paul_krill
Editor at Large

GitHub CLI brings GitHub to the command line

news
Feb 14, 20202 mins
DevopsGitHubSoftware Development

Command-line interface to the code hosting platform can be used for issues and pull requests

command line
Credit: Thinkstock

GitHub has launched GitHub CLI, a new command-line interface that promises a more-seamless way to work with the code hosting platform. GitHub CLI is available immediately in a beta version. 

Installable on Windows, Linux, and macOS, GitHub CLI can be used to access issues, and pull requests from the terminal, where developers already are working with git and their code. GitHub CLI offers the following benefits:

  • Easy creation of pull requests and issues with no need to leave the command line.
  • Fast status checks. You can see the status of open issues and pull requests and find out what awaits review.
  • Easy navigation and filtering of issues and pull requests, which can be opened in the browser.

For pull requests, GitHub CLI automatically creates a fork when developers lack one, and pushes a branch and forges a pull request to get a change merged. Developers  later can view a snapshot of what happened since the pull request was created.

GitHub is seeking user feedback on GitHub CLI. To provide it, developers can create an issue in the GitHub CLI open source repository or offer feedback on a Google form. The company wants to know what commands users want and what is clunky or missing.