---
name: github-operations
license: MIT
compatibility: "Claude Code 2.1.76+. Requires gh CLI."
author: OrchestKit
description: GitHub CLI operations for issues, PRs, milestones, and Projects v2. Covers gh commands, REST API patterns, and automation scripts. Use when managing GitHub issues, PRs, milestones, or Projects with gh.
context: fork
version: 1.1.0
tags: [github, gh, cli, issues, pr, milestones, projects, api]
user-invocable: false
complexity: medium
persuasion-type: guidance
metadata:
  category: workflow-automation
allowed-tools:
  - Read
  - Glob
  - Grep
  - Bash
  - Write
  - Edit
  - TaskCreate
  - TaskUpdate
  - TaskList
---

# GitHub Operations

Comprehensive GitHub CLI (`gh`) operations for project management, from basic issue creation to advanced Projects v2 integration and milestone tracking via REST API.

## Overview

- Creating and managing GitHub issues and PRs
- Working with GitHub Projects v2 custom fields
- Managing milestones (sprints, releases) via REST API
- Automating bulk operations with `gh`
- Running GraphQL queries for complex operations

---

## CRITICAL: Task Management is MANDATORY (CC 2.1.16)

**BEFORE doing ANYTHING else, create tasks to track progress:**

```python
# 1. Create main task IMMEDIATELY
TaskCreate(
  subject="GitHub Operations: {target}",
  description="Managing GitHub issues, PRs, milestones, or Projects",
  activeForm="Managing GitHub resources"
)

# 2. Create subtasks matching the operation scope
TaskCreate(subject="Issue management", activeForm="Creating/updating issues")
TaskCreate(subject="PR management", activeForm="Managing pull requests")
TaskCreate(subject="Milestone tracking", activeForm="Updating milestones")

# 3. Set dependencies if operations are sequential
TaskUpdate(taskId="3", addBlockedBy=["2"])
TaskUpdate(taskId="4", addBlockedBy=["3"])

# 4. Before starting each task, verify it's unblocked
task = TaskGet(taskId="2")  # Verify blockedBy is empty

# 5. Update status as you progress
TaskUpdate(taskId="2", status="in_progress")  # When starting
TaskUpdate(taskId="2", status="completed")    # When done
```

## Quick Reference

### Issue Operations

```bash
# Create issue with labels and milestone
gh issue create --title "Bug: API returns 500" --body "..." --label "bug" --milestone "Sprint 5"

# List and filter issues
gh issue list --state open --label "backend" --assignee @me

# Edit issue metadata
gh issue edit 123 --add-label "high" --milestone "v2.0"
```

### PR Operations

```bash
# Create PR with reviewers
gh pr create --title "feat: Add search" --body "..." --base dev --reviewer @teammate

# Watch CI status and auto-merge
gh pr checks 456 --watch
gh pr merge 456 --auto --squash --delete-branch

# Resume a session linked to a PR (CC 2.1.27)
claude --from-pr 456           # Resume session with PR context (diff, comments, review status)
claude --from-pr https://github.com/org/repo/pull/456
```

> **Tip (CC 2.1.27):** Sessions created via `gh pr create` are automatically linked to the PR. Use `--from-pr` to resume with full PR context.

### Milestone Operations (REST API)

> **Footgun:** `gh issue edit --milestone` takes a **NAME** (string), not a number. The REST API uses a **NUMBER** (integer). Never pass a number to `--milestone`. Load `Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/cli-vs-api-identifiers.md")`.

```bash
# List milestones with progress
gh api repos/:owner/:repo/milestones --jq '.[] | "\(.title): \(.closed_issues)/\(.open_issues + .closed_issues)"'

# Create milestone with due date
gh api -X POST repos/:owner/:repo/milestones \
  -f title="Sprint 8" -f due_on="2026-02-15T00:00:00Z"

# Close milestone (API uses number, not name)
MILESTONE_NUM=$(gh api repos/:owner/:repo/milestones --jq '.[] | select(.title=="Sprint 8") | .number')
gh api -X PATCH repos/:owner/:repo/milestones/$MILESTONE_NUM -f state=closed

# Assign issues to milestone (CLI uses name, not number)
gh issue edit 123 124 125 --milestone "Sprint 8"
```

### Projects v2 Operations

```bash
# Add issue to project
gh project item-add 1 --owner @me --url https://github.com/org/repo/issues/123

# Set custom field (requires GraphQL)
gh api graphql -f query='mutation {...}' -f projectId="..." -f itemId="..."
```

---

## JSON Output Patterns

```bash
# Get issue numbers matching criteria
gh issue list --json number,labels --jq '[.[] | select(.labels[].name == "bug")] | .[].number'

# PR summary with author
gh pr list --json number,title,author --jq '.[] | "\(.number): \(.title) by \(.author.login)"'

# Find ready-to-merge PRs
gh pr list --json number,reviewDecision,statusCheckRollupState \
  --jq '[.[] | select(.reviewDecision == "APPROVED" and .statusCheckRollupState == "SUCCESS")]'
```

---

## Key Concepts

### Milestone vs Epic

| Milestones | Epics |
|------------|-------|
| Time-based (sprints, releases) | Topic-based (features) |
| Has due date | No due date |
| Progress bar | Task list checkbox |
| Native REST API | Needs workarounds |

**Rule**: Use milestones for "when", use parent issues for "what".

### Projects v2 Custom Fields

Projects v2 uses GraphQL for setting custom fields (Status, Priority, Domain). Basic `gh project` commands work for listing and adding items, but field updates require GraphQL mutations.

