gh-cli

name	gh-cli
description	GitHub CLI (gh) comprehensive reference for repositories, issues, pull requests, Actions, projects, releases, and all GitHub operations. Use when working with GitHub from command line, managing repos, creating PRs/issues, reviewing code, running Actions, or automating GitHub workflows.

GitHub CLI (gh)

Work seamlessly with GitHub from the command line.

Version: 2.85.0

Preference

Clone repos via SSH ([e-mail]:...), not HTTPS.

Quick Start

# Authenticate
gh auth login

# Clone and work with repositories
gh repo clone owner/repo
cd repo

# Create and manage PRs
gh pr create --title "Fix bug" --body "Description"
gh pr list
gh pr checkout 123

# Work with issues
gh issue create --title "Bug report" --body "Details"
gh issue list

CLI Structure

gh
├── auth          # Authentication
├── repo          # Repositories
├── pr            # Pull Requests
├── issue         # Issues
├── run           # Workflow runs
├── workflow      # Workflows
├── release       # Releases
├── project       # Projects
├── gist          # Gists
├── codespace     # Codespaces
├── search        # Search
├── api           # API requests
└── ...

Module Reference

Module	Command	Reference
Authentication	gh auth	references/auth.md
Repositories	gh repo	references/repos.md
Pull Requests	gh pr	references/prs.md
Issues	gh issue	references/issues.md
GitHub Actions	gh run, gh workflow	references/actions.md
Releases	gh release	references/releases.md
Projects	gh project	references/projects.md
Gists & Codespaces	gh gist, gh codespace	references/gists.md
Other commands	gh label, gh search, etc.	references/misc.md

Load the relevant reference file when working with specific commands.

Common Workflows

Create PR from Issue

# Create branch from issue
gh issue develop 123 --branch feature/issue-123

# Make changes, commit, push
git add .
git commit -m "Fix issue #123"
git push

# Create PR linking to issue
gh pr create --title "Fix #123" --body "Closes #123"

Repository Setup

# Create repository with initial setup
gh repo create my-project --public \
  --description "My awesome project" \
  --clone --gitignore python --license mit

cd my-project

# Set up branch protection (via API)
gh api repos/owner/repo/branches/main/protection \
  --method PUT --input protection.json

Bulk Operations

# Close multiple issues
gh issue list --search "label:stale" \
  --json number --jq '.[].number' | \
  xargs -I {} gh issue close {} --comment "Closing as stale"

# Add label to multiple PRs
gh pr list --search "review:required" \
  --json number --jq '.[].number' | \
  xargs -I {} gh pr edit {} --add-label needs-review

Output Formatting

# JSON output for scripting
gh pr list --json number,title,author

# Filter with jq
gh pr list --json number,title | jq '.[] | select(.title | contains("fix"))'

# Template output
gh pr view 123 --template '{{.title}} by @{{.author.login}}'

# Quiet mode (for scripts)
gh pr checks --quiet

Global Flags

# Specify repository
gh pr list --repo owner/repo

# Disable prompts
gh pr create --title "Fix" --body "Desc" --fill

# JSON output
gh issue list --json number,title

# Paginate all results
gh repo list --paginate

# Help for any command
gh pr create --help

Environment Variables

export GH_HOST=github.com              # GitHub hostname
export GH_PROMPT_DISABLED=true         # Disable prompts
export GH_PAGER=cat                    # Disable pager
export GH_DEBUG=api                    # Debug API requests

Best Practices

1. Use --web to open browser for complex operations
2. Use --json for scripting and automation
3. Set default repo with gh repo set-default to avoid --repo flag
4. Create aliases for frequently used commands: gh alias set co "pr checkout"
5. Use gh browse to quickly open repo, PR, or issue pages

Getting Help

gh --help                    # General help
gh pr --help                 # Command help
gh pr create --help          # Subcommand help
gh reference                 # Full reference

Official Resources

• GitHub CLI Manual
• GitHub CLI Repository