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GitHub Operations

Comprehensive GitHub operations using the gh CLI and REST/GraphQL APIs — PRs, issues, repositories, workflows, and bulk operations across public and Enterprise GitHub.

10 minutes
By daymadeSource
#github#gh-cli#automation#pull-requests#api

Clicking through the GitHub UI for repetitive PR and issue work is slow and error-prone. This playbook gives Claude a reliable command vocabulary for everything via gh and the API.

Who it's for: developers, DevOps engineers, engineering managers, automation builders

Example

"Merge the approved PRs and close stale issues" → Claude runs the gh commands to review status, merge, and triage with the right safeguards

CLAUDE.md Template

New here? 3-minute setup guide → | Already set up? Copy the template below.

# GitHub Operations

## Overview

This skill provides comprehensive guidance for GitHub operations using the `gh` CLI tool and GitHub REST/GraphQL APIs. Use this skill when performing any GitHub-related tasks including pull request management, issue tracking, repository operations, workflow automation, and API interactions.

## When to Use This Skill

This skill activates for tasks involving:
- Creating, viewing, editing, or merging pull requests
- Managing GitHub issues or repository settings
- Querying GitHub API endpoints (REST or GraphQL)
- Working with GitHub Actions workflows
- Performing bulk operations on repositories
- Integrating with GitHub Enterprise
- Automating GitHub operations via CLI or API

## Core Operations

### Pull Requests

```bash
# Create PR with NOJIRA prefix (bypasses JIRA enforcement checks)
gh pr create --title "NOJIRA: Your PR title" --body "PR description"

# List and view PRs
gh pr list --state open
gh pr view 123

# Manage PRs
gh pr merge 123 --squash
gh pr review 123 --approve
gh pr comment 123 --body "LGTM"
```

📚 See `references/pr_operations.md` for comprehensive PR workflows

**PR Title Convention:**
- With JIRA ticket: `GR-1234: Descriptive title`
- Without JIRA ticket: `NOJIRA: Descriptive title`

### Issues

```bash
# Create and manage issues
gh issue create --title "Bug: Issue title" --body "Issue description"
gh issue list --state open --label bug
gh issue edit 456 --add-label "priority-high"
gh issue close 456
```

📚 See `references/issue_operations.md` for detailed issue management

### Repositories

```bash
# View and manage repos
gh repo view --web
gh repo clone owner/repo
gh repo create my-new-repo --public
```

### Workflows

```bash
# Manage GitHub Actions
gh workflow list
gh workflow run workflow-name
gh run watch run-id
gh run download run-id
```

📚 See `references/workflow_operations.md` for advanced workflow operations

### GitHub API

The `gh api` command provides direct access to GitHub REST API endpoints. Refer to `references/api_reference.md` for comprehensive API endpoint documentation.

**Basic API operations:**
```bash
# Get PR details via API
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pr_number}

# Add PR comment
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{pr_number}/comments \
  -f body="Comment text"

# List workflow runs
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/runs
```

For complex queries requiring multiple related resources, use GraphQL. See `references/api_reference.md` for GraphQL examples.

## Authentication and Configuration

```bash
# Login to GitHub
gh auth login

# Login to GitHub Enterprise
gh auth login --hostname github.enterprise.com

# Check authentication status
gh auth status

# Set default repository
gh repo set-default owner/repo

# Configure gh settings
gh config set editor vim
gh config set git_protocol ssh
gh config list
```

## Output Formats

Control output format for programmatic processing:

```bash
# JSON output
gh pr list --json number,title,state,author

# JSON with jq processing
gh pr list --json number,title | jq '.[] | select(.title | contains("bug"))'

# Template output
gh pr list --template '{{range .}}{{.number}}: {{.title}}{{"\n"}}{{end}}'
```

📚 See `references/best_practices.md` for shell patterns and automation strategies

## Quick Reference

**Most Common Operations:**
```bash
gh pr create --title "NOJIRA: Title" --body "Description"  # Create PR
gh pr list                                                  # List PRs
gh pr view 123                                              # View PR details
gh pr checks 123                                            # Check PR status
gh pr merge 123 --squash                                    # Merge PR
gh pr comment 123 --body "LGTM"                            # Comment on PR
gh issue create --title "Title" --body "Description"       # Create issue
gh workflow run workflow-name                               # Run workflow
gh repo view --web                                          # Open repo in browser
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pr_number}              # Direct API call
```

## Resources

### references/pr_operations.md

Comprehensive pull request operations including:
- Detailed PR creation patterns (JIRA integration, body from file, targeting branches)
- Viewing and filtering strategies
- Review workflows and approval patterns
- PR lifecycle management
- Bulk operations and automation examples

Load this reference when working with complex PR workflows or bulk operations.

### references/issue_operations.md

Detailed issue management examples including:
- Issue creation with labels and assignees
- Advanced filtering and search
- Issue lifecycle and state management
- Bulk operations on multiple issues
- Integration with PRs and projects

Load this reference when managing issues at scale or setting up issue workflows.

### references/workflow_operations.md

Advanced GitHub Actions workflow operations including:
- Workflow triggers and manual runs
- Run monitoring and debugging
- Artifact management
- Secrets and variables
- Performance optimization strategies

Load this reference when working with CI/CD workflows or debugging failed runs.

### references/best_practices.md

Shell scripting patterns and automation strategies including:
- Output formatting (JSON, templates, jq)
- Pagination and large result sets
- Error handling and retry logic
- Bulk operations and parallel execution
- Enterprise GitHub patterns
- Performance optimization

Load this reference when building automation scripts or handling enterprise deployments.

### references/api_reference.md

Contains comprehensive GitHub REST API endpoint documentation including:
- Complete API endpoint reference with examples
- Request/response formats
- Authentication patterns
- Rate limiting guidance
- Webhook configurations
- Advanced GraphQL query patterns

Load this reference when performing complex API operations or when needing detailed endpoint specifications.
README.md

What This Does

Comprehensive GitHub operations using the gh CLI and REST/GraphQL APIs — PRs, issues, repositories, workflows, and bulk operations across public and Enterprise GitHub.

What's Inside

The template covers:

  • When to Use This Skill
  • Core Operations
  • Authentication and Configuration
  • Output Formats
  • Quick Reference
  • Resources

Quick Start

Step 1: Create a Project Folder

Make a dedicated folder for this workflow and open it in Claude Code.

Step 2: Download the Template

Click Download above to save the template, then drop it into your project as CLAUDE.md (or paste it into your existing one).

Step 3: Start Working

Tell Claude what you need in plain language — it will follow the template's workflow automatically. For example:

Merge the approved PRs and close stale issues

Claude reads the template and runs the steps for you.

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