skills/gh/SKILL.md
gh already does the right thing in non-TTY contexts: it skips the pager,
strips ANSI color, and errors out fast with a helpful message instead of
prompting (e.g. must provide --title and --body when not running interactively).
You don't need to defensively set GH_PAGER or pass --no-pager (no such
flag exists).
Human output from gh is column-formatted. If you want structured data:
--json field1,field2,... for structured output.--json and no field list to print the full set of
available fields, then pick what you need.--jq '<expr>' for filtering without piping through a separate jq.--template '<go-template>' (alongside --json) when you want shaped
text output. Note that --template/-T collides with a body-template flag
on a few commands (e.g. gh pr create -T, gh issue create -T); always
check --help before assuming which one you're hitting.List commands cap results.
gh issue list, gh pr list, gh search ...: pass -L N (--limit N).
The default is usually 30.gh issue list / gh pr list do not expose aggregate totals like
totalCount via --json. If you need a true total, use gh api graphql
to query totalCount; otherwise, treat -L as the cap for the current call.gh api --paginate <path>. Combine with
--jq and (optionally) --slurp to assemble one array.gh infers the repo from the cwd's git remotes.
Pass --repo OWNER/REPO (-R) to override the resolved CWD repo.
gh search issues|prs|code|repos|commits|users uses GitHub's search
index and accepts the full search syntax (is:open, author:,
label:, repo:owner/name, in:title, ...). Pass each qualifier as
its own bare token, not as one quoted string:
gh search issues repo:cli/cli is:open author:monalisa works, but
gh search issues "repo:cli/cli is:open" is treated as a single keyword (parsed as repo:"cli/cli is:open")
and fails with Invalid search query. Quote only multi-word free text
(gh search issues "broken feature"). Most qualifiers also have a
dedicated flag (--repo, --author, --label, ...). Prefer search for
anything cross-repo or filtered by author/label.gh issue list --search "..." and gh pr list --search "..." take the
query as one quoted string (it is a flag value) and are scoped to one repo.--author dependabot matches nothing. Use
--app dependabot (on pr/issue list and search prs|issues; expands
to author:app/<slug>) or --author "dependabot[bot]".gh search issues also takes --search-type <lexical|semantic|hybrid>
(github.com/GHEC only, issues only): use semantic when the user describes a
problem in natural language rather than exact terms, and hybrid to blend
keyword and semantic ranking; lexical (default) is exact matching.Newer gh issue subcommands model issue types, sub-issue hierarchy, and
blocked-by/blocking relationships.
gh issue create: --type <name>, --parent <number|url> (creates the
new issue as a sub-issue), --blocked-by <number|url,...>, --blocking <number|url,...>.gh issue edit (edits one or more issues in the same repo, e.g.
gh issue edit 23 34): --type <name> / --remove-type,
--parent <n|url> / --remove-parent,
--add-sub-issue <n,n> / --remove-sub-issue <n,n>,
--add-blocked-by <n,n> / --remove-blocked-by <n,n>,
--add-blocking <n,n> / --remove-blocking <n,n>. Relationship and parent
refs are issue numbers or URLs; a URL may point to another repo on the same
host, but a different host is rejected. --add-sub-issue cannot be used
when editing more than one issue.gh issue list --type <name> filters by issue type.gh issue view and gh issue list accept these as --json fields (prefer
them over scraping the default text output): issueType, parent,
subIssues, subIssuesSummary, blockedBy, blocking. subIssues,
blockedBy, and blocking are objects shaped
{"nodes": [...], "totalCount": N} (not flat arrays), and nodes is capped
(subIssues at 100, blockedBy/blocking at 50), so compare the node count
against totalCount to detect truncation.--attach <path> is available on gh issue create, gh issue edit,
gh issue comment, gh pr create, gh pr edit, and gh pr comment.
--attach to upload multiple files:
gh issue comment 12 --attach ./before.png --attach ./after.png.--attach values total across
images and videos.png, jpg, jpeg, gif, webp, svg, mp4,
mov, and webm.#. Quote the value so the
shell does not treat # as a comment:
gh pr create --attach './login.png#The login error state'. Without alt
text, the filename is used.--attach paths and local Markdown destinations may be absolute or relative
to the directory where gh runs.gh rewrites that Markdown
reference to the uploaded URL. The reference keeps its existing alt text.
