GitHub CLI Agentic Patterns

Optimized gh commands for AI agent consumption using JSON output and structured field selection.

Core Principle

Always use --json <fields> for machine-readable output. The --jq filter is built-in (no jq installation required).

Pull Request Operations

Check Status

bash

# Get all check statuses
gh pr checks $PR_NUMBER --json name,state,conclusion,detailsUrl

# Filter to failed only
gh pr checks $PR_NUMBER --json name,state,conclusion --jq '.[] | select(.conclusion == "FAILURE")'

Fields: name, state, conclusion, detailsUrl, startedAt, completedAt

PR Details

bash

# Essential PR info
gh pr view $PR_NUMBER --json number,title,state,mergeable,statusCheckRollup

# Full context
gh pr view $PR_NUMBER --json number,title,body,state,author,labels,assignees,reviewDecision,mergeable,statusCheckRollup

Key Fields:

Field	Description
`mergeable`	`MERGEABLE`, `CONFLICTING`, `UNKNOWN`
`reviewDecision`	`APPROVED`, `CHANGES_REQUESTED`, `REVIEW_REQUIRED`
`statusCheckRollup`	Array of check statuses

List PRs

bash

# Open PRs
gh pr list --json number,title,author,labels

# PRs by author
gh pr list --author @me --json number,title,state

# PRs needing review
gh pr list --search "review-requested:@me" --json number,title

Workflow Run Operations

Run Details

bash

# Get run status with jobs
gh run view $RUN_ID --json conclusion,status,jobs,createdAt,updatedAt

# List recent runs
gh run list --json databaseId,status,conclusion,name,createdAt -L 10

Status Values: queued, in_progress, completed Conclusion Values: success, failure, cancelled, skipped, neutral

Watch Run Until Completion

bash

# Watch and wait for run to complete (blocking, no timeout needed)
gh run watch $RUN_ID --compact --exit-status

# Find and watch latest run
RUN_ID=$(gh run list -L 1 --json databaseId --jq '.[0].databaseId')
gh run watch $RUN_ID --compact --exit-status

See gh-workflow-monitoring skill for comprehensive workflow watching patterns.

Failed Logs

bash

# Get only failed step logs (most useful for debugging)
gh run view $RUN_ID --log-failed

# Full logs (verbose)
gh run view $RUN_ID --log

Workflow Triggers

bash

# Trigger workflow manually
gh workflow run $WORKFLOW_NAME

# Trigger with inputs
gh workflow run $WORKFLOW_NAME -f param1=value1 -f param2=value2

# List workflows
gh workflow list --json name,state,path

Issue Operations

Issue Details

bash

# Full issue context
gh issue view $ISSUE_NUMBER --json number,title,body,state,labels,assignees,comments

# Minimal
gh issue view $ISSUE_NUMBER --json number,title,state,labels

List Issues

bash

# Open issues
gh issue list --json number,title,labels,assignees

# By label
gh issue list --label "bug" --json number,title

# Assigned to me
gh issue list --assignee @me --json number,title,state

Repository Operations

bash

# Get repo info
gh repo view --json nameWithOwner,defaultBranchRef,description

# Just owner/name
gh repo view --json nameWithOwner --jq '.nameWithOwner'

API Direct Access

For operations not covered by subcommands:

bash

# Get specific data
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/runs --jq '.workflow_runs[:5]'

# With pagination
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues --paginate --jq '.[].number'

Agentic Optimizations

Context	Command
CI diagnosis	`gh pr checks $N --json name,state,conclusion,detailsUrl`
Get failure logs	`gh run view $ID --log-failed`
PR merge status	`gh pr view $N --json mergeable,reviewDecision,statusCheckRollup`
Quick issue list	`gh issue list --json number,title,labels -L 10`
Workflow trigger	`gh workflow run $NAME`

Error Handling in Context

Always include fallback for context expressions:

markdown

- PR checks: !`gh pr checks $PR --json name,state,conclusion 2>/dev/null || echo "[]"`
- Run status: !`gh run view $ID --json status,conclusion 2>/dev/null || echo "{}"`

Field Reference

PR Fields

number, title, body, state, author, labels, assignees, reviewDecision, mergeable, statusCheckRollup, headRefName, baseRefName, isDraft, url, createdAt, updatedAt

Issue Fields

number, title, body, state, author, labels, assignees, comments, milestone, url, createdAt, updatedAt, closedAt

Run Fields

databaseId, name, status, conclusion, jobs, createdAt, updatedAt, url, headBranch, headSha, event

Job Fields (within runs)

name, status, conclusion, startedAt, completedAt, steps