GitHub CLI for agents — designed with AXI (Agent eXperience Interface).
Wraps the official gh cli with token-efficient TOON output, contextual next-step suggestions, and structured error handling.
Built for autonomous agents that interact with GitHub via shell execution.
Diagnostics the wrapped gh process writes while a request is still pending (gh is still running a second later), such as approval prompts, stream to stderr. Diagnostics gh writes as it exits are not echoed: a failure is reported once in the structured error, and those from a call that succeeds, including gh-axi's internal fallback attempts, are dropped.
Benchmarks
Agent ergonomics is measurable.
The axi benchmark runs the same 17 real-world GitHub tasks (issue triage, PR review prep, CI failure investigation, and more) through 5 GitHub interface setups - 5 repeats each, with claude-sonnet-4-6 as the agent and an LLM judge scoring task success.
gh-axi posts the lowest input tokens, cost, and duration of all 5 conditions, and is the only one to pass every run:
| Condition | Avg Input Tokens | Avg Cost/Task | Avg Duration | Avg Turns | Success |
|---|
| gh-axi | 46,462 | $0.050 | 15.7s | 3 | 100% |
| gh CLI (raw) | 47,076 | $0.054 | 17.4s | 3 | 86% |
| GitHub MCP code execution | 137,409 | $0.101 | 43.4s | 7 | 84% |
| GitHub MCP + ToolSearch | 153,621 | $0.147 | 41.1s | 8 | 82% |
| GitHub MCP (eager schemas) | 175,757 | $0.148 | 34.2s | 6 | 87% |
Against raw gh - the very CLI this tool wraps - that is 100% vs 86% task success at 7% lower cost.
Against the GitHub MCP server it is 66% cheaper, with 74% fewer input tokens and half the turns.
Quick Start
Install the gh-axi skill in the Agent Skills format with npx skills:
npx skills add kunchenguid/gh-axi --skill gh-axi -g
That is the entire setup - no npm install needed.
The skill is a minimal discovery stub that directs your agent to the always-current npx -y gh-axi dashboard and help output instead of duplicating command guidance.
You still need gh installed and authenticated via gh auth login (Node 20+ required). gh-axi adds no new minimum gh version for existing commands. Only --attach on issue and pull request create/edit/comment requires gh >= 2.99.0, and closing an issue as a duplicate (issue close --duplicate-of or --reason duplicate) requires gh >= 2.88.0; older gh returns a structured error before any mutation runs. Set GH_BIN to point at a specific gh binary.
Stacked PR commands also require GitHub's official extension: gh extension install github/gh-stack.
For GitHub Enterprise or another custom host, authenticate gh for that host and either pass --hostname <host> after the command or set GH_HOST.
The skill is not a user-facing slash command (user-invocable: false).
Its frontmatter also includes Hermes Agent metadata (metadata.hermes) so Hermes can categorize it as a devops skill for GitHub, git, CI, pull requests, releases, and projects.
Just ask for anything that touches GitHub - filing issues, reviewing PRs, checking CI runs, cutting releases, managing Projects boards, or managing GitHub Actions secrets and variables - and the agent loads the skill on its own when it recognizes the task.
-g installs the skill for all projects (~/.claude/skills/, for example); drop it to install for the current project only (.claude/skills/).
Other Ways to Install
The skill is the recommended path, but it is not the only one.
Zero setup
gh-axi is an AXI, so any capable agent can run the CLI directly with nothing installed at all.
Just tell your agent:
Execute `npx -y gh-axi` to get GitHub tools.
Session hook
Want ambient GitHub context - the current repo's open issues and PRs - fed into every agent session instead of loading on demand?
Install the CLI globally and opt into the hook:
npm install -g gh-axi
gh-axi setup hooks
This installs a SessionStart hook for Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode that surfaces the current repo state and usage guidance at the start of each session.
Restart your agent session after running this so the new hook takes effect.
For global installs, run gh-axi update --check to see whether a newer release is available, or gh-axi update to upgrade.
