Github Projects

GitHub Projects CLI

GitHub Projects (v2) management via gh project commands. Requires the project scope which can be added with gh auth refresh -s project.

Prerequisites

Verify authentication includes project scope:

gh auth status  # Check current scopes
gh auth refresh -s project  # Add project scope if missing

Gates (destructive and high-impact)

Commands like project close, project unlink, item-archive, item-delete, and field-delete change or remove data. Use a sequenced check, not recall from an earlier turn.

1. Pass: Run gh project view PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER (or gh project list --owner OWNER --format json) and confirm the title (or title in JSON) matches the project you intend.
2. Pass: For items and fields, set ITEM_ID, FIELD_ID, PROJECT_ID, and option IDs only from gh project item-list … --format json or gh project field-list … --format json in this session—not guessed, truncated, or copied from unrelated output.
3. Then run the destructive subcommand.

Bulk add (pipelines)

1. Pass: Run gh project item-add once for a single --url and confirm the item appears in gh project item-list … --format json (or the UI) before using xargs or loops on many URLs.

Quick Reference

List & View Projects

# List your projects
gh project list

# List org projects (including closed)
gh project list --owner ORG_NAME --closed

# View project details
gh project view PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER

# Open in browser
gh project view PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --web

# JSON output with jq filtering
gh project list --format json | jq '.projects[] | {number, title}'

Create & Edit Projects

# Create project
gh project create --owner OWNER --title "Project Title"

# Edit project
gh project edit PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --title "New Title"
gh project edit PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --description "New description"
gh project edit PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --visibility PUBLIC

# Close/reopen project
gh project close PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER
gh project close PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --undo  # Reopen

Link Projects to Repos

# Link to repo
gh project link PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --repo REPO_NAME

# Link to team
gh project link PROJECT_NUM --owner ORG --team TEAM_NAME

# Unlink
gh project unlink PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --repo REPO_NAME

Project Items

Add Existing Issues/PRs

# Add issue to project
gh project item-add PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --url https://github.com/OWNER/REPO/issues/123

# Add PR to project
gh project item-add PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --url https://github.com/OWNER/REPO/pull/456

Create Draft Items

gh project item-create PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --title "Draft item" --body "Description"

List Items

# List items (default 30)
gh project item-list PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER

# List more items
gh project item-list PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --limit 100

# JSON output
gh project item-list PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --format json

Edit Items

Items are edited by their ID (obtained from item-list --format json).

# Edit draft issue title/body
gh project item-edit --id ITEM_ID --title "New Title" --body "New body"

# Update field value (requires field-id and project-id)
gh project item-edit --id ITEM_ID --project-id PROJECT_ID --field-id FIELD_ID --text "value"
gh project item-edit --id ITEM_ID --project-id PROJECT_ID --field-id FIELD_ID --number 42
gh project item-edit --id ITEM_ID --project-id PROJECT_ID --field-id FIELD_ID --date "2024-12-31"
gh project item-edit --id ITEM_ID --project-id PROJECT_ID --field-id FIELD_ID --single-select-option-id OPTION_ID
gh project item-edit --id ITEM_ID --project-id PROJECT_ID --field-id FIELD_ID --iteration-id ITER_ID

# Clear field value
gh project item-edit --id ITEM_ID --project-id PROJECT_ID --field-id FIELD_ID --clear

Archive/Delete Items

gh project item-archive PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --id ITEM_ID
gh project item-delete PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --id ITEM_ID

Project Fields

List Fields

gh project field-list PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER
gh project field-list PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --format json

Create Fields

# Text field
gh project field-create PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --name "Notes" --data-type TEXT

# Number field
gh project field-create PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --name "Points" --data-type NUMBER

# Date field
gh project field-create PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --name "Due Date" --data-type DATE

# Single select with options
gh project field-create PROJECT_NUM --owner OWNER --name "Priority" \
  --data-type SINGLE_SELECT \
  --single-select-options "Low,Medium,High,Critical"

Delete Fields

gh project field-delete --id FIELD_ID

Common Workflows

Add Issue and Set Status

# 1. Add issue to project
gh project item-add 1 --owner "@me" --url https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/123

# 2. Get item ID and field IDs
gh project item-list 1 --owner "@me" --format json | jq '.items[-1]'
gh project field-list 1 --owner "@me" --format json

# 3. Update status field
gh project item-edit --id ITEM_ID --project-id PROJECT_ID \
  --field-id STATUS_FIELD_ID --single-select-option-id OPTION_ID

Bulk Add Issues

# Add all open issues from a repo
gh issue list --repo owner/repo --state open --json url -q '.[].url' | \
  xargs -I {} gh project item-add 1 --owner "@me" --url {}

JSON Output & jq Patterns

# Get project IDs
gh project list --format json | jq '.projects[] | {number, id, title}'

# Get field IDs and options
gh project field-list 1 --owner "@me" --format json | jq '.fields[] | {id, name, options}'

# Get item IDs with field values
gh project item-list 1 --owner "@me" --format json | jq '.items[] | {id, title, fieldValues}'

# Filter items by status
gh project item-list 1 --owner "@me" --format json | \
  jq '.items[] | select(.status == "In Progress")'

Reference Files

• items.md: Item management, editing field values, bulk operations
• fields.md: Field types, creating custom fields, option management

Command Summary