GitHub Operations

Runs on: local-exec - runs a local script; on a cloud surface I read the results, I do not run it.

Fast GitHub operations on any repo your gh CLI is authenticated against.

Trigger

When the operator asks about GitHub issues, PRs, repos, actions, or releases.

Interface: gh CLI is canonical

Use the gh CLI via Bash for all read and write operations: gh issue list, gh pr view, gh api, gh run list, and so on. The CLI is the canonical interface for this skill.

A GitHub MCP server, if present in the session, may expose only authenticate and complete_authentication (auth-only) and not the full issue, PR, or Actions tool surface. Do not assume MCP covers an operation. Check the available tools at session start before relying on MCP, and fall back to gh whenever MCP does not cover what you need. If a future session has a fuller GitHub MCP wired up, prefer those tools and fall back to gh only for gaps.

Pre-flight

• Confirm gh is installed and authenticated: gh auth status. If it is not, tell the operator to run gh auth login and stop.
• Confirm the target repo. If the working directory is a git repo, gh infers it. For another repo, pass --repo owner/name explicitly.

Capabilities

A title or body holds someone's words, and an issue body often holds code in backticks. Inside double quotes on the command line those backticks and any $(...) run as commands. So never put real text in quotes after --title or --body. Pass the title through a quoted block and the body on stdin with --body-file -, every line at the left edge with no spaces in front:

gh issue create --title "$(cat <<'FOUNDER_OS_TITLE_END'
<the title>
FOUNDER_OS_TITLE_END
)" --body-file - <<'FOUNDER_OS_BODY_END'
<the body, as many lines as it needs>
FOUNDER_OS_BODY_END

gh issue comment <number> and gh pr create take the same --body-file - block (and gh pr create the same --title block). If the text has a line that reads exactly FOUNDER_OS_TITLE_END or FOUNDER_OS_BODY_END, do not run it.

Issues

• Create issues: gh issue create with the quoted blocks above
• List and filter open issues: gh issue list --state open
• Comment on issues: gh issue comment <number> --body-file - with the body block above
• Close or label issues: gh issue close <number>, gh issue edit <number> --add-label "..."

Pull requests

• List open PRs: gh pr list --state open
• Review PR diffs and comments: gh pr view <number> --comments, gh pr diff <number>
• Create PRs (only when explicitly asked): gh pr create with the quoted blocks above
• Check PR CI status: gh pr checks <number>

Actions and CI

• View recent workflow runs: gh run list
• Check a specific run status and logs: gh run view <run-id> --log
• Re-trigger a failed run (only when explicitly asked): gh run rerun <run-id>

Repository

• View repo stats: gh repo view
• Browse files and directories: gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path}
• Compare branches: gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/compare/{base}...{head}

Releases

• List releases: gh release list
• View release notes: gh release view <tag>

Workflow

1. Identify the operation and target repo.
2. Run the gh command. Report results concisely.
3. For any write operation (create, comment, close, label, PR, rerun): confirm with the operator before acting.

Quick commands

• "what's open" -> gh issue list --state open and gh pr list --state open
• "CI status" -> gh run list --limit 5
• "create issue: {title}" -> confirm, then gh issue create

Commit and push rules

When this skill creates a PR or any commit, follow rules/commit-naming.md (read it first if present). The non-negotiable rules across every repo:

• No AI attribution. Never add a Co-authored-by line or any AI-generated footer to a commit. The operator is the author.
• Subjects state the user-visible change in plain language. No version-only subjects. No banned words.
• Never force push, never skip hooks, never amend a published commit.
• Push only when the operator explicitly asks. Do not push or open a PR on your own.

Hard rules

• Confirm before any write operation.
• Do not assume a GitHub MCP tool surface beyond auth unless verified in-session. The gh CLI is the canonical interface.
• Do not claim a command ran until it has actually run and returned output.
• No em dashes or en dashes. Hyphens only. No banned words.