better-github-skill

Raw gh first when you know the command; the scripts replace only the flows agents repeatedly get wrong. Scripts run TS directly (node ≥ 23.6), no deps.

Scripts

script	use for
scripts/pr-snapshot.ts [pr] [-R o/r]	full PR state in one call: meta, mergeability, checks, files, reviews, comments, thread counts. Use instead of hand-assembling pr view --json field sets or chaining view/checks/comments calls.
scripts/pr-threads.ts [pr] [-R o/r] [--all] [--author X] [--since ISO]	the full review conversation: review bodies, issue comments, and unresolved inline threads (resolution state porcelain gh cannot get). Resolved/outdated threads are hidden by default, counted in the header; --all includes them. Read-only: never reply to or resolve threads unless explicitly told to.
scripts/ci-failures.ts [run-id] [--pr N] [--list] [-R o/r]	failing checks → failing jobs/steps → log snippet each; full logs saved to files (paths printed); rg those instead of re-fetching. --list [--workflow W] [-L n] shows recent runs with conclusions; use it to find the failing run id instead of gh run list --json field sets.

Rule of thumb: pr-snapshot answers "what's the state of this PR", pr-threads answers "what did reviewers write". Neither replaces the other.

All scripts: --json for structured output, --help for usage (includes the --json shape). Omit the PR number to use the current branch's PR. Default output is sized for context; pass --full only when a truncation marker ([…+N chars]) hides something you need. They exit 0 when the report succeeds even if CI is red or threads are unresolved.

Gotchas (each one burned real sessions repeatedly)

• Never pipe gh into head: SIGPIPE can kill gh mid-write (spurious nonzero exit, shell-dependent) or silently truncate large output. Redirect to a file and read that, or trim with --jq '.[0:20]'.
• gh pr diff has no --stat and no positive pathspec (--name-only and -e/--exclude globs exist in gh ≥ 2.95). Per-file stats: gh api 'repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/N/files' --jq '.[]|[.filename,.additions,.deletions]|@tsv' Full diff: gh pr diff N > "$TMPDIR/pr.diff" once, then rg/sed the file.
• gh pr checks exits 1 = failing, 8 = pending by design; append || true, read the table.
• File at any ref, no base64 dance: gh api 'repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/PATH?ref=SHA' -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github.raw'
• gh api fills {owner}/{repo} from the cwd repo (GH_REPO=o/r overrides). Quote any api path containing ? (zsh globs it), or use -X GET -F per_page=100 (any -f/-F silently flips the request to POST without -X GET).
• --paginate on any list endpoint (/comments, /files, /reviews); --jq already runs per page; don't add --slurp.
• PR/comment bodies: --body-file file.md or a quoted heredoc. Never inline --body "..." containing backticks.
• Field cheat-sheet: CI status on a PR = statusCheckRollup (pr view); steps live under gh run view N --json jobs; gh search prs fields ≠ gh pr view fields.
• gh has no -C; pass -R owner/repo to every command, or cd first.
• Branch rules live at gh api 'repos/{owner}/{repo}/rulesets' on modern repos; /branches/main/protection 404s unless classic protection is on AND you have admin ("Branch not protected" or plain "Not Found" both mean check rulesets; neither is a path error).
• Branch drift: gh api 'repos/{owner}/{repo}/compare/BASE...HEAD' --jq '{ahead_by,behind_by}'
• jq beyond one line: write the program to a file and jq -f prog.jq; inline zsh quoting breaks.
• Don't sleep-poll runs or checks; gh run watch ID and gh pr checks N --watch --fail-fast exist; let the harness background them.