gh-manager-cli

Interactive terminal app to browse and manage your personal GitHub repositories. Built with Ink (React for CLIs) and the GitHub GraphQL API.

🌐 Visit our website: gh-manager-cli.dev | Source | Hosted on Vercel

🧹 Clean Up Your GitHub Account in Minutes

Stop clicking through GitHub's slow web interface. Managing dozens of repos on github.com means endless page loads, multiple clicks per action, and no keyboard shortcuts.

gh-manager-cli replaces tedious web clicking with powerful terminal commands:

❌ GitHub Website Pain Points → ✅ Our Solution

• Slow pagination (20 repos/page) → View all repos instantly with smooth scrolling
• Multiple clicks per action → Single keypress for any operation
• No bulk operations → Archive, delete, or modify multiple repos at once
• Buried settings menus → Direct keyboard shortcuts for everything
• Page refresh after each action → Instant updates with no reload

Perfect for:

• Spring cleaning: Archive old projects and delete forgotten forks
• Professional profiles: Keep only your best work visible
• Fork management: Identify and sync outdated forks
• Consistent naming: Bulk rename repositories with patterns
• Quick decisions: See all metadata at a glance to decide what stays

Fast, keyboard-first GitHub repo management from your terminal

Documentation

Screenshots

_{Listing • Auth • Delete confirmation}

Quick Start

# Run with npx (no install)
npx gh-manager-cli@latest

On first run, you'll be prompted to authenticate with GitHub (OAuth recommended).

Features

Core Repository Management

• Authentication: GitHub OAuth (recommended) or Personal Access Token with secure storage
• Repository Listing: Browse all your personal repositories with metadata (stars, forks, language, etc.)
• Live Pagination: Infinite scroll with automatic page prefetching
• Interactive Sorting: Modal-based sort selection (updated, pushed, name, stars) with modal-based direction selection
• Smart Search: Server-side search through repository names and descriptions (3+ characters)
• Visibility Filtering: Modal-based visibility filter (All, Public, Private/Internal for enterprise) with smart filtering
• Fork Status Tracking: Toggle display of commits behind upstream for forked repositories
• Repository Actions:
  • View detailed info (I) - Shows repository metadata, language, size, and timestamps
  • Open in browser (Enter/O)
  • Rename repository (Ctrl+R) with inline validation and automatic cache update
  • Copy repository URL to clipboard (C) with SSH/HTTPS options
  • Delete repository (Del or Backspace) with secure two-step confirmation
  • Archive/unarchive repositories (Ctrl+A) with confirmation prompts
  • Change repository visibility (Ctrl+V) - Switch between Public, Private, and Internal (enterprise only)
  • Sync forks with upstream (Ctrl+S) with automatic conflict detection

User Interface & Experience

• Keyboard Navigation: Full keyboard control (arrow keys, PageUp/Down, Ctrl+G/G)
• Display Density: Toggle between compact/cozy/comfy spacing (T)
• Visual Indicators: Fork status, private/internal/archived badges, language colors, visibility status
• Enterprise Support: Full support for GitHub Enterprise with Internal repository visibility
• Organization Context: Switch between personal and organization accounts with ENT badge for enterprise orgs
• Interactive Modals: Sort selection, visibility filtering, organization switching, and visibility change dialogs
• Balanced Layout: Repository items with spacing above and below for better visual hierarchy
• Loading States: Contextual loading screens for sorting and refreshing operations
• Rate Limit Monitoring: Dual API rate limit display (GraphQL & REST) with real-time usage deltas and visual warnings

Technical Features

• Preference Persistence: UI settings (sort, density, visibility filter, fork tracking) saved between sessions
• Server-side Filtering: Visibility filtering performed at GitHub API level for accurate pagination
• Cross-platform: Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows
• Secure Storage: Token stored with proper file permissions (0600)
• Error Handling: Graceful error recovery with retry mechanisms
• Performance: Efficient GraphQL queries with virtualized rendering and server-side filtering
• Comprehensive Logging: Structured JSON logging with automatic rotation and configurable verbosity

Installation

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

brew tap wiiiimm/tap
brew install gh-manager-cli

NPX (Recommended - No Installation Required)

Run instantly without installing:

npx gh-manager-cli@latest

NPM Global Install

Install globally for persistent gh-manager-cli command:

npm install -g gh-manager-cli@latest
gh-manager-cli

Pre-built Binaries (No Node.js Required)

Download standalone executables from GitHub Releases:

