Imported from devon-systems/hoenn (nix/modules/aly/skills/gh-cli/SKILL.md). Install upstream with npx skills add devon-systems/hoenn --skill gh-cli. Copyright stays with the author.

GitHub gh CLI

Overview

Use gh for GitHub operations with explicit repo targeting, JSON output, and command help-driven discovery of flags/fields. Avoid scraping human-readable output and avoid raw REST calls unless you must (use gh api as the controlled fallback).

Quick start

1. Verify gh is installed and authenticated (once per session, or when debugging auth/repo targeting):

   gh --version
   gh auth status

2. Set explicit repo context:

   # One-off target
   gh <noun> <verb> -R OWNER/REPO ...
   # Repeated work in a checkout
   gh repo set-default OWNER/REPO

3. Discover flags/fields on demand:

   gh <command> --help
   gh help formatting

Operating rules (do not skip)

1. Prefer first-class commands over APIs.

   • Use gh issue, gh pr, gh repo, gh run, gh workflow, gh release, etc.
   • Use gh api only when the CLI lacks a dedicated command (document the endpoint and why).

2. Avoid guessing flags/fields; discover them.

   • Use gh <command> --help to find flags and supported --json fields.
   • Use gh help formatting for --json, --jq, and --template patterns.

3. Prefer machine-readable output.

   • Use --json <fields> -q '<jq>' instead of parsing table output.
   • When you need just one value, return only that value (not the full blob).

4. Make repo targeting explicit.

   • Prefer -R OWNER/REPO when not operating in a known local checkout.
   • If you infer repo from the current directory, confirm it via gh repo view --json nameWithOwner -q .nameWithOwner.

5. Treat state changes as production-impacting.

   • Ask for confirmation before destructive or hard-to-reverse changes: closing/merging/deleting, resolving or unresolving review threads, and modifying branch protections or permissions.
   • Routine, easily-reversed workflow output — posting a review reply, commenting, or checking out a PR branch (gh pr checkout) — does not require an extra gate.
   • When modifying settings, make changes small and reversible.

Common tasks

See references/gh-commands.md for a concise command cookbook covering repos, issues, PRs, Actions, releases, search patterns, and gh api fallbacks. Prefer gh <command> --help for exhaustive flag/field lists.

Tooling

Run a quick environment/context capture when debugging auth/repo targeting problems:

scripts/gh_context.sh

This prints gh version/auth status and tries to identify the active repo (when run inside a checkout).

Fetch a PR’s full review feedback bundle as JSON:

scripts/pr_feedback.sh -R OWNER/REPO PR_NUMBER > pr-feedback.json

Reply to review feedback:

# Inline review comment (REST)
scripts/pr_review_comment_reply.sh -R OWNER/REPO PR_NUMBER COMMENT_ID --body "..."

# Review thread (GraphQL)
scripts/pr_review_thread_reply.sh PRRT_... --body "..."

# Resolve a review thread (state change; --yes required)
scripts/pr_review_thread_resolve.sh --yes PRRT_...

# Reopen a resolved thread (state change; --yes required)
scripts/pr_review_thread_unresolve.sh --yes PRRT_...