GITHUB CLI QUICK REFERENCE
Repos, issues, PRs, actions, releases, API
Setup
Installation
| brew install gh | macOS via Homebrew |
| sudo apt install gh | Debian / Ubuntu |
| winget install GitHub.cli | Windows via winget |
| conda install gh | Via conda-forge |
Authentication
gh auth login # interactive login
gh auth login --with-token < token.txt
gh auth status # check auth state
gh auth refresh -s repo,gist # add scopes
Configuration
gh config set editor vim
gh config set pager less
gh config set git_protocol ssh
gh config list
Repos
Repository Commands
gh repo create my-app --public --clone
gh repo clone owner/repo
gh repo fork owner/repo --clone
gh repo view owner/repo --web
Repo Options
| --public | --private | Set repository visibility |
| --template owner/repo | Create from template repo |
| --clone | Clone after creating |
| --add-readme | Initialize with README |
| gh repo list owner | List repos for owner |
| gh repo delete owner/repo | Delete repository (with confirm) |
| gh repo rename new-name | Rename current repo |
| gh repo archive owner/repo | Archive a repository |
Issues
Managing Issues
gh issue create --title "Bug" --body "Details here"
gh issue list --state open --label bug
gh issue view 42
gh issue close 42 --reason completed
Issue Options
| --assignee @me | Assign to yourself |
| --label bug,urgent | Add labels |
| --milestone v2.0 | Set milestone |
| --project "Board" | Add to project |
| gh issue edit 42 | Edit issue interactively |
| gh issue reopen 42 | Reopen a closed issue |
| gh issue comment 42 -b "msg" | Add comment to issue |
| gh issue pin 42 | Pin issue to repo |
Pull Requests
Creating & Managing PRs
gh pr create --title "feat: add auth" --body "..."
gh pr create --fill # title/body from commits
gh pr list --state open
gh pr view 123 --web
Review & Merge
gh pr checkout 123 # check out PR branch
gh pr diff 123 # view PR diff
gh pr review 123 --approve
gh pr merge 123 --squash --delete-branch
PR Options
| --draft | Create as draft PR |
| --reviewer user1,user2 | Request reviewers |
| --base main | Set base branch |
| --merge | --squash | --rebase | Merge strategy |
| --auto | Enable auto-merge when checks pass |
| --delete-branch | Delete branch after merge |
| gh pr ready 123 | Mark draft PR as ready |
Actions
Workflow Commands
gh run list # recent runs
gh run view 12345 # run details
gh run view 12345 --log-failed # failed step logs
gh run watch 12345 # live status
Triggering & Managing
gh workflow run deploy.yml --ref main
gh workflow list
gh workflow view deploy.yml
gh run rerun 12345 --failed # rerun failed jobs
Actions Options
| -f key=value | Pass input to workflow_dispatch |
| --json | Output as JSON |
| -b branch | Filter by branch |
| gh run download 12345 | Download run artifacts |
| gh cache list | List Actions caches |
| gh cache delete KEY | Delete a cache entry |
Releases
Managing Releases
gh release create v1.0.0 --generate-notes
gh release create v1.0.0 ./dist/*.tar.gz
gh release list
gh release view v1.0.0
Release Options
| --title "Release v1.0" | Set release title |
| --notes "Changelog here" | Set release notes inline |
| --notes-file CHANGELOG.md | Notes from file |
| --generate-notes | Auto-generate from commits |
| --draft | Create as draft |
| --prerelease | Mark as prerelease |
| --latest | Mark as latest release |
| gh release download v1.0.0 | Download release assets |
| gh release delete v1.0.0 | Delete a release |
| gh release edit v1.0.0 | Edit release metadata |
Gists
Gist Commands
gh gist create file.py -d "My snippet"
gh gist create file1.js file2.js # multi-file gist
gh gist list
gh gist view
Gist Options
| -d "description" | Set gist description |
| --public | Create public gist (default: secret) |
| --web | Open gist in browser |
| gh gist edit <id> | Edit gist files |
| gh gist clone <id> | Clone gist locally |
| gh gist delete <id> | Delete a gist |
API
Making API Calls
gh api repos/owner/repo
gh api repos/owner/repo/issues --method POST \
-f title="Bug" -f body="Details"
gh api graphql -f query='{ viewer { login } }'
Formatting Output
gh api repos/owner/repo --jq '.stargazers_count'
gh api repos/owner/repo --template '{{.full_name}}'
gh pr list --json number,title --jq '.[].title'
API Options
| --method GET|POST|PUT|DELETE | HTTP method |
| -f key=value | Set string field |
| -F key=@file | Set field from file |
| --jq 'expression' | Filter JSON with jq syntax |
| --template 'tmpl' | Format with Go template |
| --paginate | Fetch all pages |
| -H 'Accept: ...' | Set custom header |
Aliases
Managing Aliases
gh alias set co 'pr checkout'
gh alias set bugs 'issue list --label bug'
gh alias set last 'run list -L 1'
gh alias list
Advanced Aliases
# Alias with shell command
gh alias set --shell pv 'gh pr view --json url --jq .url | pbcopy'
# Delete alias
gh alias delete co
Alias Tips
| gh alias set name 'cmd' | Create simple alias |
| --shell | Alias runs via shell (supports pipes) |
| gh alias list | Show all defined aliases |
| gh alias delete name | Remove an alias |
Common Patterns
Daily Workflow
gh issue list --assignee @me # my open issues
gh pr status # PRs needing attention
gh pr checks 123 # CI status for PR
gh run list -b main -L 5 # recent CI runs
Searching
gh search repos --language rust --stars ">1000"
gh search issues --repo owner/repo "memory leak"
gh search prs --state open --review required
Useful Flags
| --json field1,field2 | Output specific fields as JSON |
| --jq 'expr' | Filter JSON output |
| -L N | Limit results to N items |
| --web | Open result in browser |
| -R owner/repo | Target a specific repository |
| GH_TOKEN=xxx | Auth via environment variable |