github

name

github

description

GitHub operations via `gh` CLI: issues, PRs, CI runs, code review, API queries. Use when: (1) checking PR status or CI, (2) creating/commenting on issues, (3) listing/filtering PRs or issues, (4) viewing run logs. NOT for: complex web UI interactions requiring manual browser flows (use browser tooling when available), bulk operations across many repos (script with gh api), or when gh auth is not configured.

GitHub Skill

Use the gh CLI to interact with GitHub repositories, issues, PRs, and CI.

Environment Check (MUST run first)

Before any GitHub operation, verify the gh CLI is available and authenticated:

#!/bin/bash
MISSING=()

if ! command -v gh &>/dev/null; then
  MISSING+=("gh")
fi

if [ ${#MISSING[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
  # Check auth status
  if gh auth status &>/dev/null 2>&1; then
    echo "ENV_OK"
  else
    echo "ENV_AUTH_NEEDED"
  fi
else
  echo "ENV_MISSING: ${MISSING[*]}"
fi

If ENV_OK: proceed with the GitHub operation.

If ENV_AUTH_NEEDED: tell the user gh is installed but not authenticated. Ask them to run gh auth login.

If ENV_MISSING: tell the user gh CLI is not installed. Ask if they want to install it:

# macOS
brew install gh

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install gh

# Or via conda
conda install -c conda-forge gh

Do NOT install automatically — always get user confirmation first. If the user declines, suggest using git commands or the GitHub API directly as alternatives.

---

When to Use

✅ USE this skill when:

• Checking PR status, reviews, or merge readiness
• Viewing CI/workflow run status and logs
• Creating, closing, or commenting on issues
• Creating or merging pull requests
• Querying GitHub API for repository data
• Listing repos, releases, or collaborators

When NOT to Use

❌ DON'T use this skill when:

• Local git operations (commit, push, pull, branch) → use git directly
• Non-GitHub repos (GitLab, Bitbucket, self-hosted) → different CLIs
• Cloning repositories → use git clone
• Reviewing actual code changes → use coding-agent skill
• Complex multi-file diffs → use coding-agent or read files directly

Setup

# Authenticate (one-time)
gh auth login

# Verify
gh auth status

Common Commands

Pull Requests

# List PRs
gh pr list --repo owner/repo

# Check CI status
gh pr checks 55 --repo owner/repo

# View PR details
gh pr view 55 --repo owner/repo

# Create PR
gh pr create --title "feat: add feature" --body "Description"

# Merge PR
gh pr merge 55 --squash --repo owner/repo

Issues

# List issues
gh issue list --repo owner/repo --state open

# Create issue
gh issue create --title "Bug: something broken" --body "Details..."

# Close issue
gh issue close 42 --repo owner/repo

CI/Workflow Runs

# List recent runs
gh run list --repo owner/repo --limit 10

# View specific run
gh run view <run-id> --repo owner/repo

# View failed step logs only
gh run view <run-id> --repo owner/repo --log-failed

# Re-run failed jobs
gh run rerun <run-id> --failed --repo owner/repo

API Queries

# Get PR with specific fields
gh api repos/owner/repo/pulls/55 --jq '.title, .state, .user.login'

# List all labels
gh api repos/owner/repo/labels --jq '.[].name'

# Get repo stats
gh api repos/owner/repo --jq '{stars: .stargazers_count, forks: .forks_count}'

JSON Output

Most commands support --json for structured output with --jq filtering:

gh issue list --repo owner/repo --json number,title --jq '.[] | "\(.number): \(.title)"'
gh pr list --json number,title,state,mergeable --jq '.[] | select(.mergeable == "MERGEABLE")'

Templates

PR Review Summary

# Get PR overview for review
PR=55 REPO=owner/repo
echo "## PR #$PR Summary"
gh pr view $PR --repo $REPO --json title,body,author,additions,deletions,changedFiles \
  --jq '"**\(.title)** by @\(.author.login)\n\n\(.body)\n\n📊 +\(.additions) -\(.deletions) across \(.changedFiles) files"'
gh pr checks $PR --repo $REPO

Issue Triage

# Quick issue triage view
gh issue list --repo owner/repo --state open --json number,title,labels,createdAt \
  --jq '.[] | "[\(.number)] \(.title) - \([.labels[].name] | join(", ")) (\(.createdAt[:10]))"'

Notes

• Always specify --repo owner/repo when not in a git directory
• Use URLs directly: gh pr view https://github.com/owner/repo/pull/55
• Rate limits apply; use gh api --cache 1h for repeated queries