/github-operations

name: github-operations
license: MIT
compatibility: "Claude Code 2.1.220+. 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:**

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

Quick Reference

Issue Operations

# 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

# 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")`.

# 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

# 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

# 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 (statusCheckRollup is an ARRAY, so fold it first)
gh pr list --json number,reviewDecision,statusCheckRollup \
  --jq '[.[] | select(.reviewDecision == "APPROVED"
        and ([(.statusCheckRollup // [])[] | .conclusion // .state]
             | length > 0 and all(IN("SUCCESS","SKIPPED","NEUTRAL"))))]'

---

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:

# Define issues as an array of "title|labels|milestone" entries
SPRINT="Sprint 9"
ISSUES=(
  "feat: Add user auth|enhancement,backend|$SPRINT"
  "fix: Login redirect l