` for content source- `put` and `rm` require `-m`/`--message` for commit message- `--ref` works on all read commands (branch, tag, or SHA)- `get` preserves directory structure when downloading folders- All commands respect `--json` for machine-readable outputFor detailed usage docs, see [references/commands.md](references/commands.md).

Frequently asked questions