/faster-gh-cli-skill

GitHub CLI: faster patterns

Use gh for GitHub work whenever possible. It is fast, scriptable, and easy to audit.

First checks

Before doing GitHub work, establish context:

gh auth status
gh repo view --json nameWithOwner,url,defaultBranchRef
git status

If the target repository is not definitely the current working directory, pass --repo owner/name. This avoids reading or editing the wrong repo when the agent is running from a different checkout.

For commands that change GitHub state, inspect first. Examples:

gh pr view 123 --repo owner/repo --json number,title,state,url,headRefName,baseRefName
gh issue view 456 --repo owner/repo --json number,title,state,url
gh run list --repo owner/repo --limit 10

Structured output

Prefer --json with --jq for reads. It is more reliable than parsing human output.

gh pr view 123 --repo owner/repo \
  --json number,title,state,url,headRefName,baseRefName,author,commits,files \
  --jq '{number,title,state,url,head: .headRefName, base: .baseRefName}'

When unsure which JSON fields are valid, deliberately trigger the field list with a harmless invalid field, then retry with valid fields:

gh repo view owner/repo --json _fields 2>&1

Common field corrections observed in real sessions:

gh search prs --state merged is invalid. Search supports --state open or --state closed; use --merged to filter merged PRs.

gh search prs "query" --repo owner/repo --merged --limit 20 --json number,title,url,closedAt

Markdown bodies

Never put Markdown containing backticks inside a double-quoted --body "..." string. The shell will execute backticked text before gh sees it.

Use a single-quoted heredoc:

gh pr create --repo owner/repo \
  --head user:branch-name \
  --base main \
  --title "fix: describe the change" \
  --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
This PR fixes the issue.

```ts
const example = true

EOF )"

Use the same pattern for `gh pr edit`, `gh issue create`, `gh issue edit`, `gh pr comment`, and `gh issue comment` when the body is more than one line.

## Pull requests

Read a PR:

```sh
gh pr view 123 --repo owner/repo \
  --json number,title,body,state,url,headRefName,baseRefName,author,commits,files,additions,deletions

List PRs by branch:

gh pr list --repo owner/repo --state all --head branch-name --json number,title,state,url

Create a PR only after confirming the branch exists remotely and has commits relative to the base:

git branch --show-current
git status
git log --oneline --decorate -10
git fetch origin
git log --oneline origin/main..HEAD
git push -u origin HEAD
gh pr create --repo owner/repo --base main --head branch-name --title "fix: title" --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
This PR...
EOF
)"

If creating a PR from a fork, include the owner in --head:

gh pr create --repo upstream/repo --head your-user:branch-name --base main --title "fix: title" --body "..."

GraphQL: Head sha can't be blank, Base sha can't be blank, No commits between, or Head ref must be a branch means the branch/base is wrong, the branch was not pushed, or there are no commits to compare. Do not retry blindly. Inspect branch names and push state first.

Diff a PR:

gh pr diff 123 --repo owner/repo
gh pr diff 123 --repo owner/repo --name-only

gh pr diff --stat is not supported. For stats, use gh pr view --json additions,deletions,changedFiles.

Review or comment on a PR:

gh pr comment 123 --repo owner/repo --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
Comment body.
EOF
)"

For inline review comments, prefer gh api only after reading existing comments and the PR files. GitHub's review comment API is strict about commit_id, path, side, line, and start_line; invalid positioning returns HTTP 422. If responding to an existing inline comment, reply to that comment instead of creating a new top-level PR comment.

Stacked PRs

GitHub supports stacked pull requests: a chain of PRs in the same repo where the bottom PR targets the trunk (usually main) and each PR above targets the branch below it. They are managed with the gh stack extension (gh extension install github/gh-stack). For deeper stack work, install GitHub's official gh-stack skill: npx skills add github/gh-stack.

