GitHub CLI Mastery: 20 Commands Every Developer Should Know

Published: April 3, 2026 | Updated: April 2026

The GitHub CLI (`gh`) has transformed how developers interact with GitHub. Instead of switching between terminal and browser, you can manage repos, issues, pull requests, releases, and more—all from the command line. This comprehensive guide covers the 20 commands that will supercharge your GitHub workflow in 2026.

Getting Started

Installation

# macOS
brew install gh

# Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt install gh

# Windows
winget install GitHub.cli

# Or download from: https://cli.github.com/

Authentication

# Authenticate with GitHub
gh auth login

# Check authentication status
gh auth status

# Log out
gh auth logout

Pro tip: Use `gh auth refresh` to refresh your authentication token if you encounter permission errors.

The 20 Essential Commands

Repository Commands (5 Commands)

1. Clone a Repository

# Basic clone
gh repo clone owner/repo

# Clone with custom directory name
gh repo clone owner/repo -- --dirname my-project

# Clone with all branches
git clone --mirror https://github.com/owner/repo

2. Create a Repository

# Create repository in current directory
gh repo create my-project --source=. --private

# Create standalone repository
gh repo create my-org/my-project --public

# Create from template
gh repo create my-project --template owner/template-repo

Flags:

`--private`, `--public`, `--internal` — visibility
`--source=.` — use current directory
`--push` — push after creation
`--team` — add to organization team

3. Fork a Repository

# Fork current repo
gh repo fork

# Fork specific repo
gh repo fork owner/repo --clone=true

# Fork with specific organization
gh repo fork owner/repo --org my-org

4. View Repository Info

# View repo details
gh repo view

# View specific repo
gh repo view owner/repo

# View with readme content
gh repo view owner/repo --web

# View repo and show clone URL
gh repo view owner/repo --json name,url,description

5. Sync Repository

# Sync fork with upstream
gh repo sync owner/repo --source upstream

# Sync with specific branch
gh repo sync owner/repo --branch main

Issue Commands (5 Commands)

6. Create an Issue

# Create issue interactively
gh issue create

# Create with flags
gh issue create --title "Bug in login" --body "Steps to reproduce..." --label bug

# Create from file
gh issue create --title "Feature request" --body-file feature.md

# Assign to milestone
gh issue create --title "Task" --milestone "v2.0"

Useful Flags:

`--title` — issue title
`--body` or `--body-file` — issue description
`--label` or `--assignee` — add labels/assignees
`--milestone` — add to milestone
`--project` — add to project board
`--web` — open in browser instead

7. List Issues

# List open issues in current repo
gh issue list

# List with specific state
gh issue list --state all
gh issue list --state closed

# Filter by label
gh issue list --label bug,urgent

# Filter by assignee
gh issue list --assignee @me

# Search issues
gh issue list --search "error in:title is:open"

8. View and Edit Issues

# View issue in terminal
gh issue view 123

# View in browser
gh issue view 123 --web

# Edit issue
gh issue edit 123 --title "New title" --add-label "enhancement"

# Close issue
gh issue close 123 --comment "Fixed in PR #456"

9. Manage Issue Labels

# List available labels
gh label list

# Create label
gh label create "needs-review" --description "Awaiting code review"

# Edit label
gh label edit "needs-review" --name "awaiting-review" --color "ff0000"

10. Transfer Issue

# Transfer issue to another repo
gh issue transfer 123 owner/other-repo

Pull Request Commands (5 Commands)

11. Create a Pull Request

# Create PR interactively
gh pr create

# Create with flags
gh pr create --title "Add new feature" --body "Description..." --label enhancement

# Create from branch
gh pr create --head my-feature-branch --base main

# Draft PR
gh pr create --draft --title "WIP: New feature"

# Auto-assign reviewers
gh pr create --reviewer alice,bob --title "Feature" --body "Details"

Useful Flags:

`--title`, `--body` — PR title and description
`--base` — target branch (default: main)
`--head` — source branch
`--draft` — draft PR
`--reviewer` — request reviews
`--assignee` — assign PR
`--label` or `--project` — add labels or project
`--milestone` — add to milestone
`--web` — open in browser

12. List Pull Requests

# List open PRs
gh pr list

# List by state
gh pr list --state closed
gh pr list --state merged

# Filter by author
gh pr list --author @me

# Filter by label
gh pr list --label "needs-review"

# Filter by branch
gh pr list --head my-feature

13. View Pull Request

# View PR in terminal
gh pr view 123

# View specific PR
gh pr view owner/repo#123

# View PR diff
gh pr diff 123

# View PR status checks
gh pr checks 123

# View in browser
gh pr view 123 --web

14. Review Pull Requests

# Check out PR locally
gh pr checkout 123

# Approve PR
gh pr review 123 --approve

# Request changes
gh pr review 123 --request-changes --body "Needs improvement on..."

# Comment PR
gh pr review 123 --comment --body "Looks good!"

# Submit review
gh pr review 123 --approve --submit

15. Merge and Manage PRs

# Merge PR
gh pr merge 123 --squash --delete-branch

# Merge with merge commit
gh pr merge 123 --merge --delete-branch

# Rebase and merge
gh pr merge 123 --rebase --delete-branch

# Close PR
gh pr close 123 --comment "Closing in favor of #456"

# Check merge status
gh pr view 123 --json mergeable,state

Workflow and Action Commands (3 Commands)

