Github

GitHub Skill

Use gh CLI to interact with GitHub repositories.

Key Patterns

• gh api repos/owner/repo/contents/path — read files from any repo
• gh api repos/owner/repo/issues/N/comments — read issue discussions
• gh repo view owner/repo — README and metadata
• Add --repo owner/repo to any command for third-party repos
• When creating gists with markdown, use .md extension (e.g., gh gist create README.md) for proper rendering

Issues & Projects

Everything below is project-agnostic. The actual IDs (project, field, option, issue type) are repo-specific — fetch them once and keep them in the project's own docs.

Look up issue node ID (for use in other mutations):

gh api graphql -f query='{
  repository(owner: "OWNER", name: "REPO") { issue(number: N) { id } }
}'

List a repo's issue types (to find issueTypeId):

gh api graphql -f query='{
  repository(owner: "OWNER", name: "REPO") {
    issueTypes(first: 10) { nodes { id name } }
  }
}'

Set an issue's type (gh CLI does not yet support --type):

gh api graphql -f query='mutation {
  updateIssue(input: { id: "ISSUE_NODE_ID", issueTypeId: "IT_..." }) {
    issue { issueType { name } }
  }
}'

List a project's fields + single-select option IDs (Status, etc. — run once per project):

gh api graphql -f query='{
  organization(login: "ORG") {
    projectV2(number: N) {
      id
      fields(first: 20) {
        nodes {
          ... on ProjectV2SingleSelectField {
            id
            name
            options { id name }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}'

For user-owned (personal) projects, swap organization(login: "ORG") for user(login: "USER").

Add an issue to a project:

gh api graphql -f query='mutation {
  addProjectV2ItemById(input: {
    projectId: "PVT_...",
    contentId: "I_..."
  }) { item { id } }
}'

Find a project item ID for an issue already on the board:

gh api graphql -f query='{
  repository(owner: "OWNER", name: "REPO") {
    issue(number: N) {
      projectItems(first: 20) {
        nodes { id project { id title number } }
      }
    }
  }
}'

If an issue is on multiple projects, the project selection disambiguates which item ID belongs to which board.

Move a card between columns (single-select field):

gh api graphql -f query='mutation {
  updateProjectV2ItemFieldValue(input: {
    projectId: "PVT_...",
    itemId: "PVTI_...",
    fieldId: "PVTSSF_...",
    value: { singleSelectOptionId: "..." }
  }) { projectV2Item { id } }
}'

GitHub Projects can auto-move cards when a linked PR opens or merges — configure that in the project's Workflows settings rather than scripting it. Manual moves are for the cases automation does not cover (non-closing PRs, status changes without a PR).

Clear a single-select field (e.g. move a card back to the "no status" column / Backlog):

gh api graphql -f query='mutation {
  clearProjectV2ItemFieldValue(input: {
    projectId: "PVT_...",
    itemId: "PVTI_...",
    fieldId: "PVTSSF_..."
  }) { projectV2Item { id } }
}'

PR Review Comments

PR review comments use numeric IDs in the REST API, not GraphQL node IDs.

• List review comments: gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/N/comments --jq '.[].id'
• Reply to a review comment: gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/N/comments -f body='...' -F in_reply_to=COMMENT_ID (POST to the same comments endpoint with in_reply_to, NOT to a /replies sub-endpoint)
• Get thread GraphQL IDs: gh api graphql -f query='{ repository(owner: "OWNER", name: "REPO") { pullRequest(number: N) { reviewThreads(first: 20) { nodes { id isResolved comments(first: 1) { nodes { body } } } } } } }'
• Resolve a thread: gh api graphql -f query='mutation { resolveReviewThread(input: {threadId: "PRRT_..."}) { thread { isResolved } } }'
• Avoid backticks in -f body= strings — shell interpolation issues. Use single quotes.

Responding to review feedback

After pushing fixes for review comments, reply to each comment explaining what was done, then resolve threads that are fully addressed. Leave threads open if the feedback is deferred or tracked elsewhere.

Worktree Gotchas

gh pr merge --delete-branch fails in worktrees when the base branch is checked out in another worktree. The merge still succeeds on GitHub, but the local branch switch fails. If you see fatal: 'main' is already used by worktree, the PR was likely already merged — verify with gh pr view N --json state.