GitHub Search

Quick Commands

Keyword Strategy: Variants & Long → Short

GitHub matches your query tokens against repo name + description + README (for code search, the file contents). There is no semantic matching — a repo is invisible if its text doesn't contain words close to yours. Two ways a search misses:

• Wrong word — the author used a synonym you didn't try.
• Too long — your compound phrase is more specific than any repo's name/description, so nothing matches.

Fix: generate keyword variants, and cascade from longer to shorter.

# ❌ Brittle — one long compound, matches almost nothing
gh search repos "AI powered headless browser automation framework"

# ✅ Variants + length cascade — run in parallel, shorter terms guarantee coverage
gh search repos "headless browser automation" --sort stars --limit 15
gh search repos "headless browser"            --sort stars --limit 15
gh search repos "browser automation"          --sort stars --limit 15
gh search repos "browserless"                 --sort stars --limit 15   # synonym
gh search repos "browser"                      --sort stars --limit 15   # shortest, widest net

Direct API Search (Web-Exact Results)

For complex queries where gh search repos gives different results than web:

# Template - URL-encodes query automatically
gh api "search/repositories?q=$(printf '%s' 'YOUR_QUERY_HERE' | jq -sRr @uri)&sort=updated&per_page=30" --jq '.items[].full_name'

Example - Multi-language with exclusions:

gh api "search/repositories?q=$(printf '%s' 'stars:>500 language:rust language:go language:TypeScript language:javascript -topic:ethereum -topic:cryptocurrency -topic:blockchain -topic:bitcoin -topic:web3' | jq -sRr @uri)&sort=updated&per_page=10" --jq '.items[].full_name'

Why use this?

• gh search repos is a convenience wrapper with its own query parsing
• gh api search/repositories hits the raw API, matching web behavior exactly
• Required when combining: multiple languages + topic exclusions + star filters

Common jq extractions:

Patterns

Finding Repositories

When you see: User wants to find projects/repos by criteria Use: gh search repos

# Basic search with stars
gh search repos "stars:>500 language:rust" --sort=stars --limit=50

# Multiple languages (OR logic)
gh search repos "language:rust language:go language:typescript"

# Exclude topics
gh search repos "stars:>1000 -topic:cryptocurrency -topic:blockchain"

# By topic
gh search repos "topic:cli topic:terminal stars:>100"

# Recently updated
gh search repos "language:python pushed:>2024-01-01"

Output formats:

--json name,url,description,stargazersCount  # JSON output
--web                                         # Open in browser

Finding Code Examples

When you see: User wants to know how to use a library Use: gh search code

# Find usage patterns
gh search code "from zod import" --limit=20
gh search code "import { z } from 'zod'" --limit=20

# In specific file types
gh search code "useQuery" extension:tsx --limit=30

# In specific paths
gh search code "tanstack/query" path:src/ extension:ts

# Exact phrase
gh search code '"createTRPCRouter"' extension:ts

Pro tip: Combine with repo filter for focused results:

gh search code "pattern" repo:owner/repo

Finding Issues/Discussions

When you see: User looking for bug reports, feature requests, or discussions Use: gh search issues or gh search prs

# Open issues with label
gh search issues "is:open label:bug repo:facebook/react"

# PRs by author
gh search prs "author:username is:merged"

# Issues mentioning error
gh search issues '"connection refused" language:go'

Query Qualifiers Reference

Repo Search

Code Search

Common Flags

Common Use Cases

"Find popular X repos"

gh search repos "language:X stars:>500" --sort=stars --limit=50

"How do people use library Y"

gh search code "import Y" extension:ts --limit=30
gh search code "from Y import" extension:py --limit=30

"Find repos like Z but exclude crypto"

gh search repos "topic:Z -topic:cryptocurrency -topic:blockchain -topic:web3"

"Find recent active projects"

gh search repos "language:go pushed:>2024-06-01 stars:>100" --sort=updated

Tips

1. Quote the query when it contains special chars: gh search repos "stars:>500"
2. Multiple languages = OR: language:rust language:go matches either
3. Use --json for scripting: --json name,url,stargazersCount
4. Date ranges: pushed:2024-01-01..2024-06-01
5. Numeric ranges: stars:100..500
6. Use gh api for complex queries: When gh search repos gives unexpected results, use gh api search/repositories?q=... for exact web parity