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GitHub CLI

The gh command. Lets your terminal (and your agent) authenticate with GitHub and run GitHub operations without leaving the terminal.

What it is​

GitHub CLI is the official command-line client for GitHub, made by GitHub. You authenticate once (gh auth login) and from then on any GitHub operation (create a repo, clone a repo, open a pull request, invite a collaborator, check CI status) can happen directly from your terminal.

Why the workshops use it​

The Minimum Viable Jarvis template creates your workspace by asking your agent to run gh repo create --template --private --clone. That single command creates a private repo on your GitHub account from our template, clones it locally, and wires up the remote. Without gh, this becomes a 15-step web UI flow.

gh is also what lets the starter repo's hourly sync script push your workspace changes to GitHub without ever prompting you for credentials.

Is this safe?​

Yes. GitHub CLI is open source and maintained by GitHub. The authentication flow (gh auth login) opens GitHub's official website in your browser to confirm access and stores the resulting token locally on your computer. You can revoke the token any time from your GitHub account settings.

Install​

Terminal (Mac)
brew install gh
PowerShell (Windows)
winget install GitHub.cli

For Linux, see the official install instructions for your distribution.

Authenticate (first-time walkthrough)​

Once gh is installed, authenticate once:

Terminal
gh auth login

gh will walk you through a series of questions in the terminal. The defaults are the right answer for almost everyone. Here is exactly what you will see and what to do at each step:

  1. "Where do you use GitHub?" Use the up/down arrow keys to move, press Enter to select. Select GitHub.com.
  2. "What is your preferred protocol for Git operations on this host?" (HTTPS or SSH). Just press Enter to accept the default (HTTPS).
  3. "Authenticate Git with your GitHub credentials?" Press Enter to accept the default (Yes).
  4. "How would you like to authenticate GitHub CLI?" Use arrow keys to select Login with a web browser, then press Enter.
  5. "First copy your one-time code:" gh prints a one-time code that looks like ABCD-1234 (eight characters and a dash). Drag your mouse across the code to highlight it, then copy (Cmd+C on Mac, Ctrl+C on Windows/Linux). Then press Enter to open GitHub in your browser.
  6. In the browser, on the Device Activation screen, click Continue.
  7. Paste the code (Cmd+V on Mac, Ctrl+V on Windows/Linux) into the field and click Continue.
  8. Click Authorize GitHub.
  9. You should see "Congratulations, you're all set!" in the browser. Return to the terminal. gh will report that it logged in as your username.

You only need to do this once per machine.

Verify​

Terminal
gh auth status

Official site​

cli.github.com