Mastering GitHub CLI

Command-line interface for GitHub operations: search, monitoring, resource creation, workflow authoring, and automation.

Quick Start
Command Reference
Workflow Authoring
Scripts
Validation Checklist
When Not to Use

Quick Start

Find repos with specific files/directories

gh search code "path:.skilz" --json repository --jq '.[].repository.fullName'
gh search code --filename SKILL.md
gh search code --filename Dockerfile --language python

Monitor CI/CD

gh run list --workflow=CI --status=failure --limit 10
gh run watch 12345 --exit-status      # Block until complete
gh run view 12345 --log-failed        # Failed logs only
gh pr checks 123 --watch              # PR CI status

Create resources

gh pr create --title "Feature" --body "Description" --reviewer @user
gh issue create --title "Bug" --label bug,urgent --assignee @me
gh repo fork owner/repo --clone

Trigger and monitor workflow

gh workflow run deploy.yml -f environment=staging
sleep 5
RUN_ID=$(gh run list --workflow=deploy.yml --limit 1 --json databaseId --jq '.[0].databaseId')
gh run watch "$RUN_ID" --exit-status

Command Reference

| Task | Command | Reference | |------|---------|-----------| | Find repos with file | gh search code --filename FILE | search.md | | Find repos with directory | gh search code "path:DIR" | search.md | | List failed runs | gh run list --status=failure | monitoring.md | | Watch run | gh run watch ID --exit-status | monitoring.md | | Download artifacts | gh run download ID -n NAME | monitoring.md | | Create PR | gh pr create --fill | resources.md | | Check PR CI | gh pr checks --watch | monitoring.md | | Trigger workflow | gh workflow run NAME.yml | automation.md | | Fork repo | gh repo fork REPO --clone | resources.md | | REST/GraphQL API | gh api repos/{owner}/{repo} | api.md |

JSON Output

gh pr list --json                              # Discover fields
gh pr list --json number,title,author,labels   # Select fields
gh run list --json status --jq '.[] | select(.status=="completed")'

Environment & Auth

| Variable | Purpose | |----------|---------| | GH_TOKEN | Authentication token | | GH_REPO | Default owner/repo | | GH_HOST | GitHub Enterprise host | | GH_PROMPT_DISABLED=1 | Disable prompts (CI) |

Rate Limits

| Endpoint | Limit | Notes | |----------|-------|-------| | REST API | 5,000/hour | Per authenticated user | | Search API | 30/minute | All search endpoints | | Code Search | 10/minute | More restrictive | | Search results | 1,000 max | Use date partitioning for more |

Workflow Authoring

GitHub Actions workflow YAML patterns for CI/CD pipelines.

Basic Structure

name: CI Pipeline
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: make build
      - run: make test

Caching Patterns

# Python/Poetry
- uses: actions/setup-python@v5
  with:
    python-version: '3.11'
- uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: .venv
    key: venv-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('poetry.lock') }}

# Node.js
- uses: actions/setup-node@v4
  with:
    node-version: '20'
    cache: 'npm'

Matrix Builds

strategy:
  matrix:
    os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest]
    node: [18, 20]
  fail-fast: false

OIDC Authentication (AWS/GCP)

permissions:
  id-token: write
  contents: read

steps:
  - uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
    with:
      role-to-assume: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/GitHubActionsRole
      aws-region: us-east-1

Full reference: references/workflow-authoring.md

Advanced Patterns

For enterprise CI/CD pipelines:

Ephemeral PR Environments - Auto-create/destroy per PR
Release Please - Automated semantic versioning
PR Cleanup - Resource cleanup on close
Testing Patterns - pytest, Gradle, Jest with coverage
Deployment Status Checks - Wait for stack readiness
Separate Build/Deploy Roles - Fine-grained OIDC permissions
Multi-Stack Ordering - Foundation → Schemas → Application

Additional References:

Workflow Summaries - Rich markdown output with $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
Container Security - Multi-stage builds, Trivy scanning, image tagging
Security Scanning - CodeQL, Dependabot, IaC scanning (Checkov, tfsec)
Troubleshooting - Debug mode, flaky tests, common issues
Performance - Limits, runner specs, optimization tips

Scripts

Pre-built automation scripts with error handling and rate limit awareness.

| Script | Purpose | Usage | |--------|---------|-------| | find-repos-with-path.sh | Find repos containing specific paths | ./scripts/find-repos-with-path.sh .skilz [owner] | | wait-for-run.sh | Block until workflow completes | ./scripts/wait-for-run.sh RUN_ID [timeout] | | batch-search.sh | Search >1000 results via date partitioning | ./scripts/batch-search.sh "query" START END |

Exit Codes

| Script | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |--------|---|---|---|---| | wait-for-run.sh | success | failure | cancelled | timeout | | find-repos-with-path.sh | success | error | - | - | | batch-search.sh | success | error | - | - |

Validation Checklist

Before completing a GitHub CLI task, verify:

- [ ] gh authenticated (`gh auth status`)
- [ ] Command syntax matches documentation
- [ ] Exit codes checked and handled appropriately
- [ ] Rate limits considered (code search: 10/min, repo search: 30/min)
- [ ] JSON output parsed correctly (if using --json)
- [ ] Artifacts downloaded to correct directory (if applicable)
- [ ] PR/Issue created with proper labels and assignees (if applicable)
- [ ] Workflow triggered and monitored to completion (if applicable)

When Not to Use

This skill covers gh CLI and GitHub Actions workflow authoring. Do not use for:

Git commands: git push, git commit, git pull (use git directly)
GitHub web UI: Questions about github.com interface navigation
GitHub Desktop: Different application entirely
Direct curl/HTTP: API calls without gh wrapper
GitHub mobile app: Mobile-specific features

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