Tools Gh Search

GitHub Search

Overview

Search across all GitHub entity types from the terminal using gh search. Use this for library evaluation, debugging, dependency triage, security monitoring, and learning from real-world code.

Code Search

Find real-world usage patterns, API examples, and implementation references.

Core Commands

# Search code across GitHub
gh search code "useCallback" --language=typescript --limit 30

# Search in specific repo
gh search code "createContext" --repo=facebook/react --limit 20

# Search with file extension or path
gh search code "jest.config" --extension=ts
gh search code "middleware" --path=src --language=javascript

# Search in org repos
gh search code "middleware" --owner=expressjs --limit 30

Pattern Discovery

# Find how an API is used
gh search code "axios.interceptors" --language=typescript --limit 30

# Find configuration patterns
gh search code "tsconfig.json compilerOptions strict" --limit 20

# Find import/usage patterns
gh search code "from '@tanstack/react-query'" --language=typescript --limit 30

# Find error handling patterns
gh search code "try catch axios" --language=typescript --limit 20

Learning a New Library

# Step 1: Find basic usage
gh search code "import { trpc }" --language=typescript --limit 20
# Step 2: Find initialization
gh search code "createTRPCRouter" --language=typescript --limit 20
# Step 3: Find error handling
gh search code "TRPCError" --language=typescript --limit 20
# Step 4: Find testing approaches
gh search code "trpc" --path=test --language=typescript --limit 15

JSON Output

gh search code "prisma migrate" --json path,repository,textMatches --limit 10
gh search code "useEffect" --language=typescript --json path,repository --jq '.[] | "\(.repository.fullName)/\(.path)"'

Commit Search

Track change history, find when bugs were introduced, and understand project evolution.

Core Commands

# Search commits across GitHub
gh search commits "fix memory leak" --limit 30

# Search in specific repo
gh search commits "refactor" --repo=facebook/react --limit 20

# Search by author
gh search commits --repo=nodejs/node --author=addaleax --limit 30

# Search by date range
gh search commits "performance" --repo=vercel/next.js --committer-date=">$(date -v-30d +%Y-%m-%d)" --limit 30

Bug Tracking

# Find bug fixes
gh search commits "fix bug" --repo=prisma/prisma --limit 30

# Find commits fixing specific issues
gh search commits "fixes #123" --repo=owner/repo --limit 20

# Find reverts (indicate problems)
gh search commits "revert" --repo=webpack/webpack --limit 20

# Find security fixes
gh search commits "CVE" --repo=urllib3/urllib3 --limit 20

Understanding Feature Evolution

FEATURE="streaming"
gh search commits "$FEATURE" --repo=vercel/next.js --sort=committer-date --order=asc --limit 30
gh search commits "implement $FEATURE" --repo=vercel/next.js --limit 10

Debugging "When Did This Break?"

# Find commits around suspected break time
gh search commits --repo=owner/repo --committer-date="2024-01-15..2024-01-20" --limit 50

# Find commits touching specific area
gh search commits "authentication" --repo=owner/repo --committer-date=">2024-01-01" --limit 30

Issue Search

Dependency triage, debugging, and security monitoring.

Core Commands

# Search issues across GitHub
gh search issues "memory leak" --limit 30

# Search in specific repo with filters
gh search issues "crash on startup" --repo=facebook/react --limit 20
gh search issues --repo=nodejs/node --label=bug --state=open --limit 50

# Find issues with workarounds (highly commented)
gh search issues "timeout" --repo=grpc/grpc-node --sort=comments --limit 15

Dependency Triage

# Check open bugs in a dependency
gh search issues --repo=axios/axios --label=bug --state=open --sort=created --limit 30

# Find breaking changes discussions
gh search issues "breaking change" --repo=prisma/prisma --state=open --sort=reactions

# Find security-related issues
gh search issues "security" --repo=lodash/lodash --sort=created --limit 20
gh search issues "CVE" --repo=urllib3/urllib3

Incident Response

# Search for known issue by error message
ERROR_MSG="ENOTFOUND"
gh search issues "$ERROR_MSG" --repo=nodejs/node --sort=reactions --limit 15

