using-gh-cli

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Guides usage of the GitHub CLI (gh) for interacting with GitHub repositories, PRs, issues, and API. Use when working with GitHub resources instead of WebFetch or curl.

2installs

Sourcetrailofbits/skills

Added on2026-02-13

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add trailofbits/skills using-gh-cli

SKILL.md Content

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Using the GitHub CLI (

gh

)

When to Use

Browsing or reading code from a GitHub repository — clone it and use Read/Glob/Grep
Viewing or creating pull requests, issues, releases, or gists
Fetching repo metadata or any GitHub API data
Interacting with GitHub Actions (runs, workflows)
Any task involving GitHub that you might otherwise use
```
curl
```
,
```
wget
```
, or
```
WebFetch
```
for

When NOT to Use

Non-GitHub URLs (use
```
WebFetch
```
or
```
curl
```
for those)
Public web content that happens to be hosted on GitHub Pages (
```
*.github.io
```
) — those are regular websites
Local git operations (
```
git commit
```
,
```
git push
```
) — use
```
git
```
directly

Key Principle

Always use
gh
instead of
curl
,
wget
, or
WebFetch
for GitHub URLs. The

gh

CLI uses the user's authenticated token automatically, so it:

Works with private repositories
Avoids GitHub API rate limits (unauthenticated: 60 req/hr; authenticated: 5,000 req/hr)
Handles pagination correctly
Provides structured output and filtering

Browsing Repository Code

To read or browse files from a GitHub repo, clone it locally and use normal file tools (Read, Glob, Grep). This is much faster and more natural than fetching files one-by-one via the API.

bash

# Clone to a session-scoped temp directory (cleaned up automatically on session end)
clonedir="$TMPDIR/gh-clones-${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID}"
mkdir -p "$clonedir"
gh repo clone owner/repo "$clonedir/repo" -- --depth 1

After cloning, use the Explore agent (via the Task tool with

subagent_type=Explore

) to investigate the cloned repo. The Explore agent can use Read, Glob, and Grep across the clone efficiently — much better than calling them one at a time:

Task(subagent_type="Explore", prompt="In $clonedir/repo/, find how authentication is implemented")

For targeted lookups on a clone you already understand, use Read/Glob/Grep directly.

```
gh repo clone
```
uses the user's authenticated token — works with private repos
```
--depth 1
```
keeps the clone fast (only latest commit)
No cleanup needed — a SessionEnd hook removes the clone directory automatically
Use
```
gh api
```
only when you need a quick single-file lookup without cloning

Quick Start

bash

# View a repo
gh repo view owner/repo

# List and view PRs
gh pr list --repo owner/repo
gh pr view 123 --repo owner/repo

# List and view issues
gh issue list --repo owner/repo
gh issue view 456 --repo owner/repo

# Call any REST API endpoint
gh api repos/owner/repo/contents/README.md

# Call with pagination and jq filtering
gh api repos/owner/repo/pulls --paginate --jq '.[].title'

Common Patterns

Instead of	Use
`WebFetch` on `github.com/owner/repo`	`gh repo view owner/repo`
`WebFetch` on a blob/tree URL	Clone with `gh repo clone` and use Read/Glob/Grep
`WebFetch` on `raw.githubusercontent.com/...`	Clone with `gh repo clone` and use Read
`WebFetch` on `api.github.com/...`	`gh api <endpoint>`
`curl https://api.github.com/...`	`gh api <endpoint>`
`curl` with `-H "Authorization: token ..."`	`gh api <endpoint>` (auth is automatic)
`wget` to download a release asset	`gh release download --repo owner/repo`

References

Pull Requests — list, view, create, merge, review PRs
Issues — list, view, create, close, comment on issues
Repos and Files — view repos, browse files, clone
API — raw REST/GraphQL access, pagination, jq filtering
Releases — list, create, download releases
Actions — view runs, trigger workflows, check logs

using-gh-cli

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Using the GitHub CLI (
`gh`
)

When to Use

When NOT to Use

Key Principle

Browsing Repository Code

Quick Start

Common Patterns

References

using-gh-cli

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Using the GitHub CLI (gh)

When to Use

When NOT to Use

Key Principle

Browsing Repository Code

Quick Start

Common Patterns

References

Using the GitHub CLI (
`gh`
)