Navigating GitHub

Go from zero to GitHub in minutes, then learn git through hands-on lessons on your actual project.

This skill does two things:

1. Sets you up on GitHub — from installing the CLI to pushing your first commit
2. Teaches you git — 9 progressive lessons, each one hands-on with real commands

No slides. No docs. No assumed knowledge. Run a command, see what happens, then understand why. The AI adapts to your level automatically.

Setup — From Zero to GitHub

Say "set up my repo" or "help me with github" and the skill walks through everything:

1. Connect to GitHub — installs gh CLI, authenticates, configures git identity
2. Initialize your repo — git init, auto-generated .gitignore, first commit
3. Create the remote — gh repo create, push, shows the live URL

Skips anything already done. Complete beginners get full explanations ("GitHub is like Google Drive for code"). Experienced developers get it done in seconds.

Learn — 9 Hands-On Lessons

Say "teach me github" or run /github-learn to start. Every lesson runs on your real project using do-then-explain: run the command, see the result, then understand why.

Beginner

Lesson	What You Do
GitHub 101	Make changes, commit, push — guided step by step
Branching Basics	Create a branch, make a change, switch back, see the difference
Your First PR	Branch, push, create a PR, see the diff, merge it

Intermediate

Lesson	What You Do
Branch Workflows	Feature branches, naming conventions, keeping branches current
PR Review Flow	Review a PR, leave comments, approve or request changes
Team Git	Forking, upstream sync, co-authoring commits

Advanced

Lesson	What You Do
Rebase vs Merge	Interactive rebase, squash commits, clean history
GitHub Actions	Write a CI workflow, push, watch it run
Review Ecosystem	Set up CodeRabbit, understand automated review tools

Each lesson checks understanding before moving on. After each lesson, you get a summary, a challenge to try solo, and a suggestion for what to learn next.

Adaptive Skill Level

The skill figures out your level from your environment — commit message quality, branch usage, auth state — not from a questionnaire. It only asks when signals are genuinely ambiguous.

Level	What You Experience
Beginner	Analogies, zero jargon, full step-by-step. The AI does it and teaches as it goes.
Intermediate	Light jargon with definitions, explains the "why." Handles it, asks you to confirm.
Advanced	Standard git vocabulary, brief rationale. Suggests, you decide.
Expert	Terse and technical. You drive, the AI assists.

Install

# Claude Code
/plugin marketplace add jeremylongshore/navigating-github

# Manual
git clone https://github.com/jeremylongshore/navigating-github.git

Works with: Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Aider, Continue — any AI coding tool with terminal access.

Safety (During All Lessons)

• Never pushes to main/master — always branches first
• Never force pushes without explicit confirmation
• Never commits secrets (.env, API keys, credentials)
• Never runs destructive operations without showing impact first

Contributing

PRs welcome. If you see a gap in the curriculum, a confusing explanation, or a missing lesson — open an issue or submit a PR.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

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Built by Jeremy Longshore / Intent Solutions for the Tons of Skills marketplace.