gh-pr-edit

name	gh-pr-edit
description	Use when updating a GitHub PR title or body and gh pr edit fails with a GraphQL deprecation error about classic Projects. Falls back to direct GraphQL mutation via gh api.

gh pr edit via GraphQL API

Overview

gh pr edit fails with exit code 1 on repos that use GitHub classic Projects:

GraphQL: Projects (classic) is being deprecated in favor of the new Projects experience

The fix is to call the GraphQL mutation directly via gh api graphql.

When to Use

• gh pr edit exits 1 with the classic Projects deprecation error
• Updating PR title or body in any automated/scripted context where failure must not be silent

Quick Reference

# 1. Get the PR node ID
PR_ID=$(gh pr view <number> --json id -q .id)

# 2. Update body via GraphQL mutation
gh api graphql -f query='
mutation {
  updatePullRequest(input: {
    pullRequestId: "'"$PR_ID"'",
    body: "'"$(cat /tmp/pr_body.md | python3 -c "
import sys
print(sys.stdin.read()
  .replace('\\\\', '\\\\\\\\')
  .replace('\"', '\\\\\"')
  .replace('\n', '\\\\n')
  .replace('\r', '\\\\r')
)")"'"
  }) {
    pullRequest { number title }
  }
}'

Step-by-Step

1. Write body to a temp file

cat > /tmp/pr_body.md << 'EOF'
## Summary
Your PR description here...

Closes #42
EOF

2. Get the PR node ID

PR_ID=$(gh pr view <number> --json id -q .id)

The node ID looks like PR_kwDOA... — it's different from the PR number.

3. Escape and send the mutation

ESCAPED=$(python3 -c "
import sys
body = open('/tmp/pr_body.md').read()
print(body
  .replace('\\\\', '\\\\\\\\')
  .replace('\"', '\\\\\"')
  .replace('\n', '\\\\n')
  .replace('\r', '\\\\r')
)")

gh api graphql -f query="
mutation {
  updatePullRequest(input: {
    pullRequestId: \"$PR_ID\",
    body: \"$ESCAPED\"
  }) {
    pullRequest { number title }
  }
}"

4. Verify the update

gh pr view <number> --json body -q .body | head -5

To Update Title

Add title: alongside body: in the mutation input:

updatePullRequest(input: {
  pullRequestId: "PR_ID",
  title: "New title here",
  body: "New body here"
})

Common Mistakes

• Forgetting to escape the body — newlines and quotes break the GraphQL string
• Using PR number instead of node ID — pullRequestId takes PR_kwDO..., not the integer
• Assuming gh pr edit exit code — the deprecation error causes exit 1, so || true swallows it silently