How do I install the Github skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add stagewise-io/github 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 skill do?

Complete guide for the GitHub plugin — REST API access for repositories, issues, pull requests, actions, releases, and search using a GitHub Personal Access Token. It is listed under Integrations & APIs on SkillMD.

Is Github 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?

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 free to use?

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

Who published Github?

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

Github by stagewise-io — Agent Skill

Name: Github
Author: stagewise-io

GitHub Plugin

This plugin provides access to the GitHub REST API on the user's behalf, using a stored Personal Access Token.

Capabilities:

List, inspect, and search repositories
Create, read, update, and comment on issues
Create, list, review, and merge pull requests
List branches, commits, and compare refs
Trigger, monitor, and inspect GitHub Actions workflow runs
List and create releases
Search code, issues, and repositories

Authentication

Request the stored GitHub credential. The token field is an opaque placeholder — the sandbox fetch proxy substitutes the real value automatically. Never decode or transform it.

const cred = await API.getCredential('github-pat');
if (!cred) {
  return 'GitHub credential is not configured. Ask the user to add a GitHub Personal Access Token at github.com/settings/tokens, then store it in Settings.';
}

Making Requests

Always pass the token as a Bearer header and include the recommended API version:

async function ghGet(path) {
  const res = await fetch(`https://api.github.com${path}`, {
    headers: {
      Accept: 'application/vnd.github+json',
      Authorization: `Bearer ${cred.token}`,
      'X-GitHub-Api-Version': '2022-11-28',
    },
  });
  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`GitHub API ${res.status}: ${await res.text()}`);
  return res.json();
}

async function ghPost(path, body) {
  const res = await fetch(`https://api.github.com${path}`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      Accept: 'application/vnd.github+json',
      Authorization: `Bearer ${cred.token}`,
      'X-GitHub-Api-Version': '2022-11-28',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(body),
  });
  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`GitHub API ${res.status}: ${await res.text()}`);
  return res.json();
}

async function ghPatch(path, body) {
  const res = await fetch(`https://api.github.com${path}`, {
    method: 'PATCH',
    headers: {
      Accept: 'application/vnd.github+json',
      Authorization: `Bearer ${cred.token}`,
      'X-GitHub-Api-Version': '2022-11-28',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(body),
  });
  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`GitHub API ${res.status}: ${await res.text()}`);
  return res.json();
}

Key Endpoints

Repositories

Get a repository GET /repos/{owner}/{repo} Returns full repository metadata including default branch, visibility, and description.

List repositories for a user GET /users/{username}/repos?sort=updated&per_page=30 Use ?type=owner to list only owned repos (excludes forks/member repos).

List repositories for the authenticated user GET /user/repos?sort=updated&per_page=30 Add ?affiliation=owner to show only owned repos.

List organization repositories GET /orgs/{org}/repos?sort=updated&per_page=30

Issues

List issues for a repository GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues?state=open&per_page=30 Add &labels=bug to filter by label. Add &sort=updated to sort by update time. Note: pull requests are included in issue listings. Filter them out by checking that pull_request is absent.

Get a single issue GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{issue_number}

Create an issue POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues Body: { "title": "...", "body": "...", "labels": ["bug"], "assignees": ["username"] }

Update an issue PATCH /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{issue_number} Body: { "state": "closed" } or { "title": "New title", "body": "Updated body" }

List issue comments GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{issue_number}/comments?per_page=100

Create an issue comment POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{issue_number}/comments Body: { "body": "Comment text" }

Pull Requests

List pull requests GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls?state=open&per_page=30 Add &sort=updated to sort by update time. Use &head=owner:branch to filter by head branch.

Get a pull request GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pull_number} Returns diff stats, mergeable status, head/base refs, and review state.

Create a pull request POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls Body: { "title": "...", "body": "...", "head": "feature-branch", "base": "main" }

Merge a pull request PUT /repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pull_number}/merge Body: { "merge_method": "squash" } — merge_method can be merge, squash, or rebase.

List pull request files GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pull_number}/files?per_page=100 Returns the list of changed files with patch diffs, additions, deletions, and status.

List review comments on a pull request GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pull_number}/comments?per_page=100

Branches and Commits

List branches GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/branches?per_page=100

Get a branch GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/branches/{branch} Returns the branch tip commit SHA and protection status.

List commits GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/commits?sha={branch}&per_page=30 Add &since=2024-01-01T00:00:00Z to scope by date.

Compare two refs GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/compare/{base}...{head} Returns ahead/behind counts, diff stats, and the list of commits between two refs.

GitHub Actions

List workflows GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/workflows

List workflow runs GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/runs?per_page=10 Add &status=failure to filter failed runs. Add &branch=main to scope to a branch.

Get a workflow run GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/runs/{run_id} Returns status, conclusion, timing, and associated commits.

