GitHub CLI Authentication
Automatically authenticate gh CLI using the token from .gh-token.txt in the repository root.
When to Use
Use this skill when:
- Seeing authentication errors: "gh auth login", "GH_TOKEN environment variable", "not logged into any GitHub hosts"
- Before running
gh commands if auth status is uncertain
- User explicitly requests GitHub authentication
Authentication Steps
1. Get repo root and authenticate
REPO_ROOT=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
gh auth login --with-token < "$REPO_ROOT/.gh-token.txt"
2. Verify success
gh auth status
Should show: ✓ Logged in to github.com account <username>
3. Proceed with original task
If authentication was triggered by a failed command, retry that command.
Error Handling
Missing .gh-token.txt:
ERROR: .gh-token.txt not found in repository root
Create it:
1. Generate token: https://github.com/settings/tokens
2. Save to .gh-token.txt in repo root
3. File is git-ignored
Invalid token format:
ERROR: Invalid token format
Tokens should start with github_pat_ or ghp_
Check .gh-token.txt for correct token
Already authenticated:
If gh auth status shows active authentication, skip to the original task.
Example
User: "List pull requests"
Action:
- Run
gh pr list → authentication error
- Detect error → activate skill
- Run:
REPO_ROOT=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel) && gh auth login --with-token < "$REPO_ROOT/.gh-token.txt"
- Verify:
gh auth status → success
- Retry:
gh pr list → returns PR list
Security
- Token read via stdin (never in command args or history)
.gh-token.txt should be in .gitignore- Tokens masked in
gh auth status output
