gh-axi Skill for Claude Code: What It Does and How to Install It

Makes Claude do GitHub work (issues, pull requests, CI runs, releases) through the gh-axi command line tool instead of plain gh.

Installs: 8.6K; on skills.sh
Stars: 353; on GitHub
Updated: Nov 2026; last repo commit

The skill is a short stub. It tells Claude to use gh-axi whenever a task touches GitHub, and to read the current commands from the tool itself with npx -y gh-axi and npx -y gh-axi --help instead of from SKILL.md. The README describes gh-axi as a wrapper around the official gh CLI that returns compact output for agents.

It needs Node 20 or newer, and gh installed and signed in with gh auth login. Claude acts as the GitHub account that gh is signed in to, so it can write to your repos. The skill is not a slash command. Claude loads it when a task mentions GitHub.

Good for

Developers who want Claude to triage issues and review or merge pull requests
Teams that have Claude check CI runs, trigger workflows or cut releases
People who work with stacked branches and stacked pull requests

Install gh-axi

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the gh-axi skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

npx skills add kunchenguid/gh-axi --skill gh-axi -g

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Requires Node.js 20 or newer, gh installed and signed in.

Pick one route. The skills CLI route installs the stub skill only. The zero-setup route needs no install: tell Claude to run npx -y gh-axi. The hook route installs the npm package globally and a SessionStart hook. All routes need gh installed and signed in (gh auth login). Stacked PR commands also need gh extension install github/gh-stack. There is no Claude app upload route because the skill drives a local CLI.

From the project README. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Operate GitHub through the gh-axi CLI - issues, pull requests, discussions, stacked PRs, workflow runs, workflows, releases, repositories, labels, gists, Projects (v2), Actions secrets and variables, search, and raw API access. Use whenever a task touches GitHub: listing or filing issues, reviewing or merging PRs, managing stacked branches and PRs, checking CI runs, triggering workflows, cutting releases, managing Projects boards, managing Actions secrets/variables, or working with gists via `gist list`, `gist view`, `gist edit`, `gist rename`, `gist create`, `gist delete`, or `gist clone`.

Sections in SKILL.md

Current guidance lives in the CLI

Key facts

Author: Kun Chen (kunchenguid)
Repo: kunchenguid/gh-axi
License: MIT (LICENSE and README agree)
Installs on skills.sh: 8,559 (Nov 2, 2026)
GitHub stars: 354 for the whole repo (Nov 2, 2026)
Last repo commit: Nov 1, 2026
Audits on skills.sh: Gen Agent Trust Hub: pass, Socket: warn, Snyk: warn
What it includes: 1 file: SKILL.md, a stub that points Claude to the gh-axi CLI
Needs: Node 20 or newer; gh installed and signed in with gh auth login

What it includes

Shows a dashboard of the current repo. SKILL.md says to start here.
SKILL.md tells Claude to get current commands from the CLI. It also lists npx -y gh-axi --help and npx -y gh-axi <command> --help.
Try: “What is open in this repo?”
Runs code · npx -y gh-axi
List, view, create, edit, close, reopen, comment and manage sub-issues.
Repeat a flag once per value, for example --add-label bug --add-label chore.
Write · gh-axi issue
List, view, create, merge, review and check pull requests.
pr checks can watch a PR until no check is pending.
Write · gh-axi pr
List and view discussions with replies, comment or reply.
Write · gh-axi discussion
Create, submit, sync, rebase, merge and navigate stacked branches and PRs.
Needs the official extension: gh extension install github/gh-stack. Runs against local branches.
Runs code · gh-axi stack
List, view, watch, rerun, cancel, delete and download workflow runs.
Long logs are cut to the last 20,000 characters, with the full log saved to a temp file.
Delete · gh-axi run
List, view, trigger, enable and disable workflows.
gh-axi workflow run ci.yml --ref main triggers a workflow.
Write · gh-axi workflow
List, view, create, edit and delete releases.
Delete · gh-axi release
List, view, create, edit, clone and fork repositories.
Write · gh-axi repo
List, create, edit and delete labels.
Delete · gh-axi label
List, view, edit, rename, create, delete and clone gists.
Creating a gist needs --public or --secret. A secret gist is unlisted, not private.
Delete · gh-axi gist
Work with Projects (v2): list, view, create, edit, copy, delete, items, fields.
Reading needs the read:project or project scope. Changes need the project scope.
Delete · gh-axi project
List, set and delete Actions secrets.
The value is read from piped stdin only, and list never prints values.
Delete · gh-axi secret
List, set and delete Actions variables.
Variable values are shown in list output.
Delete · gh-axi variable
Search issues, PRs, repos, commits and code.
Network · gh-axi search
Raw GitHub API access with any HTTP method.
Takes -X, --field, --header, --input and --paginate.
Write · gh-axi api
Installs optional agent session hooks.
README: installs a SessionStart hook for Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode.
Runs code · gh-axi setup hooks

