GitHub CLI (gh) is GitHub’s official command-line tool. It brings pull requests, issues, releases, GitHub Actions, and repo management directly into your terminal — no more Alt-Tab to github.com.

Terminal — typical gh workflow

$ gh pr create --title "Add empire-shells QuickAnswer"

Creating pull request for mahesh:feat/quick-answer into main in maheshwaghmare/empire https://github.com/maheshwaghmare/empire/pull/421

$ gh pr view --web

Opening https://github.com/maheshwaghmare/empire/pull/421 in your browser.

This guide covers install + auth (the two things you only do once), then every gh command you’ll actually use day-to-day.

Installation

Windows

The fastest option is winget (built into Windows 10/11):

PowerShell — winget install

C:\> winget install --id GitHub.cli

Found GitHub CLI [GitHub.cli] Version 2.39.1 Successfully installed

C:\> gh --version

gh version 2.39.1 (2023-12-13) https://github.com/cli/cli/releases/tag/v2.39.1

Alternatives — choco install gh or scoop install gh if you use those package managers.

macOS

Homebrew is the standard install:

Terminal — Homebrew install

$ brew install gh

==> Pouring gh--2.39.1.arm64_sonoma.bottle.tar.gz ==> Installed /opt/homebrew/Cellar/gh/2.39.1

$ gh --version

gh version 2.39.1 (2023-12-13)

Linux

Debian/Ubuntu — official GitHub apt repo (the version in default apt repos is usually stale):

bash — Ubuntu/Debian via official repo

$ curl -fsSL https://cli.github.com/packages/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg | sudo dd of=/usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg

$ echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg] https://cli.github.com/packages stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/github-cli.list > /dev/null

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install gh

Setting up gh (2.39.1) ...

$ gh --version

gh version 2.39.1

Fedora/RHEL: sudo dnf install 'dnf-command(config-manager)' && sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://cli.github.com/packages/rpm/gh-cli.repo && sudo dnf install gh

Arch: sudo pacman -S github-cli

Authentication

You only do this once per machine. gh auth login walks you through it interactively:

Terminal — first-time auth

$ gh auth login

? What account do you want to log into? GitHub.com ? What is your preferred protocol for Git operations? HTTPS ? Authenticate Git with your GitHub credentials? Yes ? How would you like to authenticate GitHub CLI? Login with a web browser ! First copy your one-time code: ABCD-1234 - Press Enter to open github.com in your browser... Authentication complete. - gh config set -h github.com git_protocol https Configured git protocol Logged in as your-username

Check who you’re logged in as

Terminal — verify auth

$ gh auth status

github.com Logged in to github.com account your-username (keyring) - Active account: true - Git operations protocol: https - Token: gho_************************************ - Token scopes: 'gist', 'read:org', 'repo', 'workflow'

Repository management

The 5 commands you’ll use daily:

Terminal — repo commands

$ gh repo create my-new-app --public --clone

Created repository your-username/my-new-app on GitHub Cloned to /Users/you/my-new-app

$ gh repo clone vercel/next.js

Cloning into 'next.js'...

$ gh repo fork vercel/next.js --clone

Created fork your-username/next.js Cloned fork

$ gh repo view --web

Opening https://github.com/your-username/my-new-app in your browser.

Other useful repo commands:

gh repo list — your repos
gh repo list organization-name — org repos
gh repo edit --description "New description" — update repo metadata
gh repo view owner/repo --json name,description,isPrivate — JSON output for scripting

Pull requests

This is where gh really earns its place. Top GSC queries on this page hit gh pr view --web and gh pr checkout specifically.

Create a PR

Terminal — gh pr create

$ git checkout -b feat/quick-answer && git push -u origin feat/quick-answer

$ gh pr create --title "Add empire-shells QuickAnswer" --body "Adds the QuickAnswer card to the how-to hero right side. Wires JSON-LD HowTo step[]."

Pull request created: https://github.com/owner/repo/pull/421

gh pr create defaults to your current branch. Add --draft for draft PRs, --web to open the create form in browser instead.

View / open / merge

Terminal — gh pr lifecycle

$ gh pr view

#421 Add empire-shells QuickAnswer Open · your-username wants to merge 3 commits into main from feat/quick-answer Checks passing + 142 -38 across 8 files

$ gh pr view --web

Opening https://github.com/owner/repo/pull/421 in your browser.

$ gh pr checkout 421

remote: Enumerating objects: 18, done. Switched to branch 'feat/quick-answer'

$ gh pr merge 421 --squash --delete-branch

Squashed and merged pull request #421 Deleted branch feat/quick-answer

Daily PR commands

Command	What it does
`gh pr list`	List open PRs in current repo
`gh pr list --state all`	Include closed/merged PRs
`gh pr checkout <number>`	Switch local branch to PR’s branch
`gh pr review --approve`	Approve current PR
`gh pr review --request-changes -b "needs work"`	Request changes with comment
`gh pr diff`	Show PR diff in terminal
`gh pr status`	PRs relevant to you (assigned, mentioned, reviewing)

Issues

Terminal — gh issue commands

$ gh issue create --title "Bug in OSSettingsMockup window controls" --body "Window-control icons render as Unicode glyphs instead of SVG."

Created issue your-username/empire#142

$ gh issue list --label bug --limit 5

#142 Bug in OSSettingsMockup window controls bug about 1 hour ago #138 Callout icons should be SVG not Unicode bug about 4 hours ago ...

$ gh issue close 142 --comment "Fixed in #421"

Closed issue #142

GitHub Actions workflows

Terminal — gh workflow + gh run

$ gh workflow list

Deploy active 12345 Test active 12346 Lint active 12347

$ gh workflow run Deploy

Created workflow run for "Deploy"

$ gh run list --limit 3

X Deploy main push 2m45s abc1234 Test main push 1m22s abc1234 Lint main push 35s abc1234

$ gh run watch

build (4m12s) test (1m22s) deploy (2m45s) Run Deploy completed with success

Best practices

Authenticate once per machine — gh auth login stores credentials in your OS keychain
Default to HTTPS — easier than SSH for new setups, gh handles credential helpers automatically
Pin to a version in CI — install gh via apt/brew pinned to a known good version for reproducible builds
Use --web when you want browser — gh pr view --web, gh repo view --web, gh issue view --web
JSON output for scripts — every gh X view command supports --json field1,field2 for shell scripting

Conclusion

GitHub CLI cuts your context-switching overhead dramatically once installed. The 30-second install + 1-minute auth pays back the first time you gh pr create from your editor’s integrated terminal without breaking flow.

Most common commands to memorize:

gh pr create — create PR from current branch
gh pr view --web — open current PR in browser
gh pr checkout <n> — check out someone else’s PR locally
gh issue list — what’s open in this repo
gh repo clone owner/repo — Git’s clone plus auth + remote setup

GitHub CLI Git Command Line Development

GitHub CLI (`gh`) — Install, Authenticate, and Use from Your Terminal (2026)