gh-cli

A Claude Code plugin that intercepts GitHub URL fetches and redirects Claude to use the authenticated gh CLI instead.

Problem

Claude Code's WebFetch tool and Bash curl/wget commands don't use the user's GitHub authentication. This means:

• Private repos: Fetches fail with 404 errors
• Rate limits: Unauthenticated requests are limited to 60/hour (vs 5,000/hour authenticated)
• Missing data: Some API responses are incomplete without authentication

Solution

This plugin provides:

1. PreToolUse hooks that intercept GitHub URL access via WebFetch or curl/wget, and suggest the correct gh CLI command
2. A gh PATH shim that blocks anti-patterns: API /contents/ fetching and non-session-scoped temp directory clones
3. A SessionEnd hook that automatically cleans up cloned repositories when the session ends

What Gets Intercepted

What Passes Through

• Non-GitHub URLs (any domain that isn't github.com, api.github.com, raw.githubusercontent.com, or gist.github.com)
• GitHub Pages sites (*.github.io)
• Commands already using gh (except anti-patterns blocked by the shim; see table above)
• Git commands (git clone, git push, etc.)
• Search commands that mention GitHub URLs (grep, rg, etc.)

Note: When hooks deny blob/tree/raw URLs, the denial message explicitly warns against using gh api to fetch and base64-decode file contents as a fallback — clone the repo instead.

Automatic Cleanup

Cloned repositories are stored in session-scoped temp directories ($TMPDIR/gh-clones-<session-id>/). A SessionEnd hook automatically removes them when the session ends, so there's no manual cleanup needed and concurrent sessions don't interfere with each other.

Prerequisites

• GitHub CLI (gh) must be installed and authenticated (gh auth login)
• If gh is not installed, the hooks pass through without disruption

Installation

/plugin marketplace add trailofbits/skills
/plugin install gh-cli