Suspect a stack when a PR's baseRefName is another feature branch instead of the default branch, or when the user mentions stacks, layers, or dependent PRs. Check before acting:

gh extension list | grep gh-stack
gh stack view --json

gh pr view --json has no stack field as of gh 2.96.0. gh stack view --json exits 2 when the current branch is not in a stack, and exits 9 when stacked PRs are not enabled for the repo.

gh stack opens prompts or full-screen TUIs when attached to a terminal. Always pass explicit targets and non-interactive flags:

Rules for stacked PRs:

• Do not use gh pr merge on a stacked PR. Use gh stack merge. Stacks merge bottom-up, and merging a mid-stack PR also merges every PR below it.
• Do not hand-chain PRs with gh pr create --base other-feature-branch and gh pr edit --base. Use gh stack submit --auto, or gh stack link <bottom> ... <top> to stack existing branches or PRs.
• Do not manually rebase each branch. Use gh stack rebase (or gh stack sync) for a cascading rebase, then gh stack push. On conflict (exit 3), resolve, git add, then gh stack rebase --continue.
• Commit a change on the layer that owns it, not on the top branch. Check out that layer, commit, then gh stack rebase --upstack.
• If the repo has more than one remote, pass --remote <name> to push, submit, sync, rebase, and link.
• Cross-fork stacks are not supported. All branches must be in the same repository.

Issues

Read issue details:

gh issue view 123 --repo owner/repo --json number,title,body,state,url,author,comments

List issues:

gh issue list --repo owner/repo --state open --limit 50 --json number,title,state,url,labels

Create an issue:

gh issue create --repo owner/repo --title "docs: add homepage" --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
Issue body.
EOF
)"

Actions and checks

For PR checks:

gh pr checks 123 --repo owner/repo
gh pr checks 123 --repo owner/repo --watch

For workflow runs:

gh run list --repo owner/repo --branch branch-name --limit 10 --json databaseId,status,conclusion,displayTitle,workflowName,createdAt,url
gh run view <run-id> --repo owner/repo --json status,conclusion,url,jobs
gh run view <run-id> --repo owner/repo --log-failed

gh run watch <run-id> --exit-status is useful but can run until timeout. Use it only when waiting is explicitly part of the task, and set an appropriate command timeout.

If gh workflow run returns HTTP 422: Workflow does not have 'workflow_dispatch' trigger, the workflow cannot be manually dispatched. Inspect the workflow file instead of retrying.

Repositories

Read repository metadata:

gh repo view owner/repo --json nameWithOwner,description,url,homepageUrl,defaultBranchRef,isFork,parent

List repositories:

gh repo list owner --limit 100 --json nameWithOwner,description,url,updatedAt,isPrivate

gh repo list --sort is not supported. Sort with --jq or jq after fetching JSON.

Create a repository:

gh repo create owner/name --private --source=. --description "Short description" --homepage "https://example.com" --push

Org repository creation often fails with GraphQL: ... correct permissions to execute CreateRepository. If that happens, stop and report the permission issue; do not keep changing flags.

For large clones that hit timeouts or sideband disconnects, retry with Git directly and consider shallow clone:

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/owner/repo.git

gh api

Use gh api when the dedicated gh command cannot do the job.

Read paginated API data:

gh api repos/owner/repo/pulls/123/files --paginate --jq '.[] | {filename,status,patch}'

Fetch raw file content:

gh api repos/owner/repo/contents/path/to/file -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.raw"

Be careful with value types:

Do not use -f enabled=true when the API requires a boolean. That sends the string "true" and often returns HTTP 422.

Permission errors are usually real. If gh api says the operation needs admin:org, workflow, or another scope, check gh auth status; do not start gh auth refresh unless the user can complete the interactive device flow.

Secrets

List secret names only:

gh secret list --repo owner/repo

Set secrets from environment variables. Never put secret values directly in a command, PR body, issue, or file:

gh secret set SECRET_NAME --body "$SECRET_NAME" --repo owner/repo

If an environment variable may be empty, check first:

test -n "$SECRET_NAME" && gh secret set SECRET_NAME --body "$SECRET_NAME" --repo owner/repo

Gists

Create a public gist from stdin:

gh gist create --public --filename "notes.md" --desc "Short description" - <<'EOF'
# Notes
EOF

gh gist create --private is invalid. Omit --public for the default secret gist behavior, or include --public for a public gist.

If using stdin, include - and provide content. A blank stdin returns a gist file cannot be blank.

Anti-patterns

Recovery checklist

When a gh command fails:

1. Read the exact error text.
2. If it is an unknown JSON field or flag, inspect the valid fields/usage and retry once.
3. If it is a branch or PR creation error, inspect git status, current branch, remotes, and origin/base..HEAD.
4. If it is HTTP 401, 403, or a GraphQL permission error, check gh auth status and stop if the user lacks permission.
5. If it is HTTP 422, inspect request shape, typed fields, and required positioning parameters before retrying.
6. If it is network or timeout related, retry once with a clearer timeout or narrower request.
7. Do not loop on the same command more than twice without changing the diagnosis.