16. Run GitHub Actions

# List workflow runs
gh run list

# View run details
gh run view 12345

# Watch run progress
gh run watch 12345

# Rerun failed job
gh run rerun 12345

# Download run artifacts
gh run download 12345 --name "build-output"

# Trigger workflow
gh workflow run build.yml --ref my-branch

17. Manage Workflows

# List all workflows
gh workflow list

# View workflow
gh workflow view build.yml

# Enable/disable workflow
gh workflow disable build.yml
gh workflow enable build.yml

# Run workflow
gh workflow run build.yml --env "ENV=prod"

18. Manage GitHub Actions Secrets

# List repo secrets
gh secret list

# Set secret
gh secret set API_KEY --body "your-secret-value"

# Set from env variable
gh secret set API_KEY --body "$API_KEY"

# Delete secret
gh secret delete API_KEY

# List org secrets
gh secret list --org my-org

# Set org secret
gh secret set API_KEY --org my-org --visibility all

Release and Package Commands (2 Commands)

19. Manage Releases

# List releases
gh release list

# View release
gh release view v1.2.3

# Create release
gh release create v1.2.3 --title "Version 1.2.3" --notes "Bug fixes and improvements"

# Create from tag
gh release create --generate-notes

# Upload assets
gh release upload v1.2.3 ./build/myapp --clobber

# Delete release
gh release delete v1.2.3

20. Manage Gist

# Create gist
echo "Hello" | gh gist create

# Create gist from file
gh gist create myfile.js --public

# Create gist with description
gh gist create script.sh --desc "My deployment script"

# List your gists
gh gist list

# View gist
gh gist view abc123

# Edit gist
gh gist edit abc123 --add "new content"

Bonus: GitHub CLI Tips and Tricks

Interactive Mode

# Use interactive selection for many commands
gh issue create  # interactive prompts
gh pr create     # interactive prompts
gh repo clone    # interactive selection

JSON Output for Scripting

# Get JSON output
gh issue list --json number,title,state,labels

# Query specific fields
gh repo view --json name,description,url

# Use in scripts
ISSUES=$(gh issue list --json number --jq '.[].number')
for issue in $ISSUES; do
    gh issue comment $issue --body "Bump!"
done

Alias Commands

# Create aliases in gh config
gh alias set co "pr checkout"
gh alias set i "issue"
gh alias set r "repo"

# Now use shortcuts
gh co 123      # instead of gh pr checkout 123
gh i list      # instead of gh issue list
gh r view      # instead of gh repo view

Configuration

# Set default editor
gh config set editor vim

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

# Set git protocol
gh config set git_protocol ssh

# View all config
gh config list

Essential Workflow Examples

Daily PR Workflow

# 1. Create feature branch
git checkout -b feature/new-feature

# 2. Make changes and commit
git add .
git commit -m "Add new feature"

# 3. Push and create PR
git push -u origin feature/new-feature
gh pr create --title "Add new feature" --reviewer owner

# 4. Check PR status
gh pr checks

# 5. After review, merge
gh pr merge --squash --delete-branch

Issue Triage Workflow

# 1. List open issues
gh issue list --state open --label "needs-triage"

# 2. View issue details
gh issue view 123

# 3. Add labels and assign
gh issue edit 123 --add-label "bug" --add-assignee @me

# 4. If duplicate, close and link
gh issue close 123 --comment "Duplicate of #456" --duplicate 456

Release Workflow

# 1. Create release branch
git checkout -b release/v1.2.0
git commit -m "Bump version"

# 2. Create tag and push
git tag v1.2.0
git push origin v1.2.0

# 3. Create GitHub release
gh release create v1.2.0 --title "Release v1.2.0" --notes-file CHANGELOG.md

# 4. Upload binaries
gh release upload v1.2.0 ./dist/myapp-darwin-amd64
gh release upload v1.2.0 ./dist/myapp-linux-amd64

GitHub CLI vs GitHub Web: When to Use Each

Task	GitHub CLI	GitHub Web
----	-----------	------------
Quick commits	✅ Perfect	❌ Too slow
Code review	✅ Great for terminal lovers	✅ Better for complex diffs
Managing issues	✅ Very efficient	✅ Good for non-technical users
Release management	✅ Scriptable	❌ Manual
First-time repo exploration	❌ Limited	✅ Better overview
Automation/CI/CD	✅ Excellent	❌ Not applicable

Conclusion

The GitHub CLI is essential for developers who want to stay in the terminal and automate their GitHub workflows. These 20 commands cover 95% of what you'll do daily, from managing issues and PRs to creating releases and managing secrets.

Key Takeaways:

Use `gh auth login` to authenticate first
Use `--json` and `--jq` for scripting
Create aliases for frequently used commands
Use `--web` flag when you need the browser
Combine with `gh alias set` for personalized shortcuts

Start with the commands you use most often and gradually incorporate more. The CLI is especially powerful when combined with shell scripts and CI/CD pipelines.

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