Git Repository Detection
Installation
SKILL.md
Git Repository Detection
Expert knowledge for detecting and extracting GitHub repository information from git remotes, including repository name, owner, and full identifiers.
Core Expertise
Repository Identification
- Extract owner and repository name from git remotes
- Parse GitHub URLs (HTTPS and SSH)
- Handle GitHub Enterprise URLs
- Format as
owner/repofor CLI/API usage
URL Parsing
- Parse HTTPS URLs:
https://github.com/owner/repo.git - Parse SSH URLs:
git@github.com:owner/repo.git - Handle custom domains:
https://github.enterprise.com/owner/repo.git - Clean
.gitsuffix and extra paths
Essential Commands
Get Remote URLs
# List all remotes
git remote -v
# Get origin URL
git remote get-url origin
# Get specific remote
git remote get-url upstream
# Show remote details
git remote show origin
Extract Repository Name
# From HTTPS URL
git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*\/\([^/]*\)\.git/\1/'
# From SSH URL
git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*:\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/' | cut -d'/' -f2
# From any URL (owner/repo format)
git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/'
# Just repository name (no owner)
basename $(git remote get-url origin) .git
Extract Owner
# From any URL
git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\)\/[^/]*\.git/\1/'
# Alternative with awk
git remote get-url origin | awk -F '[:/]' '{print $(NF-1)}'
Get Full Identifier (owner/repo)
# Standard format for GitHub CLI/API
git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/'
# With validation
REPO=$(git remote get-url origin 2>/dev/null | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/')
echo "${REPO:-Unknown}"
# Store in variable
REPO_FULL=$(git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/')
echo "Repository: $REPO_FULL"
URL Format Examples
HTTPS URLs
# Standard GitHub
https://github.com/owner/repo.git
# Extract: owner/repo
# Without .git suffix
https://github.com/owner/repo
# Extract: owner/repo
# GitHub Enterprise
https://github.company.com/owner/repo.git
# Extract: owner/repo
SSH URLs
# Standard SSH
git@github.com:owner/repo.git
# Extract: owner/repo
# Custom SSH port
ssh://git@github.com:443/owner/repo.git
# Extract: owner/repo
# Enterprise SSH
git@github.company.com:owner/repo.git
# Extract: owner/repo
Parsing Patterns
Universal Parser (HTTPS or SSH)
# Works for both HTTPS and SSH
parse_repo() {
local url="$1"
# Remove .git suffix
url="${url%.git}"
# Extract owner/repo
if [[ "$url" =~ github\.com[:/]([^/]+/[^/]+) ]]; then
echo "${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
elif [[ "$url" =~ :([^/]+/[^/]+)$ ]]; then
echo "${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
fi
}
REPO=$(parse_repo "$(git remote get-url origin)")
echo "$REPO"
Robust Extraction with sed
# Handle both HTTPS and SSH, with or without .git
git remote get-url origin \
| sed -E 's#.*github\.com[:/]##; s#\.git$##'
Using awk
# Split by : or / and get last two components
git remote get-url origin \
| awk -F'[/:]' '{print $(NF-1)"/"$NF}' \
| sed 's/\.git$//'
Real-World Usage
With GitHub CLI
# Get repo identifier for gh commands
REPO=$(git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/')
# Use with gh
gh repo view "$REPO"
gh issue list --repo "$REPO"
gh pr list --repo "$REPO"
# Or use current directory (gh auto-detects)
gh repo view
With GitHub API
# Extract for API calls
REPO=$(git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/')
OWNER=$(echo "$REPO" | cut -d'/' -f1)
REPO_NAME=$(echo "$REPO" | cut -d'/' -f2)
# API request
curl -H "Authorization: token $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
"https://api.github.com/repos/$OWNER/$REPO_NAME"
# Or use full identifier
curl -H "Authorization: token $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
"https://api.github.com/repos/$REPO"
Check Multiple Remotes
# List all remotes with parsed names
git remote | while read remote; do
url=$(git remote get-url "$remote")
repo=$(echo "$url" | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/')
echo "$remote: $repo"
done
# Output:
# origin: owner/repo
# upstream: original-owner/repo
Validate Repository Exists
# Extract and validate
REPO=$(git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/')
# Check if repo exists on GitHub
if gh repo view "$REPO" &>/dev/null; then
echo "Repository exists: $REPO"
else
echo "Repository not found or not accessible: $REPO"
fi
Clone URL from Identifier
# Given owner/repo, construct URLs
REPO="owner/repo"
# HTTPS
echo "https://github.com/${REPO}.git"
# SSH
echo "git@github.com:${REPO}.git"
Common Patterns
Script Integration
#!/bin/bash
# Get repository info for current directory
get_repo_info() {
local origin_url=$(git remote get-url origin 2>/dev/null)
if [[ -z "$origin_url" ]]; then
echo "Error: Not a git repository or no origin remote" >&2
return 1
fi
# Extract owner/repo
local repo=$(echo "$origin_url" | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/')
# Split into owner and name
local owner=$(echo "$repo" | cut -d'/' -f1)
local name=$(echo "$repo" | cut -d'/' -f2)
echo "Full: $repo"
echo "Owner: $owner"
echo "Name: $name"
}
get_repo_info
Environment Variables
# Set repo variables for scripts
export REPO_FULL=$(git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/')
export REPO_OWNER=$(echo "$REPO_FULL" | cut -d'/' -f1)
export REPO_NAME=$(echo "$REPO_FULL" | cut -d'/' -f2)
# Use in scripts
gh issue create --repo "$REPO_FULL" --title "Bug Report"
Aliases
# Add to ~/.gitconfig or ~/.bashrc
# Git alias
git config --global alias.repo-name "!git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[\\/:]\\([^\\/]*\\/[^\\/]*\\)\\.git/\\1/'"
# Usage
git repo-name
# Shell alias
alias repo='git remote get-url origin | sed "s/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/"'
# Usage
repo
Edge Cases and Error Handling
No Remote
# Check if remote exists
if git remote get-url origin &>/dev/null; then
REPO=$(git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/')
echo "Repository: $REPO"
else
echo "Error: No origin remote configured"