• Linux: gh-manager-cli-linux-x64
• macOS: gh-manager-cli-macos-x64
• Windows: gh-manager-cli-windows-x64.exe

Make the binary executable (Linux/macOS):

chmod +x gh-manager-cli-*
./gh-manager-cli-*

From Source

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 18+
• pnpm

Install and build:

pnpm install
pnpm build

Run locally:

node dist/index.js
# Or add to PATH for dev
pnpm link
gh-manager-cli

Authentication

The app supports two authentication methods:

1. GitHub OAuth (Recommended) 🎯

The easiest and most secure way to authenticate:

• Device Flow: No need to handle callback URLs - just enter a code on GitHub's website
• Browser-based: Opens GitHub's authorization page automatically
• Secure: No client secrets or sensitive data in the app
• Full Permissions: Automatically requests all necessary scopes for complete functionality
• User-friendly: No manual token management required

When you first run the app, select "GitHub OAuth (Recommended)" from the authentication options. The app will:

1. Display a device code for you to enter on GitHub
2. Open your browser to GitHub's device authorization page
3. Wait for you to authorize the app
4. Securely store the OAuth token for future use

2. Personal Access Token (PAT)

Alternative method for users who prefer manual token management:

• Provide via env var: GITHUB_TOKEN or GH_TOKEN, or enter when prompted on first run.
• Recommended: classic PAT with repo scope for listing both public and private repos.
• Validation: a minimal viewer { login } request verifies the token.

Token Storage & Security

• Storage: tokens are saved as JSON in your OS user config directory with POSIX perms 0600.
  • macOS: ~/Library/Preferences/gh-manager-cli/config.json
  • Linux: ~/.config/gh-manager-cli/config.json
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\gh-manager-cli\config.json
• Revocation: you can revoke tokens at any time in your GitHub settings.

Note: Tokens are stored in plaintext on disk with restricted permissions. Future work may add OS keychain support.

PAT Permissions & Scopes

Choose the least-privileged token for the features you plan to use:

• Browsing/searching repos (public only): public_repo
• Browsing/searching repos (includes private): repo
• Archive/Unarchive repository: repo (and you must have admin or maintainer rights on the repo)
• Sync fork with upstream: repo (you must have push rights to your fork)
• Delete repository: delete_repo (and admin rights on the repo)

Notes:

• Organization repositories may require that your token is SSO-authorized if the org enforces SSO.
• If organization data doesn’t appear in the switcher, ensure your token is authorized for that org and consider adding read:org (some org setups require it to list memberships).
• Fine-grained PATs: grant Repository access to the repos you need and enable at least:
  • Metadata: Read
  • Contents: Read (list/search), Read & Write (sync/archive)
  • Administration: Manage (only if you need delete) If in doubt, the classic repo scope plus delete_repo (for deletion) is the simplest equivalent.

Usage

Launch the app, then use the keys below:

CLI Flags

• --org, -o <slug>: Start in a specific organisation context (if accessible). Ignores the flag if you don’t have access or if the slug isn’t an organisation.

  • Examples:
    • gh-manager-cli --org acme
    • gh-manager-cli -o acme
    • npx gh-manager-cli@latest --org=@acme
    • npx gh-manager-cli@latest -o=@acme
  • Notes:
    • Leading @ is optional.
    • Personal usernames are not supported by --org/-o (use default personal context).

• --token, -t <pat>: Use a Personal Access Token just for this run. Does not persist to config.

  • Examples:
    • gh-manager-cli --token ghp_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    • gh-manager-cli -t=ghp_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  • Precedence: CLI token > GITHUB_TOKEN/GH_TOKEN env vars > stored config.
  • Security: Supplying tokens on the command line may be captured in shell history. Prefer env vars or the interactive prompt when possible.

• --help, -h: Show usage information and exit.

• --version, -v: Print the current version and exit.

Navigation & View Controls

• Top/Bottom: Ctrl+G (top), G (bottom)
• Page Navigation: ↑↓ Arrow keys, PageUp/PageDown
• Search: / to enter search mode, type 3+ characters for server-side search
  • Down arrow or Enter: Start browsing search results
  • Esc: Clear search and return to full repository list
• Sort: S opens sort modal with options:
  • Updated: When the repository was last modified
  • Pushed: When code was last pushed
  • Name: Alphabetical by repository name
  • Stars: Number of stars
• Sort Direction: D to open sort direction modal (ascending/descending)
• Display Density: T to toggle compact/cozy/comfy
• Fork Status: F to toggle showing commits behind upstream
• Visibility Filter: V opens modal (All, Public, Private/Internal for enterprise)

