How do I install the Private Github Search skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add ykdojo/private-github-search 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.

Is Private Github Search safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: executes scripts, makes network calls. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Private Github Search?

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 Private Github Search free to use?

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

Who published Private Github Search?

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

Private Github Search by ykdojo — Agent Skill

Name: Private Github Search
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: ykdojo

Private Github Search

Full-text search across all of the user's GitHub repos (including private ones) using a local mirror and ripgrep. Use for "where did I put X", "which repo has X", or any search spanning the user's repos - gh search code / the REST API cannot reliably search private repos.

ykdojo 42ffe0e 2 files · 4.0 KB Updated Sep 8, 2026

File contents

Private GitHub search

GitHub's modern code search (the one that indexes private repos) is web-only; gh search code uses the legacy engine and often returns nothing for private repos. Instead, search a local mirror of all the user's repos - it covers the same content as GitHub's index (default branch, non-fork) and a full search takes milliseconds.

Searching

Find the bundled sync script (works for plugin installs and manual symlinks):

find ~/.claude ~/.codex -name "private-github-search-sync.sh" 2>/dev/null | sort -V | tail -1

Always refresh first - it exits instantly if the mirror was synced within the last hour, and takes ~15s otherwise (--force syncs regardless of age):

bash <script-path>
rg -il 'pattern' ~/repo-mirror/repos          # which files
rg -in 'pattern' ~/repo-mirror/repos | head   # matching lines

First-time setup

If ~/repo-mirror/owners.txt doesn't exist: ask the user which GitHub accounts to mirror (don't guess - they may manage several), write them one per line to ~/repo-mirror/owners.txt, then run the sync script in the background (initial clone takes a few minutes; needs gh auth with access to those accounts).

Caveats

Only the default-branch tip is mirrored - for history or other branches, use git log -S in a full clone or GitHub web search.
The mirror may contain private data: keep it out of synced folders and never commit or publish its contents.

Source: ykdojo/claude-code-tips → skills/private-github-search/SKILL.md

Frequently asked questions