Introduction

As developers and DevOps engineers, we spend a lot of time switching between the terminal and GitHub's web interface. Creating repositories, managing issues, reviewing pull requests, and monitoring workflows often requires opening a browser, navigating through multiple pages, and breaking our workflow.

That's where GitHub CLI (gh) comes in.

GitHub CLI provides a powerful command-line interface that allows us to interact with GitHub directly from the terminal. From creating repositories to managing pull requests and workflows, almost everything can be done without leaving the command line.

Today I explored GitHub CLI and learned how it can simplify day-to-day GitHub operations and improve productivity.

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What is GitHub CLI?

GitHub CLI (gh) is an official tool from GitHub that brings GitHub functionality directly into your terminal.

Instead of:

1. Opening a browser

2. Navigating to GitHub

3. Creating repositories manually

4. Opening Pull Requests

5. Checking workflow status

You can do everything using simple commands.

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Installing GitHub CLI

The first step was installing GitHub CLI.

Ubuntu

sudo apt update
sudo apt install gh -y

macOS

brew install gh

Verify installation:

gh --version

This confirmed that GitHub CLI was successfully installed.

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Authenticating with GitHub

After installation, I authenticated my GitHub account.

gh auth login

GitHub CLI supports multiple authentication methods:

• Browser-based OAuth Login

• Personal Access Tokens (PAT)

• SSH Authentication

To verify authentication:

gh auth status

This displayed the currently logged-in GitHub account and authentication status.

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Creating a Repository from the Terminal

One of the most impressive features was creating repositories directly from the command line.

gh repo create day26-gh-demo \
  --public \
  --clone \
  --add-readme

This command:

• Created a repository on GitHub

• Made it public

• Added a README

• Cloned it locally

All in a single command.

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Managing Repositories

View repository details:

gh repo view

List all repositories:

gh repo list

Open repository in browser:

gh repo view --web

Delete repository:

gh repo delete <repo-name>

Repository management becomes significantly faster when done from the terminal.

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Working with Issues

GitHub Issues are commonly used for bug tracking, feature requests, and task management.

Creating an issue:

gh issue create

Listing open issues:

gh issue list

Viewing a specific issue:

gh issue view 1

Closing an issue:

gh issue close 1

Real-World Automation Use Case

Imagine a monitoring script detecting server downtime.

The script could automatically create a GitHub issue:

gh issue create \
  --title "Server Down" \
  --body "Production server is unreachable."

This makes issue management automation-friendly.

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Creating Pull Requests from the Terminal

Pull Requests are a core part of collaborative development.

First, I created a feature branch:

git switch -c feature-update

Made changes and pushed:

git push -u origin feature-update

Created a Pull Request:

gh pr create --fill

The --fill flag automatically generates the title and description from commit messages.

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Managing Pull Requests

List open PRs:

gh pr list

View PR details:

gh pr view

Merge PR:

gh pr merge --merge

GitHub CLI supports multiple merge methods:

gh pr merge --merge
gh pr merge --squash
gh pr merge --rebase

This means entire Pull Request workflows can be handled without opening GitHub in a browser.

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GitHub Actions Preview

GitHub CLI also provides access to workflow runs.

List workflow executions:

gh run list

View workflow details:

gh run view <RUN_ID>

This becomes extremely useful once CI/CD pipelines are introduced.

Instead of opening GitHub Actions pages repeatedly, workflow information can be checked instantly from the terminal.

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Useful GitHub CLI Commands

GitHub API

gh api user

Returns information directly from GitHub's API.

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Search Repositories

gh search repos devops

Search GitHub repositories from the terminal.

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Create a Gist

gh gist create notes.txt

Share files quickly as GitHub Gists.

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Create Releases

gh release create v1.0.0

Useful for versioned application deployments.

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Create Aliases

gh alias set prs "pr list"

Now:

gh prs

works as a shortcut for:

gh pr list

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Commands Learned Today

gh auth login

gh auth status

gh repo create

gh repo view

gh repo list

gh issue create

gh issue list

gh issue close

gh pr create

gh pr list

gh pr merge

gh run list

gh api

gh gist create

gh release create

gh alias set

gh search repos

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Key Learnings

1. GitHub CLI Reduces Context Switching

Most GitHub tasks can be completed without opening a browser.

2. Repository Management Becomes Faster

Repositories can be created, viewed, cloned, and deleted directly from the terminal.

3. Pull Requests Can Be Fully Managed via CLI

Creating, reviewing, and merging Pull Requests becomes much more efficient.

4. GitHub CLI is Automation-Friendly

Commands can easily be integrated into Bash scripts, CI/CD pipelines, and DevOps workflows.

5. GitHub CLI is a Powerful DevOps Tool

As automation increases, terminal-based GitHub management becomes extremely valuable.

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Conclusion

Day 26 introduced me to GitHub CLI, a tool that significantly improves productivity by bringing GitHub functionality directly into the terminal.

From repository management and issue tracking to Pull Requests and workflow monitoring, GitHub CLI provides a streamlined way to work with GitHub without constantly switching to a browser.

For DevOps engineers, this tool is especially useful because it integrates naturally with automation scripts, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure workflows.

Day 26 completed. 🚀