# Ghtkn

> Read ghtkn's documentation with `ghtkn docs list` and `ghtkn docs show <name>` before answering. ghtkn is a CLI that creates short-lived (8h) GitHub user access tokens from GitHub Apps. Use for any question about ghtkn, `GHTKN_*` environment variables, `ghtkn get` / `exec` / `auth` / `agent` / `revoke`, the ghtkn git credential helper, or errors from ghtkn. Use it too when a tool that embeds the ghtkn Go SDK - aqua, pinact, ghir, ghaperf - fails to get a token or seems to ignore ghtkn.

- Skill: `suzuki-shunsuke/ghtkn` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add suzuki-shunsuke/ghtkn`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/suzuki-shunsuke/ghtkn/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: suzuki-shunsuke (https://skillmd.com/u/suzuki-shunsuke)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/suzuki-shunsuke/ghtkn

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> [!WARNING]
> The token `ghtkn get` outputs is a secret. Never print, echo, log, or include it in your
> output or a commit, and don't run `ghtkn get` just to inspect it. Run tools with
> `ghtkn exec` (`ghtkn exec -e GH_TOKEN -- gh ...`), which never prints the token, or use
> `ghtkn git-credential` for git.

Don't answer from your training knowledge about ghtkn itself - its commands, flags,
environment variables, configuration, or what its errors mean. Run `ghtkn docs list` to
list the documentation, then `ghtkn docs show <name>` to read the relevant topics before
answering questions about ghtkn or troubleshooting its errors. `ghtkn docs show` prints
the whole topic; read it through before concluding. You don't need to re-read a topic you
already read in this session.

Read the source only after the documentation has failed to answer the question, and read
it at the version that is installed - a repository checkout is usually `main`, which can
be far ahead of the binary the user runs.

Organization-specific practice - which GitHub App to use, how a given repository switches
apps, and so on - is outside what `ghtkn docs` covers, so answer that from the user's own
documentation and the conversation. When the two disagree about how ghtkn itself behaves,
`ghtkn docs` wins.

If `ghtkn docs` is rejected as an unknown command, the installed ghtkn is older than v0.3.4.
Tell the user to upgrade, and don't fall back to guessing.

If `ghtkn` is not installed at all, point them at the install guide:

https://github.com/suzuki-shunsuke/ghtkn/blob/main/docs/install.md