Usage
gh-axi # dashboard - live state, no args needed
gh-axi issue list # list issues in current repo
gh-axi issue subissue list 16 # list sub-issues for issue #16
gh-axi pr view 42 # view pull request #42
gh-axi pr view 42 --fields number,title,headRefOid,reviews # select fields as TOON
gh-axi discussion view 66 --comments # read a discussion with replies nested under each comment
gh-axi stack init model api ui # create or adopt a stack of branches
gh-axi stack submit --open # create ready-for-review stacked PRs without prompts
gh-axi stack view # inspect the current stack as token-efficient TOON
gh-axi issue edit 42 --add-label bug --add-label chore # repeat a flag per value
gh-axi run list -R owner/repo # list workflow runs for a specific repo
gh-axi issue list --hostname git.example.com # target a GitHub Enterprise host
gh-axi run view 123456 --job 789012 # inspect a single job within a run
gh-axi run view --job 789012 --log-failed # show failed log lines for one job
gh-axi workflow run ci.yml --ref main # trigger a workflow
gh-axi project list --owner my-org # list Projects (v2) for an owner
echo -n "sk-..." | gh-axi secret set OPENAI_API_KEY # set a secret from stdin
echo -n "sk-..." | gh-axi secret set CSC_LINK --env production # scope a secret to an environment
gh-axi variable set NODE_ENV --body production # set a variable from a flag
gh-axi gist list # list your gists
gh-axi gist list --public # list only public gists
gh-axi gist view <id> # view a gist's files and content
echo 'new content' | gh-axi gist edit <id> --filename notes.md # replace a file from stdin
gh-axi gist edit <id> --remove old.txt # remove a file
gh-axi gist rename <id> old.txt new.txt # rename a file
gh-axi gist create notes.md --public --desc "My notes" # create a public gist
gh-axi gist create --file a.py --file b.py --secret # create a secret multi-file gist
echo "content" | gh-axi gist create --filename hello.txt --public # create from piped content
gh-axi gist delete <id|url> # delete a gist (always confirmed non-interactively)
gh-axi gist clone <id|url> # clone a gist locally
gh-axi setup hooks # install optional agent session hooks
gh-axi update --check # check whether a newer release exists
gh-axi update # upgrade a global install
For multi-line issue, PR, review, or comment text, write Markdown to a UTF-8 file and pass --body-file <path> on the relevant command.
For releases, --body and --body-file are aliases for release notes, alongside --notes and --notes-file.
Any of these file flags also accepts - to read the Markdown from piped stdin (cat body.md | gh-axi pr comment 42 --body-file -); an interactive terminal or empty pipe is rejected instead of waited on.
For multi-line variable values, pipe stdin to gh-axi variable set <name>; --body/-b is for inline values only.
gh-axi pr view <number> --fields <a,b,c> selects exactly the named gh pr view --json fields and renders them under pull_request as TOON, preserving field names, nested metadata and complete values. gh-axi pr --help lists the available fields. Missing, blank or unknown fields and repeated --fields flags are rejected locally. This opt-in mode cannot combine with --comments, --reviews, --checks or --full. Without --fields, the default view and those modes are unchanged.
--attach <path> is repeatable on issue and pr create, edit, and comment (not pr review). It uploads a local image or video through the same gh --attach mechanism (requires gh >= 2.99.0) and inlines it in the Markdown body. If the body already references the local path, gh replaces that reference with the uploaded URL; otherwise it appends the attachment. Alt text is path#alt for images; videos cannot take alt text. Supported types: PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, SVG, MP4, MOV, WebM. Size limits match GitHub's web upload: 10 MB for images and GIFs, 10 MB for video on Free, 100 MB for video on paid plans. GitHub Enterprise Server is not supported in this gh release. Successful output names each attached file and only the user-attachments asset URLs uploaded by that invocation. Override the wrapped gh binary with GH_BIN.
