ghgrab

name	ghgrab
description	Search and download specific files/folders from GitHub repositories directly from terminal using ghgrab, without full clone. Covers install, interactive browsing, release asset download, and automation-safe usage patterns.
allowed-tools	Bash Read Write Edit Glob Grep
license	MIT
metadata	{"tags":"ghgrab, github, cli, file-download, developer-productivity","version":"1.0","source":"https://github.com/abhixdd/ghgrab"}

ghgrab

Use this skill when users need to quickly fetch selected files/folders/release assets from GitHub in terminal workflows.

When to use

• "GitHub에서 파일 몇 개만 가져오고 싶다"
• Full clone is too heavy for one-off extraction
• Need interactive repository navigation/search from CLI
• Need release artifact download without browser

Instructions

Step 1: Verify availability and install path

command -v ghgrab || true

If missing, choose one installer:

# npm
npm install -g @ghgrab/ghgrab

# cargo
cargo install ghgrab

# pipx
pipx install ghgrab

Then verify:

ghgrab --help

Step 2: Start in interactive mode or open a target repo directly

# interactive home
ghgrab

# open repo directly
ghgrab https://github.com/OWNER/REPO

Step 3: Use selective download flow

• Navigate/search inside repository tree
• Select only required files/folders
• Download into current working directory (or tool prompt target)
• Prefer small, explicit selections over bulk pulls

Step 4: Release artifact mode

When user needs binary assets from GitHub Releases, use ghgrab release selection mode (OS/arch-aware options if shown by tool).

Step 5: Automation guardrails

• Confirm destination path before writing files
• Prefer non-destructive paths (new folder) when unsure
• Log selected source repo and destination in run notes for reproducibility

Examples

# Browse then cherry-pick files
ghgrab https://github.com/rust-lang/rust

# Start home and search repos interactively
ghgrab

Pitfalls

• Installing multiple package-manager variants can shadow binary paths; check which ghgrab.
• Private repositories require valid GitHub auth/session context.
• Avoid using ghgrab as a substitute for full repo history operations (use git clone when history/branch operations are required).