fi
Multiple Remotes
# Use specific remote (origin, upstream, etc.)
REMOTE="${1:-origin}"
if git remote get-url "$REMOTE" &>/dev/null; then
REPO=$(git remote get-url "$REMOTE" | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/')
echo "Repository ($REMOTE): $REPO"
else
echo "Error: Remote '$REMOTE' not found"
fi
Non-GitHub Remotes
# Check if it's a GitHub URL
URL=$(git remote get-url origin)
if [[ "$URL" =~ github\.com ]]; then
REPO=$(echo "$URL" | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/')
echo "GitHub Repository: $REPO"
else
echo "Not a GitHub repository: $URL"
fi
Submodules
# Get parent repo
PARENT_REPO=$(git -C "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)" remote get-url origin \
| sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/')
# Get submodule repo
SUBMODULE_REPO=$(git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/')
Integration Examples
With Makefile
# Makefile
REPO := $(shell git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^\/]*\/[^\/]*\)\.git/\1/')
OWNER := $(shell echo $(REPO) | cut -d'/' -f1)
NAME := $(shell echo $(REPO) | cut -d'/' -f2)
.PHONY: info
info:
@echo "Repository: $(REPO)"
@echo "Owner: $(OWNER)"
@echo "Name: $(NAME)"
.PHONY: open
open:
@open "https://github.com/$(REPO)"
With Shell Scripts
#!/bin/bash
# deploy.sh
set -e
# Get repository identifier
REPO=$(git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/')
if [[ -z "$REPO" ]]; then
echo "Error: Could not determine repository" >&2
exit 1
fi
echo "Deploying $REPO..."
# Use repo identifier
gh workflow run deploy.yml --repo "$REPO"
With Python Scripts
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import subprocess
import re
def get_repo_name():
"""Extract GitHub repository owner/name from git remote."""
try:
result = subprocess.run(
['git', 'remote', 'get-url', 'origin'],
capture_output=True,
text=True,
check=True
)
url = result.stdout.strip()
# Parse owner/repo from URL
match = re.search(r'github\.com[:/](.+/.+?)(?:\.git)?$', url)
if match:
return match.group(1)
return None
except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
return None
if __name__ == '__main__':
repo = get_repo_name()
if repo:
print(f"Repository: {repo}")
else:
print("Error: Could not determine repository")
Quick Reference
One-Liners
# Full identifier (owner/repo)
git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/'
# Owner only
git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\)\/[^/]*\.git/\1/'
# Name only
basename $(git remote get-url origin) .git
# Check if GitHub repo
git remote get-url origin | grep -q github.com && echo "GitHub" || echo "Not GitHub"
Common Commands
# View on GitHub (macOS)
open "https://github.com/$(git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/')"
# View on GitHub (Linux)
xdg-open "https://github.com/$(git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/')"
# Copy to clipboard (macOS)
git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/' | pbcopy
# Copy to clipboard (Linux)
git remote get-url origin | sed 's/.*[:/]\([^/]*\/[^/]*\)\.git/\1/' | xclip -selection clipboard
Validation
# Ensure in git repo
git rev-parse --git-dir &>/dev/null || { echo "Not a git repository"; exit 1; }
# Ensure origin exists
git remote get-url origin &>/dev/null || { echo "No origin remote"; exit 1; }
# Ensure it's GitHub
git remote get-url origin | grep -q github.com || { echo "Not a GitHub repo"; exit 1; }
Troubleshooting
Remote Not Found
# Check configured remotes
git remote -v
# Add origin if missing
git remote add origin git@github.com:owner/repo.git
Wrong Remote
# Use different remote
git remote get-url upstream
# Set correct origin
git remote set-url origin git@github.com:owner/repo.git
Parse Failure
# Debug: Show raw URL
git remote get-url origin
# Check format matches expected pattern
# HTTPS: https://github.com/owner/repo.git
# SSH: git@github.com:owner/repo.git
Best Practices
Caching
- Cache repository identifier in scripts
- Don't repeatedly call git commands
- Store in environment variables
Error Handling
- Always check if remote exists
- Validate URL format before parsing
- Provide fallback values
Portability
- Use portable sed/awk syntax
- Test on different shells (bash, zsh, etc.)
- Handle both HTTPS and SSH URLs
Security
- Don't expose tokens in URLs
- Use SSH for private repositories
- Validate repository access
Integration with Other Skills
Combine with:
- github MCP - Use extracted repo name with GitHub API
- github-actions-inspection - Pass repo to gh CLI commands
- git-workflow - Identify repo for workflow operations
Workflow:
- Detect repository (this skill)
- Use identifier with GitHub CLI/API
- Perform operations on correct repository
Resources
- git remote documentation:
man git-remote - GitHub CLI: Uses repository detection automatically
- GitHub API: Requires
owner/repoformat