The label, assignee, reviewer, and project flags of issue create/edit and pr create/edit are repeatable: pass the flag once per value and every value reaches gh.
gh-axi pr create reports the base and head the PR was created with, so omitting --base surfaces that the PR targets the default branch; if the follow-up ref lookup fails, base prints as null and the branch name is unavailable.
issue list and pr list accept repeated --label filters the same way.
A repeated flag with a missing or empty value (--add-label with nothing after it, or --add-label=) fails with a validation error instead of being silently dropped.
The single-value list filters do the same: an empty --assignee or --author on issue list and pr list, --milestone on issue list, or --base or --head on pr list, fails with the same validation error as --label= rather than returning an unfiltered list.
In gh-axi issue list and gh-axi pr list, the count: N of M total line counts only what the filters you passed (--label, --assignee, --author, and the other list filters) match, not every issue or PR in the repository.
When a total cannot be expressed faithfully — a numeric --milestone, since search matches milestone titles only, or a filter value containing a double quote, which search has no way to escape — gh-axi omits it and falls back to showing first N rather than printing a number that does not match the query.
A total smaller than the page it accompanies is dropped the same way, since GitHub's search index lags behind freshly created issues and pull requests and can undercount them.
Long run view --log and run view --log-failed output shows the last 20,000 characters so CI failures stay visible.
When truncation happens, gh-axi best-effort saves the complete log to a temp file, includes it as full_log, and prints a help: hint telling agents to grep that file for earlier context.
gh-axi run manages existing workflow runs; use gh-axi workflow run <name> --ref <ref> to trigger (dispatch) a workflow.
gh-axi pr checks <number> and the checks summary of gh-axi pr view <number> bucket every entry of the PR's status-check rollup as pass, fail, skip, pending, or cancel, covering both check runs (GitHub Actions and similar) and legacy commit statuses (Vercel, ci/circleci, and similar).
Matching gh pr checks: a cancelled check run gets its own cancelled count instead of counting as failed (a cancelled run delivered no verdict about the code), and a stale check run counts as pending because its result no longer applies to the head commit. Timed-out, action-required, and startup-failure check runs still count as failed, so a red PR is never reported as merely unfinished. Like gh pr checks, only the latest run of each check is counted: a re-run supersedes the earlier run of the same check, so a failure fixed by a passing re-run no longer shows.
For an open PR, gh-axi pr view <number> also prints merge_state right after checks: GitHub's merge state lowercased (clean, dirty, behind, blocked, ...), with a short hint on states that need action. Merged and closed PRs omit it, since GitHub no longer reports a meaningful value for them.
gh-axi pr checks <number> --failed lists only the failing checks; the summary line still counts the full rollup. gh-axi pr checks exits like gh pr checks: 1 when a check failed or no check results are reported for the PR head commit, 8 when a check is still pending, and 0 otherwise. --watch polls every 10 seconds (--interval <seconds> to change it) until no check is pending and then prints the final rollup; --fail-fast stops the watch at the first failing check. gh-axi pr view <number> --checks appends the same detailed rollup to the PR detail, gh-axi pr list --fields updatedAt adds a relative updated_at column (search issues and search prs take --fields too, for cross-repo columns such as updatedAt, url and isDraft), and gh-axi pr diff accepts --patch as a no-op for gh compatibility since its output is already patch format.
gh-axi stack is a strict, non-interactive adapter over the official github/gh-stack extension. It supports view, init, add, checkout, push, submit, sync, rebase, link, unstack, merge, and branch navigation. It intentionally excludes the interactive modify and switch TUIs and the human-only alias and feedback utilities.
Stack commands operate on local branches and .git/gh-stack, so run them from the target repository's working directory. They reject -R, --repo, and GH_REPO rather than pretending a remote repository is enough. --hostname remains available for authenticated GitHub Enterprise hosts.
Agent-safe behavior is automatic: stack view requests JSON, stack submit adds --auto, and stack merge requires an explicit stack or PR target and adds --yes. Rebase conflicts and other extension exits retain their original exit codes and include recovery guidance.
gh-axi secret set <name> reads the value only from piped stdin because secret flags would be visible in the gh-axi process argv.
