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



NAME
       gh-search - Search for repositories, issues, and pull requests



SYNOPSIS
       gh search <command> [flags]



DESCRIPTION
       Search across all of GitHub.


       Excluding search results that match a qualifier


       In a browser, the GitHub search syntax supports excluding results that
       match a search qualifier by prefixing the qualifier with a hyphen. For
       example, to search for issues that do not have the label "bug", you
       would use -label:bug as a search qualifier.


       gh supports this syntax in gh search as well, but it requires extra
       command line arguments to avoid the hyphen being interpreted as a
       command line flag because it begins with a hyphen.


       On Unix-like systems, you can use the -- argument to indicate that the
       arguments that follow are not a flag, but rather a query string. For
       example:


       $ gh search issues -- "my-search-query -label:bug"


       On PowerShell, you must use both the --% argument and the -- argument
       to produce the same effect. For example:


       $ gh --% search issues -- "my search query -label:bug"


       See the following for more information: - GitHub search syntax:
       <https://docs.github.com/en/search-github/getting-started-with-searching-on-github/understanding-the-search-syntax#exclude-results-that-match-a-qualifier>
       - The PowerShell stop parse flag --%:
       <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/about_parsing?view=powershell-7.5#the-stop-parsing-token>
       - The Unix-like -- argument:
       <https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.html#Shell-Builtin-Commands-1>



AVAILABLE COMMANDS
       gh-search-code(1)
              Search within code


       gh-search-commits(1)
              Search for commits


       gh-search-issues(1)
              Search for issues


       gh-search-prs(1)
              Search for pull requests


       gh-search-repos(1)
              Search for repositories



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.



SEE ALSO
       gh(1)

                                   Jan 2026                       GH-SEARCH(1)