Master GitHub CLI 1.0: Install, Commands, and Workflow Tips

Release

After more than six months of development, GitHub CLI (gh) reached its 1.0 stable release, making the full‑featured command‑line client generally available.

Key Features

Execute complete GitHub workflows from the terminal, including issue management, pull‑request handling, and package publishing.

Script any GitHub API action and assign custom aliases to commands, similar to shell alias.

Connect to both GitHub.com and self‑hosted GitHub Enterprise instances.

Installation

Debian/Ubuntu : Install the official package repository and install the gh binary.

# Add the GitHub CLI apt repository
curl -fsSL https://cli.github.com/packages/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg | sudo dd of=/usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg
sudo apt-add-repository https://cli.github.com/packages
sudo apt update
sudo apt install gh

macOS : Use Homebrew or download the binary.

# Homebrew
brew install gh

Windows : Install via winget or download the MSI installer.

# winget
winget install --id GitHub.cli

Basic Usage

All commands start with the gh prefix followed by a noun such as repo, pr, issue, etc. gh repo clone <owner/repo> – clone a repository. gh repo create – create a new repository (interactive prompts). gh repo fork <owner/repo> – fork a repository. gh pr create – open a new pull request. gh pr checkout <number|url> – check out a pull request locally. gh pr diff <number|url> – view the diff of a pull request. gh pr review <number|url> --approve – approve a pull request.

Custom Aliases

Aliases are defined in the ~/.config/gh/aliases.yml file and work like shell aliases. Example:

# ~/.config/gh/aliases.yml
bugs: "issue list --label bug"

After adding the alias, gh bugs lists all issues labeled bug, streamlining maintenance tasks.

For advanced scenarios, consult the official manual.

Open‑source repository: https://github.com/cli/cli

Official documentation: https://cli.github.com/manual/