It rejects --body/-b. An interactive terminal with no value throws immediately instead of waiting. Secret values never appear in argv, stdout, or error text: an unknown flag is echoed by name only, with any =value stripped.
gh-axi secret list never prints values, matching gh secret list.
gh secret list and gh variable list have no --limit or other pagination flag, so gh-axi secret list and gh-axi variable list return every result in one call.
gh-axi secret list, set, and delete accept --env/-e <environment> to scope a secret to a deployment environment; without it the repository scope is used.
A missing or empty --env, conflicting --env flags, --env-file, other gh secret scopes (--org, --user, --app), and any unknown flag are rejected rather than silently falling back to the repository scope.
gh-axi variable accepts --body/-b or piped stdin, and variable values are shown in list output because variables are not secret.
A variable set --body value is visible in the gh-axi process argv, but it is piped to gh variable set so the child process does not receive it in argv.
gh-axi project wraps GitHub Projects (v2). Reading projects requires the read:project or project OAuth scope; mutations, including field creation and deletion, require project. If a call fails on a missing scope, gh-axi tells you the gh auth refresh -s <scope> command to run.
--owner defaults to the current repo's owner, falling back to explicit @me for the authenticated user.
Create fields with gh-axi project field-create <number> --name <name> --data-type TEXT|SINGLE_SELECT|DATE|NUMBER [--owner <login>]. For example, gh-axi project field-create 3 --name Priority --data-type SINGLE_SELECT --single-select-options P0,P1,P2,P3 returns the field id and option ids in TOON, ready for project item-edit --field-id ... --single-select-option-id .... --single-select-options accepts comma-separated names and is repeatable. Delete a field by its global id with gh-axi project field-delete --id <field-id>; deletion does not take a project number or owner.
gh-axi project delete <number> deletes only empty projects: it refuses when the project still has items or its item count cannot be determined, and otherwise reports the deleted project's title.
gh-axi gist create requires --public or --secret explicitly — passing neither (or both) is an error.
Gist visibility is fixed at creation; a secret gist is unlisted (anyone with the URL can read it), not private.
Two file-on-disk input forms are available: positional paths (gist create a.py b.py) or repeatable --file flags (gist create --file a.py --file b.py); mixing the two is an error.
To create a gist from piped content, use --filename <name> together with a pipe (echo "..." | gh-axi gist create --filename foo.txt --public).
gh-axi api accepts -X <method> and -X=<method> as alternatives to the positional HTTP method, plus --field, --raw-field, --header, --input <file>, --paginate, --jq <expression>, --template <format>, and --full.
-R/--repo (or GH_REPO) fills the {owner} and {repo} placeholders; gh api has no --repo, so gh-axi hands that repository to it as GH_REPO.
Use --input <file> to send a raw JSON request body, or --input - to relay piped stdin byte for byte.
--input - rejects an interactive terminal instead of waiting for input.
--raw-field <key=value> (repeatable) forwards to gh api --raw-field and always sends the value as a JSON string, while --field is typed like gh api -F and turns numbers, true, false and null into JSON values. Use --raw-field content=+1 for a value such as a +1 reaction that must stay a string.
Giving -X more than once or together with a positional method is rejected, as is any other unsupported flag, extra positional argument, or repeated --input/--jq/--template.
JSON responses are normally stripped of noisy fields before TOON encoding, but a response you shaped yourself with --jq or --template keeps every key and value verbatim — only over-long strings are still truncated so one field cannot flood an agent's context.
When a bare (non-JSON) --jq/--template result still exceeds the raw output limit, it is clamped and ends with ... (truncated) so the cut is visible; pass --full to lift the cap.
--full is an explicit opt-in escape hatch: it keeps every field and every complete value, and it also returns non-JSON response bodies without the length cap. --full is a gh-axi flag only, and gh-axi does not send it to gh. Compact output stays the default without --full.