List jobs for a workflow run GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/runs/{run_id}/jobs Returns individual job names, statuses, conclusions, and step details.

Trigger a workflow dispatch POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/workflows/{workflow_id}/dispatches Body: { "ref": "main", "inputs": { "key": "value" } } The workflow_id can be the workflow file name (e.g. ci.yml) or numeric ID.

Re-run a workflow POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/runs/{run_id}/rerun

Cancel a workflow run POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/runs/{run_id}/cancel

Download workflow run logs GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/runs/{run_id}/logs Returns a 302 redirect to a zip archive of the logs.

Releases

List releases GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases?per_page=10

Get the latest release GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases/latest

Create a release POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases Body: { "tag_name": "v1.0.0", "name": "v1.0.0", "body": "Release notes", "draft": false, "prerelease": false }

Search

Search repositories GET /search/repositories?q={query}&sort=stars&order=desc&per_page=10

Search issues and pull requests GET /search/issues?q={query}+repo:{owner}/{repo}+is:issue&per_page=10

Search code GET /search/code?q={query}+repo:{owner}/{repo}&per_page=10 Note: code search requires authentication and has stricter rate limits.

Common Patterns

Check CI status for a branch

const cred = await API.getCredential('github-pat');
const runs = await ghGet('/repos/OWNER/REPO/actions/runs?branch=main&per_page=1');
const latest = runs.workflow_runs[0];
return {
  status: latest.status,
  conclusion: latest.conclusion,
  name: latest.name,
  url: latest.html_url,
  createdAt: latest.created_at,
};

List open PRs with their review status

const cred = await API.getCredential('github-pat');
const prs = await ghGet('/repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls?state=open&per_page=10');
return prs.map(pr => ({
  number: pr.number,
  title: pr.title,
  author: pr.user.login,
  head: pr.head.ref,
  base: pr.base.ref,
  draft: pr.draft,
  url: pr.html_url,
}));

Create an issue and add a comment

const cred = await API.getCredential('github-pat');
const issue = await ghPost('/repos/OWNER/REPO/issues', {
  title: 'Bug: login fails on mobile',
  body: 'Steps to reproduce...',
  labels: ['bug'],
});
await ghPost(`/repos/OWNER/REPO/issues/${issue.number}/comments`, {
  body: 'Investigating this now.',
});
return { issueNumber: issue.number, url: issue.html_url };

Watch a workflow run until completion

const cred = await API.getCredential('github-pat');
const runId = 12345678;
let status = 'in_progress';
let attempts = 0;
while (['queued', 'in_progress', 'waiting'].includes(status) && attempts < 30) {
  await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 5000));
  const run = await ghGet(`/repos/OWNER/REPO/actions/runs/${runId}`);
  status = run.status;
  attempts++;
  API.output(`Run status: ${status} (conclusion: ${run.conclusion ?? 'pending'})`);
}
const final = await ghGet(`/repos/OWNER/REPO/actions/runs/${runId}`);
return { status: final.status, conclusion: final.conclusion };

Extracting Owner and Repo from a GitHub URL

A GitHub URL looks like: https://github.com/{owner}/{repo}/...

The owner is the first path segment after github.com/, and the repo is the second. Strip any trailing .git if present.

Important Rules

Always call API.getCredential('github-pat') before any GitHub API call. If it returns null, prompt the user to configure it.
Always include the Accept: application/vnd.github+json and X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28 headers.
Pagination: most list endpoints return 30 items by default. Use ?per_page=100 (max) and ?page=N to paginate. Check the Link response header for rel="next" to detect more pages.
Rate limits: authenticated PATs allow 5,000 requests/hour. Check x-ratelimit-remaining in response headers. If exhausted, wait until the time in x-ratelimit-reset (UTC epoch seconds).
Search endpoints have a stricter rate limit of 30 requests/minute. Space out search calls accordingly.
Treat tokens as sensitive — never log or display them.

Github

File contents

GitHub Plugin

Authentication

Making Requests

Key Endpoints

Repositories

Issues

Pull Requests

Branches and Commits

GitHub Actions

Releases

Search

Common Patterns

Check CI status for a branch

List open PRs with their review status

Create an issue and add a comment

Watch a workflow run until completion

Extracting Owner and Repo from a GitHub URL

Important Rules

Frequently asked questions

Github

File contents

GitHub Plugin

Authentication

Making Requests

Key Endpoints

Repositories

Issues

Pull Requests

Branches and Commits

GitHub Actions

Releases

Search

Common Patterns

Check CI status for a branch

List open PRs with their review status

Create an issue and add a comment

Watch a workflow run until completion

Extracting Owner and Repo from a GitHub URL

Important Rules

Related skills

Frequently asked questions

How do I install the Github skill?

What does the Github skill do?

Is Github safe to use?

Which AI agents work with Github?

Is Github free to use?

Who published Github?