gh-cli

name	gh-cli
description	Patterns for invoking the GitHub CLI (gh) from agents. Covers structured output, pagination, repo targeting, search vs list, gh api fallback.

Reference

Interactivity policy

gh already does the right thing in non-TTY contexts: it skips the pager, strips ANSI color, and errors out fast with a helpful message instead of prompting (e.g. must provide --title and --body when not running interactively). You don't need to defensively set GH_PAGER or pass --no-pager (no such flag exists).

Parsing JSON

Human output from gh is column-formatted. If you want structured data:

• Add --json field1,field2,... for structured output.
• Run a command with --json and no field list to print the full set of available fields, then pick what you need.
• Use --jq '<expr>' for filtering without piping through a separate jq.
• Use --template '<go-template>' (alongside --json) when you want shaped text output. Note that --template/-T collides with a body-template flag on a few commands (e.g. gh pr create -T, gh issue create -T); always check --help before assuming which one you're hitting.

Pagination and silent truncation

List commands cap results.

• gh issue list, gh pr list, gh search ...: pass -L N (--limit N). The default is usually 30.
• gh issue list / gh pr list do not expose aggregate totals like totalCount via --json. If you need a true total, use gh api graphql to query totalCount; otherwise, treat -L as the cap for the current call.
• For raw API calls use gh api --paginate <path>. Combine with --jq and (optionally) --slurp to assemble one array.

Repo targeting

gh infers the repo from the cwd's git remotes.

Pass --repo OWNER/REPO (-R) to override the resolved CWD repo.

Search vs list

• gh search issues|prs|code|repos|commits|users uses GitHub's search index and accepts the full search syntax (is:open, author:, label:, repo:owner/name, in:title, ...). Pass each qualifier as its own bare token, not as one quoted string: gh search issues repo:cli/cli is:open author:monalisa works, but gh search issues "repo:cli/cli is:open" is treated as a single keyword (parsed as repo:"cli/cli is:open") and fails with Invalid search query. Quote only multi-word free text (gh search issues "broken feature"). Most qualifiers also have a dedicated flag (--repo, --author, --label, ...). Prefer search for anything cross-repo or filtered by author/label.
• gh issue list --search "..." and gh pr list --search "..." take the query as one quoted string (it is a flag value) and are scoped to one repo.
• Bots author as GitHub Apps, so --author dependabot matches nothing. Use --app dependabot (on pr/issue list and search prs|issues; expands to author:app/<slug>) or --author "dependabot[bot]".

Issue types, sub-issues, and relationships

Newer gh issue subcommands model issue types, sub-issue hierarchy, and blocked-by/blocking relationships.

• gh issue create: --type <name>, --parent <number|url> (creates the new issue as a sub-issue), --blocked-by <number|url,...>, --blocking <number|url,...>.
• gh issue edit (edits one or more issues in the same repo, e.g. gh issue edit 23 34): --type <name> / --remove-type, --parent <n|url> / --remove-parent, --add-sub-issue <n,n> / --remove-sub-issue <n,n>, --add-blocked-by <n,n> / --remove-blocked-by <n,n>, --add-blocking <n,n> / --remove-blocking <n,n>. Relationship and parent refs are issue numbers or URLs; a URL may point to another repo on the same host, but a different host is rejected. --add-sub-issue cannot be used when editing more than one issue.
• gh issue list --type <name> filters by issue type.
• gh issue view and gh issue list accept these as --json fields (prefer them over scraping the default text output): issueType, parent, subIssues, subIssuesSummary, blockedBy, blocking. subIssues, blockedBy, and blocking are objects shaped {"nodes": [...], "totalCount": N} (not flat arrays), and nodes is capped (subIssues at 100, blockedBy/blocking at 50), so compare the node count against totalCount to detect truncation.
• GHES: issue types and sub-issues need 3.17+; blocked-by/blocking relationships need 3.19+.

