Getting Started with GitHub CLI Extensions#

GitHub CLI extensions are custom commands that extend the functionality of gh, the official GitHub CLI tool.

Prerequisites#

Before installing extensions, make sure you have GitHub CLI installed:

1# macOS
2brew install gh
3
4# Windows
5winget install GitHub.cli
6
7# Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
8sudo apt install gh

Then authenticate with GitHub:

1gh auth login

Installing Extensions#

Basic Installation#

To install an extension, use the gh extension install command:

1gh extension install owner/repo

For example, to install the popular gh-dash extension:

1gh extension install dlvhdr/gh-dash

From GitHub URL#

You can also install directly from a GitHub URL:

1gh extension install https://github.com/dlvhdr/gh-dash

Managing Extensions#

List Installed Extensions#

1gh extension list

Update Extensions#

Update a specific extension:

1gh extension upgrade owner/repo

Update all extensions:

1gh extension upgrade --all

Remove Extensions#

1gh extension remove owner/repo

Using Extensions#

Once installed, extensions are available as gh subcommands:

1# If you installed gh-dash
2gh dash
3
4# If you installed gh-poi
5gh poi

Popular Extensions to Try#

Here are some highly recommended extensions to get started:

Creating Your Own Extension#

Want to create your own extension? Check out the official documentation.

1# Create a new extension
2gh extension create my-extension
3
4# Or create a Go-based extension
5gh extension create --precompiled=go my-extension

Troubleshooting#

Extension Not Found#

If you get an error that an extension is not found:

1. Check the repository exists and is public
2. Ensure the repo has the gh-extension topic
3. Verify the repo has a valid extension manifest

Permission Denied#

If you get permission errors:

1# Re-authenticate with required scopes
2gh auth refresh -s read:org

Resources#

• GitHub CLI Documentation
• Extension Development Guide
• gh-extension Topic on GitHub