github-cli

name	GitHub CLI
description	gh CLI patterns, JSON field discovery, PR check interpretation, label management, merge settings verification.

GitHub CLI

JSON Field Discovery

Wrong -- guess field names:

gh pr checks 42 --json conclusion  # Unknown field

Right -- discover fields first:

gh pr checks 42 --json 2>&1 | head -5

PR Check Interpretation

Wrong -- exit code 0 means passed, raw output is readable:

gh pr checks 42  # exit 0 but checks still pending; "review: fail" looks like CI

Right -- use structured JSON, filter review, or --watch:

gh pr checks 42 --json name,state,conclusion | jq '.[] | select(.name != "review")'
gh pr checks 42 --watch

Release vs PR Flags

Wrong -- --body is for pr/issue create, not release:

gh release create v1.0.0 --body "notes"

Right -- releases use --notes:

gh release create v1.0.0 --notes "notes"

Label and Merge Settings

Wrong -- assume labels exist and merge method is allowed:

gh issue create --label "chore" --title "Fix"  # label not found
gh pr merge 42 --merge                         # method not allowed

Right -- check or create first:

gh label list && gh label create "chore" --color "ededed"
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo} --jq '.allow_squash_merge, .allow_merge_commit'

Duplicate PR Prevention

Wrong -- create PR when one already exists for this branch:

gh pr create --title "feat: thing"

Right -- check first, edit if exists:

gh pr list --head <branch> --base <base>
# Exists: gh pr edit <number>  |  New: gh pr create

Identifier Discovery

Wrong -- fabricate repo names or issue numbers (case-sensitive):

gh issue view 42 --repo owner/MyProject

Right -- discover identifiers:

gh repo list owner --json name --limit 50
gh issue list --search "bug in login"