github-docs

name	github-docs
description	Reference and APIs for retrieving GitHub documentation, page lists, and article content programmatically for LLMs. You MUST load this skill when asked to search or retrieve GitHub documentation.
license	MIT

github-docs

When to Use

• Documentation Search: Locating specific GitHub documentation articles via search queries.
• Article Retrieval: Fetching the full rendered markdown of a specific GitHub docs page.
• Documentation Browsing: Programmatically listing available pages, languages, or versions of GitHub docs.

When Not to Use

• GitHub API/Operations: Interacting with live repositories, issues, or PRs. Use gh, gh-api, or the github-mcp-server directly for operational data.
• REST/GraphQL Endpoint Usage: Executing REST/GraphQL queries for repo data, unless looking up the documentation of how those APIs work.

Core Process

1. Identify the Need: Determine whether you need to search for a topic or fetch a specific known documentation path.
2. Select the Endpoint: Use the appropriate API based on the context.
   • For searching: /api/search/v1
   • For listing available pages: /api/pagelist/{language}/{version}
   • For retrieving full markdown: /api/article/body
3. Execute the Query: Use webfetch or curl to fetch the data. The documentation APIs return structured JSON or markdown, which are optimized for LLM consumption.
4. Process Content: Extract the relevant information to answer the user's query or inform the ongoing task.

APIs & Usage

All endpoints are hosted at https://docs.github.com/. Use webfetch or curl to access them.

• Versions API: Lists all available documentation versions. curl "https://docs.github.com/api/pagelist/versions"
• Languages API: Lists all available languages. curl "https://docs.github.com/api/pagelist/languages"
• Page List API: Returns every docs page path for a given language and version. curl "https://docs.github.com/api/pagelist/en/free-pro-team@latest"
• Article API: Returns the full rendered content and context of any docs page as JSON. curl "https://docs.github.com/api/article?pathname=/en/get-started/start-your-journey/about-github-and-git"
• Article Body API: Returns the full rendered content of any docs page as markdown (preferred for context loading). curl "https://docs.github.com/api/article/body?pathname=/en/get-started/start-your-journey/about-github-and-git"
• Search API: Search across all docs content. curl "https://docs.github.com/api/search/v1?query=actions&language=en&version=free-pro-team@latest"

Core Principles

• Prefer Markdown Extraction: When reading articles for context, use the /api/article/body endpoint rather than /api/article, as the body endpoint directly returns markdown which minimizes token usage and avoids JSON unwrapping.
• Always Specify Language and Version: When using the Page List or Search APIs, specify language=en and version=free-pro-team@latest (or the relevant enterprise version) to ensure accurate results.

Common Pitfalls

• Confusing Docs API with GitHub API: The docs.github.com/api/ endpoints are exclusively for retrieving documentation content, not for operating on GitHub resources (which use api.github.com).
• Missing Pathname Parameter: The Article and Article Body APIs require the pathname query parameter to be URL-encoded if it contains special characters, though typically paths start with /en/.
• Search vs. MCP Tools: The GitHub MCP server (github-mcp-server) provides operational tools but does not include docs search. You must use the REST Search API listed here to find documentation.

References

• https://docs.github.com/llms.txt - The official GitHub documentation curated for LLMs.
• https://github.com/llms.txt - Curated links for GitHub-related projects and resources.

Related Skills

• gh: You MUST load this skill when interacting with the GitHub CLI for operational tasks (as opposed to docs retrieval).
• gh-api: You MUST load this skill when interacting with the main GitHub API (api.github.com).