# Github > Expert guidance for GitHub CLI (gh) - issues, PRs, repos, releases, and GitHub API. Use when working with GitHub, managing issues/PRs, or when user mentions GitHub, PRs, issues, or repos. Preferred over GitHub MCP server for context efficiency. - Skill: `rysweet/github` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add rysweet/github` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/rysweet/github/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: AI & ML - Author: rysweet (https://skillmd.com/u/rysweet) - Updated: 2026-09-09 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/rysweet/github --- # GitHub CLI Skill ## Quick Start ### Authentication ```bash # Interactive authentication (recommended) gh auth login # Check authentication status gh auth status # Login with token gh auth login --with-token < token.txt # Login to enterprise gh auth login --hostname github.example.com ``` ### Configuration ```bash # Set default editor gh config set editor "code --wait" # Set default browser gh config set browser "firefox" # Set default git protocol gh config set git_protocol ssh # View all settings gh config list ``` ## Essential Commands (Most Common First) ### 1. Issues ```bash # Create issue gh issue create --title "Bug: something broken" --body "Description here" # Create with labels gh issue create --title "Feature request" --label "enhancement,priority:high" # List issues gh issue list # Open issues gh issue list --state all # All issues gh issue list --assignee @me # Assigned to me gh issue list --label "bug" # By label # View issue gh issue view 123 # By number gh issue view 123 --comments # With comments # Edit issue gh issue edit 123 --title "New title" gh issue edit 123 --add-label "in-progress" gh issue edit 123 --assignee username # Close/reopen gh issue close 123 gh issue close 123 --comment "Fixed in PR #456" gh issue reopen 123 # Comment gh issue comment 123 --body "This is a comment" ``` ### 2. Pull Requests ```bash # Create PR gh pr create --title "Feature: new thing" --body "Description" gh pr create --draft # Create as draft gh pr create --fill # Auto-fill from commits # List PRs gh pr list # Open PRs gh pr list --state merged # Merged PRs gh pr list --author @me # My PRs gh pr list --search "review:required" # View PR gh pr view 123 # By number gh pr view # Current branch PR gh pr diff 123 # View diff gh pr checks 123 # View CI status # Review PRs gh pr review 123 --approve gh pr review 123 --request-changes --body "Please fix X" gh pr review 123 --comment --body "Looks good overall" # Merge gh pr merge 123 # Interactive gh pr merge 123 --squash # Squash merge gh pr merge 123 --rebase # Rebase merge gh pr merge 123 --auto # Auto-merge when checks pass # Mark ready gh pr ready 123 # Convert draft to ready # Comment gh pr comment 123 --body "Comment text" # Close gh pr close 123 ``` ### 3. Repository ```bash # Clone gh repo clone owner/repo gh repo clone owner/repo -- --depth 1 # Shallow clone # Create gh repo create my-repo --public gh repo create my-repo --private --clone # View gh repo view # Current repo gh repo view owner/repo # Specific repo gh repo view --web # Open in browser # Fork gh repo fork owner/repo gh repo fork owner/repo --clone # Fork and clone # Sync fork gh repo sync # Sync fork with upstream # List repos gh repo list # Your repos gh repo list owner # Organization repos ``` ### 4. Workflow (GitHub Actions) ```bash # List workflows gh workflow list # View workflow runs gh run list # Recent runs gh run list --workflow ci.yml # By workflow gh run list --status failure # Failed runs # View run details gh run view 123456 # By run ID gh run view 123456 --log # With logs gh run view 123456 --log-failed # Only failed logs # Trigger workflow gh workflow run ci.yml gh workflow run ci.yml -f param=value # Watch run gh run watch # Watch current branch run gh run watch 123456 # Watch specific run # Cancel/rerun gh run cancel 123456 gh run rerun 123456 gh run rerun 123456 --failed # Rerun only failed jobs ``` ### 5. Search ```bash # Search issues/PRs gh search issues "bug in:title" gh search issues "label:bug state:open" gh search prs "author:username is:merged" # Search repos gh search repos "language:python stars:>1000" # Search code gh search code "function handleError" gh search code "filename:config.json org:myorg" ``` ## Advanced Commands ### Releases ```bash # Create release gh release create v1.0.0 --title "Version 1.0" --notes "Release notes" gh release create v1.0.0 --generate-notes # Auto-generate notes gh release create v1.0.0 ./dist/* # Upload assets # List/view gh release list gh release view v1.0.0 # Download assets gh release download v1.0.0 gh release download v1.0.0 --pattern "*.zip" ``` ### Gists ```bash # Create gist gh gist create file.txt gh gist create --public file.txt gh gist create -d "Description" file1.txt file2.txt # List/view gh gist list gh gist view gist_id # Edit gh gist edit gist_id ``` ### API Access ```bash # GraphQL query gh api graphql -f query='{ viewer { login } }' # REST API gh api repos/owner/repo/issues gh api repos/owner/repo/issues --method POST -f title="Issue title" # Paginate gh api repos/owner/repo/issues --paginate ``` ### SSH Keys & GPG ```bash # SSH keys gh ssh-key add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub --title "My laptop" gh ssh-key list # GPG keys gh gpg-key add key.asc gh gpg-key list ``` ## Common Patterns ### Issue-to-PR Workflow ```bash # 1. Create issue gh issue create --title "Feature: X" --label "enhancement" # Returns issue #123 # 2. Create branch and work git checkout -b feat/issue-123-x # 3. Create PR linking to issue gh pr create --title "Feature: X" --body "Closes #123" ``` ### Code Review Flow ```bash # Check out PR locally gh pr checkout 456 # Run tests, review code... # Approve or request changes gh pr review 456 --approve --body "LGTM!" ``` ### CI Failure Investigation ```bash # List failed runs gh run list --status failure # Get logs gh run view RUN_ID --log-failed # Rerun after fix gh run rerun RUN_ID ``` ## Re-enabling GitHub MCP Server If you need the full GitHub MCP server for advanced operations (e.g., complex GraphQL queries, bulk operations), you can ask: > "Please use the GitHub MCP server" or "Re-enable GitHub MCP" To re-enable manually: 1. Edit `~/.copilot/github-copilot/mcp.json` 2. Remove or set `"disabled": false` for github-mcp-server: ```json { "mcpServers": { "github-mcp-server": { "disabled": false } } } ``` 3. Restart the Copilot CLI session **When to use MCP vs gh CLI:** | Use gh CLI | Use GitHub MCP | | ---------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | | Standard issue/PR operations | Complex multi-step GitHub operations | | CI/CD workflow management | Bulk operations across many repos | | Quick lookups and status checks | Advanced GraphQL queries | | Script automation | Operations requiring persistent state | | **Most daily GitHub interactions** | **Rare, specialized GitHub integrations** | ## Troubleshooting ```bash # Check auth gh auth status # Refresh token gh auth refresh # Clear cache gh cache delete --all # Debug mode GH_DEBUG=api gh issue list ``` ## Environment Variables ```bash GH_TOKEN # Auth token (alternative to gh auth) GH_HOST # Default host (for enterprise) GH_REPO # Default repo (owner/repo format) GH_EDITOR # Editor for interactive commands GH_BROWSER # Browser for --web commands GH_DEBUG # Enable debug output (api, oauth) NO_COLOR # Disable colored output ```