Otherwise, gh appends the attachment to the body. For example:
gh pr edit 23 --body '' --attach ./login.png. becomes
a bare player URL, while an inline video image becomes a link. A
reference-style video image such as ![recording][clip] with
[clip]: ./repro.mp4 is rejected; use a reference-style link instead.gh issue create and gh pr create: --attach cannot be used with
--web. gh pr create --attach also cannot be used with --dry-run.gh issue edit: --attach can edit only one issue at a time.gh issue comment and gh pr comment: --attach cannot be used with
--web or --delete-last. It works alone, with --edit-last, or with one
of --body, --body-file, or --editor.WRITE, MAINTAIN, or ADMIN repository
permission. GitHub Enterprise Server and GitHub App tokens are unsupported.gh still
writes those attachments and exits non-zero. Create and edit commands also
print the issue or pull request URL.gh discussion)Preview command set, subject to change. Subcommands:
gh discussion list [--state open|closed|all] [--category <name>] [--author <handle>] [--label <name>,...] [--answered] [--search <query>] [--sort created|updated] [--order asc|desc] [--limit N] [--after <cursor>] [--json <fields>] [--web]
lists a repo's discussions. --state defaults to open, --sort to updated,
--order to desc. --answered is tri-state (--answered=false for
unanswered) for Q&A categories.gh discussion view {<number>|<url>|<comment-id>|<comment-url>} [--comments] [--order oldest|newest] [--limit N] [--after <cursor>] [--json <fields>] [--web]
shows a discussion's body; add --comments for its comments, or pass a
comment ID/URL as the argument to list that comment's replies (no
--replies flag; --comments is rejected with a comment argument).
--order (default newest), --limit, and --after apply only to comment
and reply listings.gh discussion create [--title <t>] [--body <b> | --body-file <path>] [--category <name>] [--label <name>,...]
creates a discussion. --title, a body (--body or --body-file), and
--category are required non-interactively; omitting any will prompt on a
terminal.gh discussion edit {<number>|<url>} [--title <t>] [--body <b>] [--body-file <path>] [--category <name>] [--add-label <name>,...] [--remove-label <name>,...]
edits title, body, category, or labels.gh discussion comment {<number>|<discussion-url>|<comment-id>|<comment-url>} [--body <b>] [--body-file <path>] [--edit] [--delete] [--yes]
adds a top-level comment (when given a discussion) or a reply (when given a
comment); --edit or --delete updates or removes a comment/reply and
needs a comment ID or URL. --yes skips the --delete confirmation.--json/--jq/--template are available on list and view only;
create and edit print the discussion URL. comment prints the discussion comment (or reply) URL.gh repo read-file / read-dir)Preview commands, subject to change. They read a repo's contents over the API
without cloning, and honor --repo OWNER/REPO (-R) and --ref <branch|tag|commit>
(default branch when omitted).
gh repo read-file <path> [--ref <ref>] [--output <path> [--clobber]] [--allow-escape-sequences] [--json <fields>] [--jq <expr>]
prints a file's contents. In non-TTY contexts the raw bytes go straight to
stdout (pipe-friendly); binary files are written as-is when piped but are
refused on a TTY. By default, a file containing terminal escape sequences is
refused; pass --allow-escape-sequences to read it anyway. --output <path> (-o) writes to
disk instead of stdout (a trailing slash writes under a directory using the
remote file name; --clobber allows overwrite); writing to disk always
includes the raw bytes regardless of escape sequences. --output and --json are
mutually exclusive. --json fields include name, path, gitSHA, size,
type, encoding, and content (base64 encoded).gh repo read-dir [<path>] [--ref <ref>] [--json <fields>] [--jq <expr>]
lists a directory; with no path it lists the repo root. Non-TTY output is tab
separated as type, name, octal mode, and byte size. --json fields include
name, path, type, gitType, mode, modeOctal, gitSHA, size, and
submodule. A path pointing at a file errors and points you at read-file
(and vice versa).gh api for anything --json doesn't exposeSometimes useful data isn't on the typed commands. Examples:
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{n}/comments
(the --comments flag on gh pr view shows issue-level comments only).gh api graphql -f query='...' -F var=value.gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/... - note the
{owner}/{repo} placeholder is filled in for you when run from a repo
with detected remotes; pass them literally if you want determinism.gh auth status prints the active host(s), user, and which env var (if
any) is being honored.gh auth status --json is supported.gh pr checkout <n> switches branches. Use gh pr diff <n> or
gh pr view <n> if you only need to read.gh pr checkout <n> --worktree <path> checks the PR out into a git worktree
at <path> instead of switching the current branch.gh issue develop <n> --checkout creates a linked branch for the issue and
checks it out. Add --worktree <path> to check that branch out into a git
worktree at <path> instead of switching the current branch;
--worktree requires --checkout, cannot be blank, and cannot be combined
with --list.NO_COLOR, CLICOLOR_FORCE, and GH_FORCE_TTY are honored. Set
GH_FORCE_TTY=1 if you want TTY-style output (colors, tables, the
pager, interactivity) inside an agent harness; leave it unset unless needed.