Verifying GitHub Context
Purpose
This skill ensures the agent is operating in the correct GitHub account and repository before
performing any actions. It uses a repo-level config file (.github/project-config.json)
as the baseline — if the live environment matches the config, the skill proceeds silently
without requiring human confirmation. Only mismatches or missing configs surface to the user.
Behavior by State
| State | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Config exists + live env matches | Proceed silently — no output, no gate |
| Config exists + mismatch detected | STOP — alert user with details of the mismatch |
| No config found | Prompt once — ask user to run gh-set-active-project to create the config |
1. Common Workflows
Workflow A: Auto-Verify (Config Exists)
Step 1 – Read the config:
cat .github/project-config.json
Parse owner, repo, and project_number from the file.
Step 2 – Check live environment:
gh auth status && gh repo view --json owner,name
Step 3 – Compare:
- If
authenticated_user.orgmatchesconfig.ownerANDrepo.namematchesconfig.repo→ proceed silently with the config values available for downstream skills. - If any field mismatches → STOP and execute the Mismatch Alert workflow below.
Workflow B: Mismatch Alert
When the live environment does not match the config:
- Report the mismatch in detail:
⚠️ Context mismatch detected — stopping. Expected (from .github/project-config.json): - Owner: <config.owner> - Repository: <config.repo> Actual (live environment): - Logged in as: <current_username> - Repository: <current_owner>/<current_repo> Resolution options: 1. Run `gh-set-active-project` to update the config for this repository. 2. Switch to the correct GitHub account: gh auth switch 3. Navigate to the correct repository directory. - Do not proceed with any GitHub operations.
Workflow C: No Config Found
When .github/project-config.json does not exist:
ℹ️ No project config found at .github/project-config.json.
To set up context verification for this repository, run:
gh-set-active-project
This is a one-time setup. After setup, all sessions auto-verify silently.
Do not proceed with GitHub operations until the config is created.
2. Output on Silent Pass
When auto-verify succeeds, the skill produces no output — downstream skills simply receive the config values and proceed. This is by design: the absence of a prompt means all is correct.
3. Available Config Values for Downstream Skills
After a successful silent pass, the following values are available for use in other skills:
| Field | Source | Used By |
|---|---|---|
owner |
config | gh-issue-management, gh-project-management |
repo |
config | gh-issue-management, gh-project-management |
project_number |
config | gh-project-management |
project_id |
config | gh-project-management (item-edit) |
4. Reference
See references/commands.md for the full command reference, output parsing format, and config schema.