# Find workarounds in closed issues
gh search issues "$ERROR_MSG" --repo=nodejs/node --state=closed --sort=comments --limit 10

Severity Assessment

# High severity: many reactions
gh search issues --repo=vercel/next.js --state=open --sort=reactions --limit 10 --json number,title,reactions,comments | jq '.[] | select(.reactions.total_count > 50)'

# Recent surge (potential problem)
gh search issues --repo=docker/docker-ce --state=open --sort=created --created=">$(date -v-7d +%Y-%m-%d)" --limit 30

Security Monitoring Script

DEPS=("expressjs/express" "nodejs/node" "axios/axios")
for repo in "${DEPS[@]}"; do
  echo "=== $repo ==="
  gh search issues "security vulnerability" --repo=$repo --state=open --sort=created --limit 5
done

PR Search

Track breaking changes, find migrations, and monitor dependency updates.

Core Commands

# Search PRs across GitHub
gh search prs "breaking change" --limit 30

# Search in specific repo
gh search prs "migration" --repo=prisma/prisma --state=merged --limit 20

# Find semver-major PRs
gh search prs --repo=nodejs/node --label=semver-major --state=merged --sort=created --limit 30

Pre-Upgrade Assessment

REPO="prisma/prisma"
# Find breaking changes
gh search prs "breaking" --repo=$REPO --state=merged --merged=">2023-01-01" --sort=created --limit 30
# Find migration-related PRs
gh search prs "migration" --repo=$REPO --state=merged --limit 20
# Find deprecation notices
gh search prs "deprecated" --repo=$REPO --state=merged --limit 20

Security Patches

gh search prs "security" --repo=lodash/lodash --label=security --state=merged --limit 20
gh search prs "CVE" --repo=urllib3/urllib3 --state=merged --limit 15

Change Monitoring

DEPS=("facebook/react" "vercel/next.js" "prisma/prisma")
for repo in "${DEPS[@]}"; do
  echo "=== Recent merges in $repo ==="
  gh search prs --repo=$repo --state=merged --merged=">$(date -v-7d +%Y-%m-%d)" --json number,title --jq '.[].title' | head -10
done

Repo Search

Library discovery, alternative assessment, and dependency evaluation.

Core Commands

# Search by keywords
gh search repos "state management react" --limit 20

# Filter by language and quality signals
gh search repos "http client" --language=python --stars=">100" --sort=stars --limit 20

# Find actively maintained projects
gh search repos "graphql client" --updated=">$(date -v-90d +%Y-%m-%d)" --stars=">100"

Library Discovery

# Step 1: Broad search
gh search repos "csv parser" --language=python --stars=">50" --sort=stars --limit 30
# Step 2: Narrow to maintained
gh search repos "csv parser" --language=python --stars=">50" --updated=">$(date -v-180d +%Y-%m-%d)" --limit 15
# Step 3: Deep dive
gh search repos "csv parser" --language=python --stars=">500" --json fullName,description,stargazersCount,forksCount,openIssuesCount,license,updatedAt

Health Scoring Heuristic

Comparison Data

REPO="owner/repo"
gh api repos/$REPO --jq '{stars: .stargazers_count, forks: .forks_count, issues: .open_issues_count, updated: .updated_at, license: .license.spdx_id}'
gh api repos/$REPO/contributors --jq 'length'

Search Operators Reference

Quick Aliases

gh alias set find-code '!gh search code "$1" --language="$2" --limit 30'
gh alias set find-usage '!gh search code "import.*$1" --language=typescript --limit 30'
gh alias set dep-issues '!gh search issues --repo="$1" --state=open --sort=reactions --limit 20'
gh alias set dep-bugs '!gh search issues --repo="$1" --label=bug --state=open --limit 20'
gh alias set breaking-prs '!gh search prs "breaking" --repo="$1" --state=merged --sort=created --limit 20'
gh alias set find-lib '!gh search repos "$1" --language="$2" --stars=">100" --sort=stars --updated=">2024-01-01" --limit 20'

Verification

• Search returns relevant results for target entity type
• Multiple sources compared for best practices
• Health metrics gathered for dependency candidates
• Security issues flagged and assessed