Discussions (gh discussion)

Preview command set, subject to change. Subcommands:

• gh discussion list [--state open|closed|all] [--category <name>] [--author <handle>] [--label <name>,...] [--answered] [--search <query>] [--sort created|updated] [--order asc|desc] [--limit N] [--after <cursor>] [--json <fields>] [--web] lists a repo's discussions. --state defaults to open, --sort to updated, --order to desc. --answered is tri-state (--answered=false for unanswered) for Q&A categories.
• gh discussion view {<number>|<url>|<comment-id>|<comment-url>} [--comments] [--order oldest|newest] [--limit N] [--after <cursor>] [--json <fields>] [--web] shows a discussion's body; add --comments for its comments, or pass a comment ID/URL as the argument to list that comment's replies (no --replies flag; --comments is rejected with a comment argument). --order (default newest), --limit, and --after apply only to comment and reply listings.
• gh discussion create [--title <t>] [--body <b> | --body-file <path>] [--category <name>] [--label <name>,...] creates a discussion. --title, a body (--body or --body-file), and --category are required non-interactively; omitting any will prompt on a terminal.
• gh discussion edit {<number>|<url>} [--title <t>] [--body <b>] [--body-file <path>] [--category <name>] [--add-label <name>,...] [--remove-label <name>,...] edits title, body, category, or labels.
• gh discussion comment {<number>|<discussion-url>|<comment-id>|<comment-url>} [--body <b>] [--body-file <path>] [--edit] [--delete] [--yes] adds a top-level comment (when given a discussion) or a reply (when given a comment); --edit or --delete updates or removes a comment/reply and needs a comment ID or URL. --yes skips the --delete confirmation.
• --json/--jq/--template are available on list and view only; create and edit print the discussion URL. comment prints the discussion comment (or reply) URL.

Reading files and directories (gh repo read-file / read-dir)

Preview commands, subject to change. They read a repo's contents over the API without cloning, and honor --repo OWNER/REPO (-R) and --ref <branch|tag|commit> (default branch when omitted).

• gh repo read-file <path> [--ref <ref>] [--output <path> [--clobber]] [--allow-escape-sequences] [--json <fields>] [--jq <expr>] prints a file's contents. In non-TTY contexts the raw bytes go straight to stdout (pipe-friendly); binary files are written as-is when piped but are refused on a TTY. By default, a file containing terminal escape sequences is refused; pass --allow-escape-sequences to read it anyway. --output <path> (-o) writes to disk instead of stdout (a trailing slash writes under a directory using the remote file name; --clobber allows overwrite); writing to disk always includes the raw bytes regardless of escape sequences. --output and --json are mutually exclusive. --json fields include name, path, gitSHA, size, type, encoding, and content (base64 encoded).
• gh repo read-dir [<path>] [--ref <ref>] [--json <fields>] [--jq <expr>] lists a directory; with no path it lists the repo root. Non-TTY output is tab separated as type, name, octal mode, and byte size. --json fields include name, path, type, gitType, mode, modeOctal, gitSHA, size, and submodule. A path pointing at a file errors and points you at read-file (and vice versa).

Fall back to gh api for anything --json doesn't expose

Sometimes useful data isn't on the typed commands. Examples:

• Review-thread comments on a PR: gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{n}/comments (the --comments flag on gh pr view shows issue-level comments only).
• Arbitrary GraphQL: gh api graphql -f query='...' -F var=value.
• REST shortcuts: gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/... - note the {owner}/{repo} placeholder is filled in for you when run from a repo with detected remotes; pass them literally if you want determinism.

Authentication

• gh auth status prints the active host(s), user, and which env var (if any) is being honored.
• gh auth status --json is supported.

Other notes

• gh pr checkout <n> switches branches. Use gh pr diff <n> or gh pr view <n> if you only need to read.
• NO_COLOR, CLICOLOR_FORCE, and GH_FORCE_TTY are honored. Set GH_FORCE_TTY=1 if you want TTY-style output (colors, tables, the pager, interactivity) inside an agent harness; leave it unset unless needed.