GH-SEARCH-CODE(1)              GitHub CLI manual             GH-SEARCH-CODE(1)



NAME
       gh-search-code - Search within code



SYNOPSIS
       gh search code <query> [flags]



DESCRIPTION
       Search within code in GitHub repositories.


       The search syntax is documented at:

       <https://docs.github.com/search-github/searching-on-github/searching-code>


       Note that these search results are powered by what is now a legacy
       GitHub code search engine.  The results might not match what is seen on
       github.com, and new features like regex search are not yet available
       via the GitHub API.



OPTIONS
       --extension <string>
              Filter on file extension


       --filename <string>
              Filter on filename


       -q, --jq <expression>
              Filter JSON output using a jq expression


       --json <fields>
              Output JSON with the specified fields


       --language <string>
              Filter results by language


       -L, --limit <int> (default 30)
              Maximum number of code results to fetch


       --match <strings>
              Restrict search to file contents or file path: {file|path}


       --owner <strings>
              Filter on owner


       -R, --repo <strings>
              Filter on repository


       --size <string>
              Filter on size range, in kilobytes


       -t, --template <string>
              Format JSON output using a Go template; see "gh help formatting"


       -w, --web
              Open the search query in the web browser



JSON FIELDS
       path, repository, sha, textMatches, url



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
       # Search code matching "react" and "lifecycle"
       $ gh search code react lifecycle

       # Search code matching "error handling"
       $ gh search code "error handling"

       # Search code matching "deque" in Python files
       $ gh search code deque --language=python

       # Search code matching "cli" in repositories owned by microsoft organization
       $ gh search code cli --owner=microsoft

       # Search code matching "panic" in the GitHub CLI repository
       $ gh search code panic --repo cli/cli

       # Search code matching keyword "lint" in package.json files
       $ gh search code lint --filename package.json




SEE ALSO
       gh-search(1)

                                   Jul 2025                  GH-SEARCH-CODE(1)