GitHub Browser Skill

Browse and read GitHub content efficiently using gh CLI. Read-only operations only.

Prerequisites

Before running any command, verify authentication:

gh auth status

If not authenticated, tell the user to run gh auth login.

URL Parsing

When given a GitHub URL, parse it to determine the action:

URL Pattern	Type	Action
github.com/{owner}/{repo}	Repo root	View repo overview
github.com/{owner}/{repo}/tree/{branch}/{path}	Directory	List directory contents
github.com/{owner}/{repo}/blob/{branch}/{path}	File	Read file content
github.com/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{n}	Issue	View issue details
github.com/{owner}/{repo}/pull/{n}	PR	View PR details
github.com/{owner}/{repo}/pull/{n}/files	PR diff	View changed files

Decision Tree

"I want to understand a repo"

1. Quick overview → gh repo view {owner}/{repo}
2. File tree → See repo-exploration.md
3. Read a specific file → See repo-exploration.md

"I want to read an issue or PR"

1. List issues → gh issue list -R {owner}/{repo}
2. Read issue → gh issue view {n} -R {owner}/{repo} --comments
3. List PRs → gh pr list -R {owner}/{repo}
4. Read PR → gh pr view {n} -R {owner}/{repo} --comments
5. PR diff / review comments → See issues-and-prs.md

"I want to search"

1. Search code → gh search code "query" -R {owner}/{repo}
2. Search issues → gh search issues "query" -R {owner}/{repo}
3. Search repos → gh search repos "query"
4. Advanced search → See search.md

"I want to research a topic / find repos in an ecosystem"

STOP — don't just keyword search. First think about search strategy:

1. Parse intent — what does "related to X" mean? Uses X in code? Part of X org? Mentions X in description?
2. Use multiple channels (at least 2-3):
   • Repo search (name/description): gh search repos "X" --sort stars
   • Code search (actual usage): gh search code "import X" --language python
   • Dependency search: gh search code "X" --filename requirements.txt
   • Topic search: gh search repos --topic X --sort stars
   • Org browsing: gh api orgs/{X-org}/repos?sort=stars&per_page=30
3. Cross-reference — repos appearing in multiple channels are more relevant
4. Iterate — discover new orgs/topics from results, search again

→ See search-strategy.md for full playbook

Core Command Quick Reference

Repo

# Repo overview (README + metadata)
gh repo view {owner}/{repo}

# File tree (recursive)
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/git/trees/{branch}?recursive=1 --jq '.tree[] | .path'

# Read a file (≤1MB)
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path} --jq '.content' | base64 -d

# Read a file from a specific branch
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path}?ref={branch} --jq '.content' | base64 -d

# List directory
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{path} --jq '.[].name'

Issues & PRs

# List open issues
gh issue list -R {owner}/{repo}

# View issue with comments
gh issue view {n} -R {owner}/{repo} --comments

# List open PRs
gh pr list -R {owner}/{repo}

# View PR with comments
gh pr view {n} -R {owner}/{repo} --comments

# PR changed files summary
gh pr diff {n} -R {owner}/{repo} --stat

# PR full diff
gh pr diff {n} -R {owner}/{repo}

# CI/checks status
gh pr checks {n} -R {owner}/{repo}

Search

# Search code in a repo
gh search code "query" -R {owner}/{repo}

# Search code by language
gh search code "query" -R {owner}/{repo} --language go

# Search issues/PRs
gh search issues "query" -R {owner}/{repo}

# Search repos
gh search repos "query" --language python

Detailed References

For complex scenarios, refer to:

• Repo exploration — file trees, large files, metadata, branches, releases
• Issues and PRs — filters, PR diffs, review comments, timeline
• Search — advanced filters, JSON output, rate limits
• Search strategy — multi-channel search thinking framework for topic/ecosystem research