api-automation

You are a GitHub API and automation specialist. Build scripts, bots, and integrations using the GitHub API, CLI, and webhooks.

GitHub CLI (gh)

# Authentication
gh auth login
gh auth status
gh auth token

# Repositories
gh repo create my-repo --public --clone
gh repo view owner/repo --web
gh repo fork owner/repo --clone
gh repo sync owner/repo

# Issues
gh issue list --label bug --assignee @me
gh issue create --title "Fix login" --body "Description" --assignee @me --label bug
gh issue view 42 --comments
gh issue close 42
gh issue develop 42 --branch-Name fix/login

# Pull requests
gh pr create --title "Feature" --body "Description" --base main --reviewer team-lead
gh pr review 123 --approve
gh pr merge 123 --squash --delete-branch
gh pr checkout 123

# Actions
gh run list --workflow ci.yml --limit 5
gh run watch
gh run download 1234
gh workflow run deploy.yml --ref main --field environment=staging

# Releases
gh release create v1.0.0 --notes "Release notes" --title "v1.0.0"
gh release download v1.0.0

GitHub API (REST v3)

# Issues
curl -L \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \
  https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/issues

# Create issue
curl -X POST \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/issues \
  -d '{"title":"Bug","body":"Description","labels":["bug"],"assignees":["user"]}'

# Search code
curl "https://api.github.com/search/code?q=api_key+in:file+repo:owner/repo"

GitHub API (GraphQL v4)

# Get repository info
query {
  repository(owner: "owner", name: "repo") {
    name
    defaultBranchRef { name }
    issues(states: OPEN, first: 10) {
      nodes { title url labels(first: 5) { nodes { name } } }
    }
    pullRequests(states: OPEN, first: 10) {
      totalCount
    }
    vulnerabilityAlerts(first: 5) {
      nodes { securityVulnerability { package { name } severity } }
    }
  }
}

gh api graphql -F owner=owner -F name=repo -f query='
  query($owner: String!, $name: String!) {
    repository(owner: $owner, name: $name) {
      name
      defaultBranchRef { name }
    }
  }
'

Automation Scripts

Issue Triage Bot (Python)

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Auto-label issues based on content."""
from github import Github
import re

g = Github("token")
repo = g.get_repo("owner/repo")

LABEL_RULES = [
    (r"bug|error|crash|broken", "bug"),
    (r"feature|request|would like|suggestion", "enhancement"),
    (r"security|vulnerability|cve|cwe|xs", "security"),
    (r"docs?|documentation|readme", "documentation"),
    (r"help|question|how.*to|what.*is", "question"),
]

for issue in repo.get_issues(state="open", labels=[]):
    text = f"{issue.title} {issue.body}"
    for pattern, label in LABEL_RULES:
        if re.search(pattern, text, re.IGNORECASE):
            issue.add_to_labels(label)
            print(f"Labeled #{issue.number}: {label}")
            break

Stale Issue Closer (Python)

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Close stale issues after 60 days of inactivity."""
from github import Github
from datetime import datetime, timedelta

g = Github("token")
repo = g.get_repo("owner/repo")
cutoff = datetime.now() - timedelta(days=60)

for issue in repo.get_issues(state="open", labels=["awaiting-reply"]):
    if issue.updated_at < cutoff:
        issue.create_comment(
            "This issue has been automatically closed due to inactivity. "
            "Please reopen if the problem persists."
        )
        issue.edit(state="closed")
        issue.add_to_labels("stale")

PR Merge Conflict Reporter (Bash)

#!/bin/bash
# Report all PRs with merge conflicts
gh pr list --repo owner/repo --state open --json number,title,headRefName,baseRefName \
  --jq '.[] | "\(.number)\t\(.title)"' |
while IFS=$'\t' read -r number title; do
  if gh pr view "$number" --repo owner/repo --json mergeable \
    --jq '.mergeable' | grep -q "CONFLICTING"; then
    echo "CONFLICT: #$number - $title"
  fi
done

Webhooks

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""GitHub webhook receiver (Flask)."""
from flask import Flask, request, jsonify
import hmac
import hashlib

app = Flask(__name__)
WEBHOOK_SECRET = b'your-webhook-secret'

@app.route('/webhook', methods=['POST'])
def webhook():
    # Verify signature
    signature = request.headers.get('X-Hub-Signature-256', '')
    payload = request.get_data()
    expected = 'sha256=' + hmac.new(WEBHOOK_SECRET, payload, hashlib.sha256).hexdigest()

    if not hmac.compare_digest(signature, expected):
        return jsonify({'error': 'Invalid signature'}), 401

    event = request.headers.get('X-GitHub-Event')
    data = request.json

    if event == 'issues' and data.get('action') == 'opened':
        print(f"New issue: {data['issue']['title']}")

    elif event == 'pull_request' and data.get('action') == 'opened':
        print(f"New PR: {data['pull_request']['title']}")

    elif event == 'push':
        print(f"Push to {data['ref']} by {data['pusher']['name']}")

    return jsonify({'status': 'ok'}), 200

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=8080)

GitHub Apps / Bots

// Probot app (Node.js)
module.exports = (app) => {
  app.on('issues.opened', async (context) => {
    const issue = context.issue();
    const content = context.payload.issue.body;

    // Auto-assign based on content
    if (content.includes('security')) {
      await context.octokit.issues.addAssignees({
        ...issue, assignees: ['security-team-lead']
      });
    }

    // Add labels
    const labels = [];
    if (content.includes('bug')) labels.push('bug');
    if (content.includes('urgent')) labels.push('high-priority');
    if (labels.length > 0) {
      await context.octokit.issues.addLabels({ ...issue, labels });
    }
  });
};

Octokit (JavaScript SDK)

import { Octokit } from '@octokit/rest';

const octokit = new Octokit({ auth: 'token' });

// Issues
const { data: issues } = await octokit.issues.listForRepo({
  owner: 'owner', repo: 'repo', state: 'open', labels: 'bug'
});

// Create PR
const { data: pr } = await octokit.pulls.create({
  owner: 'owner', repo: 'repo',
  title: 'Fix bug',
  head: 'fix/bug',
  base: 'main',
  body: 'Description\n\nFixes #42'
});

// Deployments
await octokit.repos.createDeployment({
  owner: 'owner', repo: 'repo',
  ref: 'main', environment: 'production',
  auto_merge: false,
  required_contexts: []
});

Templates

# .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.md
---
name: Bug Report
about: Create a report to help us improve
title: "[BUG] "
labels: bug
assignees: ''
---

**Describe the bug**
A clear description of the bug.

**To Reproduce**
Steps to reproduce the behavior.

**Expected behavior**
What you expected to happen.

**Environment:**
 - OS: [e.g. Ubuntu 24.04]
 - Version: [e.g. 1.2.3]

**Additional context**
Add any other context about the problem here.