| 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"