---

## Rules Quick Reference

| Rule | Impact | What It Covers |
|------|--------|----------------|
| issue-tracking-automation (load `${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/rules/issue-tracking-automation.md`) | HIGH | Auto-progress from commits, sub-task completion, session summaries |
| issue-branch-linking (load `${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/rules/issue-branch-linking.md`) | MEDIUM | Branch naming, commit references, PR linking patterns |

## Batch Issue Creation

When creating multiple issues at once (e.g., seeding a sprint), use an array-driven loop:

```bash
# Define issues as an array of "title|labels|milestone" entries
SPRINT="Sprint 9"
ISSUES=(
  "feat: Add user auth|enhancement,backend|$SPRINT"
  "fix: Login redirect loop|bug,high|$SPRINT"
  "chore: Update dependencies|maintenance|$SPRINT"
)

for entry in "${ISSUES[@]}"; do
  IFS='|' read -r title labels milestone <<< "$entry"
  NUM=$(gh issue create \
    --title "$title" \
    --label "$labels" \
    --milestone "$milestone" \
    --body "" \
    --json number --jq '.number')
  echo "Created #$NUM: $title"
done
```

> **Tip:** Capture the created issue number with `--json number --jq '.number'` so you can reference it immediately (e.g., add to Projects v2, link in PRs).

---

## Best Practices

1. **Always use `--json` for scripting** - Parse with `--jq` for reliability
2. **Non-interactive mode for automation** - Use `--title`, `--body` flags
3. **Check rate limits before bulk operations** - `gh api rate_limit`. On CC ≥ 2.1.116, the Bash tool surfaces a rate-limit hint in the transcript when `gh` hits 403 — **treat that hint as authoritative and back off**, don't blind-retry. Before 2.1.116, agents had no signal and would burn all retry attempts in ~13 s.
4. **Use heredocs for multi-line content** - `--body "$(cat <<'EOF'...EOF)"`
5. **Link issues in PRs** - `Closes #123`, `Fixes #456` — GitHub auto-closes on merge
6. **Use ISO 8601 dates** - `YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ` for milestone due_on
7. **Close milestones, don't delete** - Preserve history
8. **`--milestone` takes NAME, not number** - Load `Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/cli-vs-api-identifiers.md")`
9. **Never `gh issue close` directly** - Comment progress with `gh issue comment`; issues close only when their linked PR merges to the default branch

---

## 2026 CLI changes — what to know

### `gh-copilot` extension is retired

GitHub retired the `gh-copilot` extension in **October 2025**. Copilot is now a standalone binary:

```bash
# OLD — no longer supported
gh extension install github/gh-copilot   # fails
gh copilot suggest "revert last commit"   # fails

# NEW — standalone `copilot` binary
copilot suggest "revert last commit"
copilot explain "git rebase -i HEAD~5"
```

Install from `cli.github.com/copilot` or via Homebrew (`brew install github/gh/copilot`). Authentication is shared with `gh auth` when both are installed.

### `gh agent-task` (2026)

New subcommand for managing Copilot coding-agent tasks:

```bash
gh agent-task create --repo owner/repo --title "Fix flaky login test"
gh agent-task list --state open
gh agent-task view 42 --log          # stream agent log
gh agent-task watch 42                # live-follow until completion
gh agent-task cancel 42
```

Pairs with the REST endpoint `POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/agent-tasks` for CI-driven task creation.

### Sub-issues (native, 2026)

Sub-issues are now a native GitHub concept — no extension required:

```bash
# List sub-issues of parent #123
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/123/sub_issues

# Add an existing issue #456 as sub-issue of #123
gh api -X POST repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/123/sub_issues \
  -f sub_issue_id=$(gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/456 --jq .node_id)

# Remove a sub-issue relationship
gh api -X DELETE repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/123/sub_issue \
  -F sub_issue_id=<id>
```

The old `gh-sub-issue` third-party extension still works but is superseded. GraphQL sub-issue mutations still require the issue `node_id` (see `references/cli-vs-api-identifiers.md`).

---

## Related Skills

- `ork:create-pr` - Create pull requests with proper formatting and review assignments
- `ork:review-pr` - Comprehensive PR review with specialized agents
- `ork:release-management` - GitHub release workflow with semantic versioning and changelogs
- `stacked-prs` - Manage dependent PRs with rebase coordination
- `ork:issue-progress-tracking` - Automatic issue progress updates from commits

## Key Decisions

| Decision | Choice | Rationale |
|----------|--------|-----------|
| CLI vs API | gh CLI preferred | Simpler auth, better UX, handles pagination automatically |
| Output format | --json with --jq | Reliable parsing for automation, no regex parsing needed |
| Milestones vs Epics | Milestones for time | Milestones have due dates and progress bars, epics for topic grouping |
| Projects v2 fields | GraphQL mutations | gh project commands limited, GraphQL required for custom fields |
| Milestone lifecycle | Close, don't delete | Preserves history and progress tracking |

## References

Load on demand with `Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/<file>")`:
| File | Content |
|------|---------|
| `issue-management.md` | Bulk operations, templates, sub-issues |
| `pr-workflows.md` | Reviews, merge strategies, auto-merge |
| `milestone-api.md` | REST API patterns for milestone CRUD |
| `projects-v2.md` | Custom fields, GraphQL mutations |
| `graphql-api.md` | Complex queries, pagination, bulk operations |
| `cli-vs-api-identifiers.md` | NAME vs NUMBER footguns, milestone/project ID mapping |

## Examples

Load: `Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/examples/automation-scripts.md")` - Ready-to-use scripts for bulk operations, PR automation, milestone management