Navigation & Account

• Open in browser: Enter or O
• Refresh: R
• Organization switcher: W to switch between personal account and organizations
• Logout: Ctrl+L
• Quit: Q

Repository Actions

• Repository info: I to view detailed metadata (size, language, timestamps)
• Cache info: K to inspect Apollo cache status
• Archive/Unarchive: Ctrl+A with confirmation prompt
• Change visibility: Ctrl+V to change repository visibility (Public/Private/Internal)
• Delete repository: Del or Backspace (with two-step confirmation modal)
  • Type confirmation code → confirm (Y/Enter)
  • Cancel: press C or Esc
• Sync fork: Ctrl+S (for forks only, shows commit status and handles conflicts)

General

• Esc: Cancels modals, clears search, or returns to normal listing (does not quit)

The header displays the current owner context (Personal Account or Organization name), active sort and direction, fork status tracking state, and active search/filter.

Status bar shows loaded count vs total. A rate-limit line displays remaining/limit and the reset time; it turns yellow when remaining ≤ 10% of the limit.

Pagination Details

• Uses GitHub GraphQL viewer.repositories with ownerAffiliations: OWNER, ordered by UPDATED_AT DESC.
• Fetches 15 repos per page by default (configurable via REPOS_PER_FETCH environment variable, 1-50).
• Updates totalCount each time and prefetches the next page when selection nears the end of loaded list.

Development

Stack:

• UI: ink, ink-text-input, ink-spinner
• API: @octokit/graphql, Apollo Client
• Config paths: env-paths
• Language: TypeScript
• Build: tsup (CJS output with shebang)

Scripts:

pnpm build          # build to dist/
pnpm build:binaries # build cross-platform binaries to ./binaries/
pnpm dev            # watch mode
pnpm start          # run normally
pnpm start:debug    # run with debug mode enabled
pnpm start:dev      # run with 5 repos per page and debug mode

Release Process

The project uses automated releases with two complementary workflows:

1. Semantic Release (Primary)

• Triggers: On every push to main branch
• Version Calculation: Uses semantic-release to analyze commit messages:
  • feat: → Minor version bump (1.0.0 → 1.1.0)
  • fix: → Patch version bump (1.0.0 → 1.0.1)
  • BREAKING CHANGE: → Major version bump (1.0.0 → 2.0.0)
• Actions:
  1. Analyzes commits since last release
  2. Calculates new version number
  3. Updates package.json
  4. Generates changelog
  5. Creates GitHub release with tag
  6. Publishes to NPM
  7. Publishes to GitHub Packages
  8. Updates Homebrew tap

2. Version Change Detection (Backup)

• Triggers: When package.json version field changes
• Purpose: Ensures releases happen even with manual version bumps
• Actions:
  1. Detects version change in package.json
  2. Publishes to NPM if version doesn't exist
  3. Updates Homebrew formula
  4. Creates GitHub release

Release Flow Example

Developer creates PR with commits:
  - feat: add new feature
  - fix: resolve bug
    ↓
PR merged to main
    ↓
semantic-release analyzes commits
    ↓
Calculates version: 1.2.3 → 1.3.0 (feat = minor)
    ↓
Updates package.json, creates changelog
    ↓
Publishes everywhere (NPM, GitHub, Homebrew)

Manual Release

To manually trigger a release:

# Update version in package.json
npm version patch  # or minor/major
git push origin main

Both NPM and Homebrew will be automatically updated within minutes of any version change.

Environment variables:

• REPOS_PER_FETCH: Number of repositories to fetch per page (1-50, default: 15)
• GH_MANAGER_DEBUG=1: Enables debug mode with performance metrics, detailed errors, and console logging

Project layout:

• src/index.tsx — CLI entry and error handling
• src/ui/App.tsx — token bootstrap, renders RepoList
• src/ui/RepoList.tsx — main list UI with modal management
• src/ui/components/ — modular components (modals, repo, common)
  • modals/ — DeleteModal, ArchiveModal, SyncModal, InfoModal, LogoutModal
  • repo/ — RepoRow, FilterInput, RepoListHeader
  • common/ — SlowSpinner and shared UI elements
• src/ui/OrgSwitcher.tsx — organization switching component
• src/github.ts — GraphQL client and queries (repos + rateLimit)
• src/config.ts — token read/write and UI preferences
• src/logger.ts — structured logging with rotation
• src/types.ts — shared types
• src/utils.ts — utility functions (truncate, formatDate)
• src/apolloMeta.ts — Apollo cache management
• viewlogs.sh — utility script for viewing logs

Logging

gh-manager-cli includes comprehensive logging for debugging and monitoring purposes.

