GH-API(1) GitHub CLI manual GH-API(1) NAME gh-api - Make an authenticated GitHub API request SYNOPSIS gh api [flags] DESCRIPTION Makes an authenticated HTTP request to the GitHub API and prints the response. The endpoint argument should either be a path of a GitHub API v3 endpoint, or graphql to access the GitHub API v4. Placeholder values {owner}, {repo}, and {branch} in the endpoint argument will get replaced with values from the repository of the current directory or the repository specified in the GH_REPO environment variable. Note that in some shells, for example PowerShell, you may need to enclose any value that contains {...} in quotes to prevent the shell from applying special meaning to curly braces. The -p/--preview flag enables opting into previews, which are feature- flagged, experimental API endpoints or behaviors. The API expects opt- in via the Accept header with format application/vnd.github.-preview+json and this command facilitates that via --preview . To send a request for the corsair and scarlet witch previews, you could use -p corsair,scarlet-witch or --preview corsair --preview scarlet-witch. The default HTTP request method is GET normally and POST if any parameters were added. Override the method with --method. Pass one or more -f/--raw-field values in key=value format to add static string parameters to the request payload. To add non-string or placeholder-determined values, see -F/--field below. Note that adding request parameters will automatically switch the request method to POST. To send the parameters as a GET query string instead, use --method GET. The -F/--field flag has magic type conversion based on the format of the value: o literal values true, false, null, and integer numbers get converted to appropriate JSON types; o placeholder values {owner}, {repo}, and {branch} get populated with values from the repository of the current directory; o if the value starts with @, the rest of the value is interpreted as a filename to read the value from. Pass - to read from standard input. For GraphQL requests, all fields other than query and operationName are interpreted as GraphQL variables. To pass nested parameters in the request payload, use key[subkey]=value syntax when declaring fields. To pass nested values as arrays, declare multiple fields with the syntax key[]=value1, key[]=value2. To pass an empty array, use key[] without a value. To pass pre-constructed JSON or payloads in other formats, a request body may be read from file specified by --input. Use - to read from standard input. When passing the request body this way, any parameters specified via field flags are added to the query string of the endpoint URL. In --paginate mode, all pages of results will sequentially be requested until there are no more pages of results. For GraphQL requests, this requires that the original query accepts an $endCursor: String variable and that it fetches the pageInfo{ hasNextPage, endCursor } set of fields from a collection. Each page is a separate JSON array or object. Pass --slurp to wrap all pages of JSON arrays or objects into an outer JSON array. OPTIONS --cache Cache the response, e.g. "3600s", "60m", "1h" -F, --field Add a typed parameter in key=value format -H, --header Add a HTTP request header in key:value format --hostname The GitHub hostname for the request (default "github.com") -i, --include Include HTTP response status line and headers in the output --input The file to use as body for the HTTP request (use "-" to read from standard input) -q, --jq Query to select values from the response using jq syntax -X, --method (default "GET") The HTTP method for the request --paginate Make additional HTTP requests to fetch all pages of results -p, --preview Opt into GitHub API previews (names should omit '-preview') -f, --raw-field Add a string parameter in key=value format --silent Do not print the response body --slurp Use with "--paginate" to return an array of all pages of either JSON arrays or objects -t, --template Format JSON output using a Go template; see "gh help formatting" --verbose Include full HTTP request and response in the output EXIT CODES 0: Successful execution 1: Error 2: Command canceled 4: Authentication required NOTE: Specific commands may have additional exit codes. Refer to the command's help for more information. EXAMPLE # List releases in the current repository $ gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases # Post an issue comment $ gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/123/comments -f body='Hi from CLI' # Post nested parameter read from a file $ gh api gists -F 'files[myfile.txt][content]=@myfile.txt' # Add parameters to a GET request $ gh api -X GET search/issues -f q='repo:cli/cli is:open remote' # Set a custom HTTP header $ gh api -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github.v3.raw+json' ... # Opt into GitHub API previews $ gh api --preview baptiste,nebula ... # Print only specific fields from the response $ gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues --jq '.[].title' # Use a template for the output $ gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues --template \ '{{range .}}{{.title}} ({{.labels | pluck "name" | join ", " | color "yellow"}}){{"\n"}}{{end}}' # Update allowed values of the "environment" custom property in a deeply nested array $ gh api -X PATCH /orgs/{org}/properties/schema \ -F 'properties[][property_name]=environment' \ -F 'properties[][default_value]=production' \ -F 'properties[][allowed_values][]=staging' \ -F 'properties[][allowed_values][]=production' # List releases with GraphQL $ gh api graphql -F owner='{owner}' -F name='{repo}' -f query=' query($name: String!, $owner: String!) { repository(owner: $owner, name: $name) { releases(last: 3) { nodes { tagName } } } } ' # List all repositories for a user $ gh api graphql --paginate -f query=' query($endCursor: String) { viewer { repositories(first: 100, after: $endCursor) { nodes { nameWithOwner } pageInfo { hasNextPage endCursor } } } } ' # Get the percentage of forks for the current user $ gh api graphql --paginate --slurp -f query=' query($endCursor: String) { viewer { repositories(first: 100, after: $endCursor) { nodes { isFork } pageInfo { hasNextPage endCursor } } } } ' | jq 'def count(e): reduce e as $_ (0;.+1); [.[].data.viewer.repositories.nodes[]] as $r | count(select($r[].isFork))/count($r[])' SEE ALSO gh(1) Aug 2025 GH-API(1)