GitHub with orbit CLI

Manage GitHub repositories, pull requests, issues, releases, branches, tags, commits, workflow runs, secrets, and users through the orbit CLI. Works with both GitHub.com and GitHub Enterprise via REST API, with multi-profile support and 1Password secret resolution.

Prerequisites

1. orbit CLI installed — if which orbit fails, install with:
   • macOS/Linux (Homebrew): brew install jorgemuza/tap/orbit
   • macOS/Linux (script): curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jorgemuza/orbit/main/install.sh | sh
   • Windows (Scoop): scoop bucket add jorgemuza https://github.com/jorgemuza/scoop-bucket && scoop install orbit
2. A profile with a github service configured in ~/.config/orbit/config.yaml
3. Valid credentials (Personal Access Token) — can be stored in 1Password with op:// prefix

Quick Reference

All commands follow the pattern: orbit -p <profile> github <command> [flags]

Alias: orbit -p <profile> gh <command> [flags]

All commands support -o json for JSON output. For full command details and all flags, see references/commands.md.

Repository Identification

Repositories are always referenced as owner/repo:

• orbit -p myprofile gh repo octocat/hello-world
• orbit -p myprofile gh repo kubernetes/kubernetes

Core Workflows

Exploring Repositories

# View repo details
orbit -p myprofile gh repo octocat/hello-world

# List your repos (sorted by most recently pushed)
orbit -p myprofile gh repos

# List repos in an organization
orbit -p myprofile gh repos --org kubernetes

# List repos with limit
orbit -p myprofile gh repos --limit 10

# Edit repo settings
orbit -p myprofile gh repo edit Paybook/ai --description "Updated"

# Archive a repo
orbit -p myprofile gh repo edit Paybook/ai --archived

# List collaborators
orbit -p myprofile gh repo collab list Paybook/ai

# Add collaborator
orbit -p myprofile gh repo collab add Paybook/ai jorgemuza --permission admin

# Remove collaborator
orbit -p myprofile gh repo collab remove Paybook/ai jorgemuza

Working with Pull Requests

# List open PRs
orbit -p myprofile gh pr list octocat/hello-world

# List closed PRs
orbit -p myprofile gh pr list octocat/hello-world --state closed

# View PR details (shows head/base branch, labels, comments)
orbit -p myprofile gh pr view octocat/hello-world 42

# Create a PR
orbit -p myprofile gh pr create octocat/hello-world \
  --head feature/login --base main --title "Add login page"

# Merge a PR (with optional method: merge, squash, rebase)
orbit -p myprofile gh pr merge octocat/hello-world 42 --method squash

# Add a comment
orbit -p myprofile gh pr comment octocat/hello-world 42 --body "LGTM!"

# List comments
orbit -p myprofile gh pr comments octocat/hello-world 42

GitHub Actions Workflow Runs

# List recent workflow runs
orbit -p myprofile gh run list octocat/hello-world

# Filter by branch and status
orbit -p myprofile gh run list octocat/hello-world --branch main --status completed

# View workflow run details
orbit -p myprofile gh run view octocat/hello-world 12345

# Watch a run in real-time (polls and shows job/step progress until completion)
orbit -p myprofile gh run watch octocat/hello-world
orbit -p myprofile gh run watch octocat/hello-world 12345 --interval 10

# Cancel a running workflow
orbit -p myprofile gh run cancel octocat/hello-world 12345

# Re-run a workflow
orbit -p myprofile gh run rerun octocat/hello-world 12345

Run aliases: run, actions — so orbit gh actions list octocat/hello-world works too.

The watch command auto-discovers the most recent in-progress run if no run-id is given. It shows live job and step status with elapsed time, and exits with an error if the run fails.

