gh-api - Man Page
Make an authenticated GitHub API request
Examples (TL;DR)
- Display the releases for the current repository in JSON format:
gh api repos/:owner/:repo/releases
- Create a reaction for a specific issue:
gh api [-H|--header] Accept:application/vnd.github.squirrel-girl-preview+json [-f|--raw-field] 'content=+1' repos/:owner/:repo/issues/123/reactions
- Display the result of a GraphQL query in JSON format:
gh api graphql [-f|--field] name=':repo' [-f|--raw-field] 'query'
- Send a request using a custom HTTP method:
gh api [-X|--method] POST endpoint
- Include the HTTP response headers in the output:
gh api [-i|--include] endpoint
- Do not print the response body:
gh api --silent endpoint
- Send a request to a specific GitHub Enterprise Server:
gh api --hostname github.example.com endpoint
- Display the subcommand help:
gh api --help
Synopsis
gh api <endpoint> [flags]
Description
Makes an authenticated HTTP request to the GitHub API and prints the response.
The endpoint argument should either be a path of a GitHub API v3 endpoint, or graphql to access the GitHub API v4.
Placeholder values {owner}, {repo}, and {branch} in the endpoint argument will get replaced with values from the repository of the current directory or the repository specified in the GH_REPO environment variable. Note that in some shells, for example PowerShell, you may need to enclose any value that contains {...} in quotes to prevent the shell from applying special meaning to curly braces.
The -p/--preview flag enables opting into previews, which are feature-flagged, experimental API endpoints or behaviors. The API expects opt-in via the Accept header with format application/vnd.github.<preview-name>-preview+json and this command facilitates that via --preview <preview-name>. To send a request for the corsair and scarlet witch previews, you could use -p corsair,scarlet-witch or --preview corsair --preview scarlet-witch.
The default HTTP request method is GET normally and POST if any parameters were added. Override the method with --method.
Pass one or more -f/--raw-field values in key=value format to add static string parameters to the request payload. To add non-string or placeholder-determined values, see -F/--field below. Note that adding request parameters will automatically switch the request method to POST. To send the parameters as a GET query string instead, use --method GET.
The -F/--field flag has magic type conversion based on the format of the value:
- literal values true, false, null, and integer numbers get converted to appropriate JSON types;
- placeholder values {owner}, {repo}, and {branch} get populated with values from the repository of the current directory;
- if the value starts with @, the rest of the value is interpreted as a filename to read the value from. Pass - to read from standard input.
For GraphQL requests, all fields other than query and operationName are interpreted as GraphQL variables.
To pass nested parameters in the request payload, use key[subkey]=value syntax when declaring fields. To pass nested values as arrays, declare multiple fields with the syntax key[]=value1, key[]=value2. To pass an empty array, use key[] without a value.
To pass pre-constructed JSON or payloads in other formats, a request body may be read from file specified by --input. Use - to read from standard input. When passing the request body this way, any parameters specified via field flags are added to the query string of the endpoint URL.
In --paginate mode, all pages of results will sequentially be requested until there are no more pages of results. For GraphQL requests, this requires that the original query accepts an $endCursor: String variable and that it fetches the pageInfo{ hasNextPage, endCursor } set of fields from a collection. Each page is a separate JSON array or object. Pass --slurp to wrap all pages of JSON arrays or objects into an outer JSON array.
Options
- --cache <duration>
Cache the response, e.g. "3600s", "60m", "1h"
- -F, --field <key=value>
Add a typed parameter in key=value format
- -H, --header <key:value>
Add a HTTP request header in key:value format
- --hostname <string>
The GitHub hostname for the request (default "github.com")
- -i, ā--include
Include HTTP response status line and headers in the output
- --input <file>
The file to use as body for the HTTP request (use "-" to read from standard input)
- -q, --jq <string>
Query to select values from the response using jq syntax
- -X, --method <string> (default "GET")
The HTTP method for the request
- --paginate
Make additional HTTP requests to fetch all pages of results
- -p, --preview <strings>
Opt into GitHub API previews (names should omit '-preview')
- -f, --raw-field <key=value>
Add a string parameter in key=value format
- --silent
Do not print the response body
- --slurp
Use with "--paginate" to return an array of all pages of either JSON arrays or objects
- -t, --template <string>
Format JSON output using a Go template; see "gh help formatting"
- --verbose
Include full HTTP request and response in the output
Exit Codes
0: Successful execution
1: Error
2: Command canceled
4: Authentication required
NOTE: Specific commands may have additional exit codes. Refer to the command's help for more information.
Example
# List releases in the current repository $ gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases # Post an issue comment $ gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/123/comments -f body='Hi from CLI' # Post nested parameter read from a file $ gh api gists -F 'files[myfile.txt][content]=@myfile.txt' # Add parameters to a GET request $ gh api -X GET search/issues -f q='repo:cli/cli is:open remote' # Set a custom HTTP header $ gh api -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github.v3.raw+json' ... # Opt into GitHub API previews $ gh api --preview baptiste,nebula ... # Print only specific fields from the response $ gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues --jq '.[].title' # Use a template for the output $ gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues --template \ '{{range .}}{{.title}} ({{.labels | pluck "name" | join ", " | color "yellow"}}){{"\n"}}{{end}}' # Update allowed values of the "environment" custom property in a deeply nested array $ gh api -X PATCH /orgs/{org}/properties/schema \ -F 'properties[][property_name]=environment' \ -F 'properties[][default_value]=production' \ -F 'properties[][allowed_values][]=staging' \ -F 'properties[][allowed_values][]=production' # List releases with GraphQL $ gh api graphql -F owner='{owner}' -F name='{repo}' -f query=' query($name: String!, $owner: String!) { repository(owner: $owner, name: $name) { releases(last: 3) { nodes { tagName } } } } ' # List all repositories for a user $ gh api graphql --paginate -f query=' query($endCursor: String) { viewer { repositories(first: 100, after: $endCursor) { nodes { nameWithOwner } pageInfo { hasNextPage endCursor } } } } ' # Get the percentage of forks for the current user $ gh api graphql --paginate --slurp -f query=' query($endCursor: String) { viewer { repositories(first: 100, after: $endCursor) { nodes { isFork } pageInfo { hasNextPage endCursor } } } } ' | jq 'def count(e): reduce e as $_ (0;.+1); [.[].data.viewer.repositories.nodes[]] as $r | count(select($r[].isFork))/count($r[])'