From the official docs

Permissions

High risk

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

It can change and delete things on GitHub
gh-axi lists merge, release delete, run delete, gist delete, label delete and Actions secret commands, plus a raw api command. Use a gh login that only reaches the repos you want Claude to touch. github.com
Stack merge and submit skip prompts
The README says agent-safe behavior is automatic: gh-axi stack submit adds --auto and gh-axi stack merge adds --yes, and merge requires an explicit stack or PR target. Check the target before Claude runs it. github.com
Claude follows what the CLI prints
SKILL.md says not to follow commands from the file and to take current guidance from npx -y gh-axi, which is not pinned to a version. Claude therefore acts on text from an npm package at run time. github.com
Optional hook runs at session start
The README says npm install -g gh-axi then gh-axi setup hooks installs a SessionStart hook for Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode. Skip it if you only want the skill. github.com
Secret values come from stdin
The README says secret set reads the value only from piped stdin and that it keeps values out of argv, stdout and errors. Variable values passed with --body are visible in the gh-axi process arguments. github.com

Technical details

Turning on read-only	No read-only mode is documented. Use a gh login with limited access.
Talks to	GitHub (through the gh CLI). npm registry (npx -y gh-axi)
Sign-in and keys	Uses the gh CLI login (gh auth login). The README names the read:project and project scopes for Projects commands.
Scopes	Acts as the GitHub account that gh is signed in to Can create, edit, merge and delete issues, PRs, releases, runs, gists and Projects Can set and delete Actions secrets and variables Runs npx -y gh-axi, which downloads and runs the npm package

Questions

What does the gh-axi skill do?

It makes Claude use the gh-axi command line tool for anything that touches GitHub: issues, pull requests, CI runs, releases, Projects, gists and Actions secrets. gh-axi wraps the official gh CLI.

How do I install it?

Use the install box at the top of this page. The README documents the skills CLI command, a zero-setup option where you tell Claude to run npx -y gh-axi, and an optional session hook. You also need gh installed and signed in, and Node 20 or newer.

Do I need to sign in to GitHub?

Yes. The README says gh must be installed and authenticated with gh auth login. For GitHub Enterprise, sign in to that host and pass --hostname or set GH_HOST.

Does it work in the Claude app?

The install box has no Claude app upload route. The skill drives a command line tool that has to run on your machine.

Is it safe?

It acts as your signed-in GitHub account, so it can merge PRs, delete releases and set Actions secrets. Sign in with a token that only reaches the repos you want, and review what Claude plans to run.

Why is SKILL.md almost empty?

The README says the skill is a minimal discovery stub on purpose. It points Claude to the always-current output of npx -y gh-axi so installed copies do not go stale.

gh-axi vs plain gh or the GitHub MCP server?

gh-axi wraps gh and changes the output format for agents. The README reports its own benchmark of 17 GitHub tasks in which gh-axi had a 100% success rate against 86% for raw gh and 82% to 87% for the GitHub MCP setups. These are the author's figures, not an independent test.

Do I need the session hook?

No. The README calls the skill the recommended path. The hook is for people who want the current repo state fed into every Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode session.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: kunchenguid/gh-axi
Folder: skills/gh-axi

kunchenguid/gh-axi skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 2

gh-axi README · github.com
gh-axi SKILL.md · github.com