Log Location

Logs are automatically written to your system's standard log directory:

• macOS: ~/Library/Logs/gh-manager-cli/gh-manager-cli.log
• Linux: ~/.local/state/gh-manager-cli-log/gh-manager-cli.log
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\gh-manager-cli\Log\gh-manager-cli.log

Viewing Logs

Use the included viewlogs.sh script to quickly view recent log entries:

./viewlogs.sh        # View last 50 lines
./viewlogs.sh 100    # View last 100 lines
./viewlogs.sh -f     # Follow log in real-time

Log Features

• Structured JSON: Each log entry includes timestamp, level, message, and contextual data
• Automatic Rotation: Logs rotate at 5MB with up to 5 historical files kept
• Comprehensive Coverage: Tracks app lifecycle, API calls, user actions, and errors
• Debug Mode: Set GH_MANAGER_DEBUG=1 to enable verbose logging to console

What's Logged

• Application startup/shutdown with version info
• Authentication events (login/logout)
• Repository operations (fetch, delete, archive, visibility changes)
• API performance metrics and rate limit status
• Error details with stack traces
• User interface component lifecycle

Apollo Cache (Performance)

gh-manager-cli includes built-in Apollo Client caching to reduce GitHub API calls and improve performance. Caching is always enabled for optimal performance.

Debug Mode

Run with GH_MANAGER_DEBUG=1 to enable debugging features:

GH_MANAGER_DEBUG=1 npx gh-manager-cli@latest

Debug mode provides:

• Apollo performance metrics: Query execution time, cache hit/miss indicators
• Detailed error messages: Full GraphQL and network errors for troubleshooting
• Data source tracking: Shows whether data came from cache or network

Verifying Cache is Working

1. Performance Indicators (visible in debug mode):

   • From cache: YES = Data served from cache
   • Query time < 50ms = Likely cache hit
   • Network status codes = Shows Apollo's internal cache state

2. API Credits: Monitor the API counter in the header - it should remain stable when navigating previously loaded data

3. Cache Inspection: Press K (available anytime) to see:

   • Cache file location and size
   • Recent cache entries with timestamps
   • Cache age for each query type

Why API Credits Might Still Decrease

Even with caching enabled, API credits may decrease due to:

• First-time requests: Initial data must be fetched and cached
• Cache expiration: Default 30-minute TTL (customize with APOLLO_TTL_MS)
• Pagination: New pages beyond the cache are fetched from API
• Cache-and-network policy: Updates stale cache data in background
• Sorting changes: Different sort orders create new cache entries

Configuration

# Number of repositories to fetch per page (1-50, default: 15)
REPOS_PER_FETCH=10 npx gh-manager-cli@latest

# Custom cache TTL (milliseconds) - default: 30 minutes
APOLLO_TTL_MS=1800000 npx gh-manager-cli@latest

# Enable debug mode to see cache performance
GH_MANAGER_DEBUG=1 npx gh-manager-cli@latest

# Combine multiple environment variables
REPOS_PER_FETCH=5 GH_MANAGER_DEBUG=1 npx gh-manager-cli@latest

Troubleshooting

• Invalid token: enter a valid PAT (recommended scope: repo).
• Rate limited: wait for the reset shown in the banner or reduce navigation.
• Network errors: check connectivity and press r to retry.

Todo & Roadmap

For the up-to-date task board, see TODOs.md.

Recently implemented:

• ✅ OAuth login flow as an alternative to Personal Access Token
• ✅ Density toggle for row spacing (compact/cozy/comfy)
• ✅ Repo actions (archive/unarchive, delete, change visibility) with confirmations
• ✅ Organization support and switching (press W) with enterprise detection
• ✅ Enhanced server-side search with improved UX and organization context support
• ✅ Smart infinite scroll with 80% prefetch trigger
• ✅ Modal-based sort and visibility filtering
• ✅ GitHub Enterprise support with Internal repository visibility
• ✅ Change repository visibility modal (Ctrl+V)
• ✅ Compact filter modals for better screen space utilization
• ✅ Enhanced rate limit display showing both GraphQL and REST API limits with delta tracking

Highlights on deck:

• Optional OS keychain storage via keytar
• Bulk selection and actions
• Repository renaming

License

MIT