github

name	github
description	Create GitHub repositories, push local code, manage Actions secrets, and configure repo settings. Use this skill whenever the user wants to create a GitHub repo, push code to GitHub, add GitHub Actions secrets, set up branch protection, generate CI/CD workflows, or manage any GitHub repository settings. Requires a GitHub Personal Access Token stored in secret-vault or GITHUB_TOKEN env var.
user-invokable	true
args	[{"name":"action","description":"The action to perform (create-repo, push, add-secret, list-repos)","required":true},{"name":"target","description":"Repo name, owner/repo, or other target identifier","required":false}]

GitHub Skill

Create repos, push code, manage secrets, and configure CI/CD on GitHub via the API.

Authentication

Requires a GitHub Fine-grained PAT stored in secret-vault as github.pat or GITHUB_TOKEN env var. For setup instructions, see references/pat-setup.md.

Required PAT scopes:

• Repository: Read & Write (create repos, push code)
• Secrets: Read & Write (manage Actions secrets)
• Administration: Read & Write (branch protection, repo settings)

Operations

Create a repository

python3 scripts/github.py create-repo --name <repo-name> [--private] [--description "..."]

Push a local directory to GitHub

python3 scripts/github.py push --repo <owner/repo> --dir <local-path> [--branch main]

Initializes git if needed, creates the remote repo if it doesn't exist, and pushes.

Add a GitHub Actions secret

python3 scripts/github.py add-secret --repo <owner/repo> --name SECRET_NAME --value "..."

Uses libsodium sealed-box encryption as required by the GitHub API.

List repositories

python3 scripts/github.py list-repos [--limit 20]

CI/CD Workflow Templates

Read schemas/workflow-templates.yaml for starter GitHub Actions workflows:

• Python: lint, test, Docker build
• Node: lint, test, Docker build
• Terraform: fmt, validate, plan, apply
• Docker: build, push to GHCR

Templates are auto-selected based on project type when used with env-scaffolder.

Repo Defaults

Read schemas/repo-defaults.yaml for default repository settings:

• Branch protection rules
• Default labels
• Auto-merge and squash settings

Scripts

• scripts/github.py — Main CLI. Run python3 scripts/github.py --help

How This Differs from Native gh CLI

See references/vs-gh-cli.md for a full comparison.

Gotchas

• Fine-grained PATs expire — set a calendar reminder for rotation
• add-secret requires pynacl (libsodium) for sealed-box encryption — pip install pynacl first
• Classic PATs and fine-grained PATs have different scope models — don't mix them up
• Rate limit: 5000 req/hr authenticated; the script doesn't retry on 429
• Creating a repo doesn't add a remote to your local git — you still need git remote add

Integration

• secret-vault: Reads github.pat for authentication
• env-scaffolder: Provides workflow templates for generated projects
• playbook-generator: Can generate a "PAT rotation playbook"