Fetching PR Comments
Overview
Retrieve and parse GitHub PR review comments for the current branch using gh CLI.
Quick Reference
| Task |
Command |
| Check if PR exists |
gh pr view |
| View PR with issue comments |
gh pr view --comments |
| Fetch review comments (code-level) |
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{n}/comments |
| Extract key fields |
--jq '.[] | {path, line, body}' |
Workflow
Get PR number for current branch:
gh pr view --json number --jq '.number'
Fetch review comments:
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{n}/comments \
--jq '.[] | {path: .path, line: .line, body: .body}'
Full command (single step):
gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/$(gh pr view --json number -q .number)/comments \
--jq '.[] | {path: .path, line: .line, body: .body}'
Important Distinctions
| Type |
What it shows |
How to get |
| Issue comments |
PR-level discussion |
gh pr view --comments |
| Review comments |
Code-level feedback |
gh api .../pulls/{n}/comments |
Common Patterns
Check if current branch has a PR:
gh pr view 2>/dev/null && echo "PR exists" || echo "No PR"
Get PR details + comments in one view:
gh pr view --comments
Fetch specific PR by number:
gh pr view 429 --repo owner/repo --comments
When NOT to Use
- Creating new PRs (use
gh pr create)
- Reviewing diffs (use
gh pr diff)
- Merging (use
gh pr merge)