Workflow Management

# List workflows (get the numeric workflow ID)
orbit -p myprofile gh workflow list octocat/hello-world

# Trigger a workflow dispatch (--ref is required)
orbit -p myprofile gh workflow run octocat/hello-world 245836153 --ref main

# Trigger with inputs
orbit -p myprofile gh workflow run octocat/hello-world 245836153 --ref main --input env=staging

# Enable/disable a workflow
orbit -p myprofile gh workflow enable octocat/hello-world 245836153
orbit -p myprofile gh workflow disable octocat/hello-world 245836153

Important: workflow run requires the numeric workflow ID (from workflow list), not the filename. The --ref flag is mandatory.

GitHub Actions Secrets

# List repository secrets
orbit -p myprofile gh secret list octocat/hello-world

# Create or update a secret
orbit -p myprofile gh secret set octocat/hello-world MY_SECRET "secret-value"

# Delete a secret
orbit -p myprofile gh secret delete octocat/hello-world MY_SECRET

Secrets are encrypted client-side using the repository's public key before being sent to the API.

Branches and Tags

# List branches
orbit -p myprofile gh branch list octocat/hello-world

# View branch details (includes latest commit)
orbit -p myprofile gh branch view octocat/hello-world main

# List tags
orbit -p myprofile gh tag list octocat/hello-world

Commits

# List recent commits (default branch)
orbit -p myprofile gh commit list octocat/hello-world

# List commits on a specific branch
orbit -p myprofile gh commit list octocat/hello-world --ref feature/login

# View commit details
orbit -p myprofile gh commit view octocat/hello-world abc1234

Issues

# List open issues
orbit -p myprofile gh issue list octocat/hello-world --state open

# Filter by labels
orbit -p myprofile gh issue list octocat/hello-world --labels bug,urgent

# View issue details
orbit -p myprofile gh issue view octocat/hello-world 1

# Create an issue
orbit -p myprofile gh issue create octocat/hello-world --title "Fix login bug" --labels bug,urgent

# Close an issue
orbit -p myprofile gh issue close octocat/hello-world 1

# Add a comment to an issue
orbit -p myprofile gh issue comment octocat/hello-world 1 --body "Working on this"

Releases

# List releases
orbit -p myprofile gh release list octocat/hello-world

# View a specific release
orbit -p myprofile gh release view octocat/hello-world 12345

# View the latest release
orbit -p myprofile gh release latest octocat/hello-world

Users

# Show current authenticated user
orbit -p myprofile gh user me

# View a user profile
orbit -p myprofile gh user view octocat

Common Patterns

Get JSON for scripting: Any command supports -o json for machine-readable output:

orbit -p myprofile gh pr list octocat/hello-world -o json | jq '.[].title'

Check CI status for a branch:

orbit -p myprofile gh run list octocat/hello-world --branch main --limit 1

Monitor a release pipeline:

orbit -p myprofile gh run watch octocat/hello-world

Set a deployment secret:

orbit -p myprofile gh secret set octocat/hello-world DEPLOY_TOKEN "ghp_xxxxx"

Review a PR end-to-end:

# View PR details
orbit -p myprofile gh pr view octocat/hello-world 42
# Check its workflow runs
orbit -p myprofile gh run list octocat/hello-world --branch feature/login --limit 1
# Read discussion
orbit -p myprofile gh pr comments octocat/hello-world 42
# Approve with comment
orbit -p myprofile gh pr comment octocat/hello-world 42 --body "Approved, looks good"

Important Notes

• Profile required — Always pass -p <profile> to select the GitHub connection. The profile must have a service of type github configured.
• Service flag — If a profile has multiple GitHub services, use --service <name> to disambiguate.
• Cloud vs Enterprise — Works with both. For GitHub.com the base_url defaults to https://api.github.com. For GitHub Enterprise, set the base_url in your profile config.
• 1Password integration — Auth tokens in config can use op://vault/item/field and are resolved at runtime. Run orbit auth once to resolve and cache all secrets for 8 hours (single biometric prompt). Use orbit auth clear to wipe the cache.
• Pagination — Most list commands default to 20-50 results. Use --limit N to adjust.