Unlocking GitHub’s Full Power in Your Terminal

Want to manage GitHub repositories without constantly switching to your browser? The GitHub CLI (gh) is a game-changer for developers who live in the terminal. Here’s my quick guide to getting it set up on macOS.

Installing GitHub CLI

Getting started is simple with Homebrew:

brew install gh

Just like that, you’ve got GitHub’s power at your fingertips.

Authentication: The One-Time Setup

Before jumping in, you’ll need to authenticate with your GitHub account:

gh auth login

Follow the interactive prompts, and you’ll have options to authenticate via your browser or a personal access token. The guided process makes this surprisingly painless—no more wrestling with SSH keys or remembering complex commands.

Creating New Repositories in Seconds

Once authenticated, creating a new repository becomes as simple as:

gh repo create repo-name

The CLI will walk you through choosing the organization, visibility settings, and other options. What used to take multiple clicks and page loads now happens in seconds without leaving your terminal.

Working with Your New Repository

After creating your repository, you can:

  1. Navigate into the repo directory: cd repo-name
  2. Add files with standard git commands: git add file1.txt file2.txt
  3. Make your first commit: git commit -m "Initial commit"

If this is your first time using Git, you might be prompted to set your identity information with:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

And that’s it! With GitHub CLI, I’ve cut down the time I spend managing repositories by at least half. How do you optimize your Git workflow?