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|
issue | Issues — list, view, create, edit, close, reopen, comment, subissue |
pr | Pull requests — list, view, create, merge, review, checks |
discussion | Discussions (gh preview) - list, view with nested replies, comment or reply |
stack | Stacked branches and PRs - create, submit, sync, rebase, merge, navigate |
run | Existing workflow runs - list, view, watch, rerun, cancel, delete, download |
workflow | Workflows - list, view, run (trigger), enable, disable |
release | Releases — list, view, create, edit, delete |
repo | Repositories — list, view, create, edit, clone, fork |
label | Labels — list, create, edit, delete |
gist | Gists — list, view, edit, rename, create, delete, clone |
project | Projects (v2) - list, view, create, edit, close, copy, delete, items, fields |
secret | Actions secrets — list, set, delete |
variable | Actions variables — list, set, delete |
search | Search issues, PRs, repos, commits, code |
api | Raw GitHub API access |
setup | Install optional agent session hooks |
update | Built-in self-update command inherited from axi-sdk-js |
Global flags
--help — show help for any command-v, -V, --version — show the installed gh-axi version--hostname <host> / --hostname=<host> - target a custom GitHub host; explicit flags win over GH_HOST. The flag must follow the command. gh-axi strips it before invoking gh and sets GH_HOST for that child only when the flag is present, leaving an existing GH_HOST untouched otherwise. src/host.ts resolveHost() (flag, then GH_HOST, then github.com) is the host used when building or parsing URLs.AXI_DEBUG=1 (env) - before each gh call, write [axi-debug] gh <args> to stderr: the exact argv gh-axi forwards, shell-quoted only where needed, so the part after the prefix pastes into a shell to retry the call in plain gh. For api calls, every -H/--header value is masked as Name: ***; other commands are traced unmasked. An argument with a newline or other control character is written as $'...' so each trace stays on one line. That form replays exactly in bash, zsh, and a POSIX.1-2024 sh. An older sh without $'...' reads it as one literal word, so the argument text differs but never runs as a command. Any other value, or unset, prints nothing. stdout is unchanged. The line shows argv only, not env such as a GH_HOST set from --hostname or the GH_REPO that carries -R to an api call.
Repository and host targeting are command-first too:
gh-axi issue list -R owner/namegh-axi issue list --repo owner/namegh-axi issue list --repo=owner/namegh-axi run list -R owner/namegh-axi repo view --repo owner/namegh-axi search issues "login bug" --repo owner/namegh-axi issue list --hostname git.example.com
repo view also accepts exactly one positional repository, gh-axi repo view owner/name, as a repo-view-specific compatibility exception for gh repo view [<repository>]. Do not combine that positional form with --repo, and do not pass extra positional arguments. For other commands, use the command-first --repo owner/name form.
When a command also needs a destination repository, use a dedicated flag for it:
gh-axi issue transfer 42 -R source/repo --to-repo dest/repo
Development
pnpm run build # Compile TypeScript to dist/
pnpm run build:skill # Regenerate skills/gh-axi/SKILL.md from src/skill.ts
pnpm run dev # Run CLI directly with tsx
pnpm test # Run tests with vitest
pnpm run test:watch # Run tests in watch mode
The committed skills/gh-axi/SKILL.md is generated from src/skill.ts by pnpm run build:skill; pnpm test fails if the generated file drifts.
The generated skill intentionally defers all command guidance to the CLI dashboard and help output so installed copies do not duplicate stale instructions.
gh-axi update is not implemented in this repo. axi-sdk-js registers it as a built-in and resolves the npm package name from the nearest package.json. The SDK also appends a built-in: section to top-level --help at runtime, so TOP_HELP in src/cli.ts is only a prefix of the help users see.
src/version.ts imports Node builtins only. bin/gh-axi.ts answers a bare -v, -V, or --version from that leaf module and loads the command graph only for every other invocation. Do not add a wall-clock timing assertion to test/version-fast-path.test.ts. Compiled CLI tests share dist; test/global-setup.ts builds it, including on watch reruns. Do not rebuild from an individual suite while other workers may be running those tests.
The npm package includes skills/gh-axi/, so published releases ship the same installable Agent Skill documented in Quick Start.
License
MIT
