Gh Search Commits

GitHub CLI: Search Commits

Overview

Search for commits across GitHub repositories using gh search commits. Filter by author, committer, dates, commit hashes, and more.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when searching commits across GitHub:

• Finding commits by author or committer across repos/orgs
• Searching commit messages for keywords across repositories
• Filtering by commit dates or hashes in specific repos
• Looking for merge commits across an organization
• Searching in specific repositories or organizations
• Need to exclude certain results (requires -- flag)

Syntax

gh search commits [] [flags]

Key Flags Reference

Author & Committer Filters

| Flag | Purpose | Example | |------|---------|---------| | --author | Filter by author username | --author octocat | | --author-name | Filter by author name | --author-name "John Doe" | | --author-email | Filter by author email | --author-email john@example.com | | --author-date | Filter by authored date | --author-date ">2024-01-01" | | --committer | Filter by committer username | --committer octocat | | --committer-name | Filter by committer name | --committer-name "Jane Doe" | | --committer-email | Filter by committer email | --committer-email jane@example.com | | --committer-date | Filter by committed date | --committer-date " | Filter by commit hash | --hash 8dd03144 | | --parent | Filter by parent hash | --parent abc123 | | --tree | Filter by tree hash | --tree def456 | | --merge | Filter merge commits only | --merge |

Repository Filters

| Flag | Purpose | Example | |------|---------|---------| | --owner | Filter by repo owner | --owner github | | -R, --repo | Search in specific repo | --repo cli/cli | | --visibility | Filter by visibility | --visibility public |

Output & Sorting

| Flag | Purpose | Example | |------|---------|---------| | -L, --limit | Max results (default: 30) | --limit 100 | | --sort | Sort by author-date or committer-date | --sort author-date | | --order | Sort direction: asc or desc | --order asc | | --json | JSON output | --json sha,author,commit | | -w, --web | Open in browser | -w |

JSON Output Fields

Available fields: author, commit, committer, id, parents, repository, sha, url

Exclusion Syntax (Critical!)

When using inline query exclusions (negations with -), you MUST use the -- separator:

✅ Correct: gh search commits -- "search-terms -qualifier:value" ❌ Wrong: gh search commits "search-terms" --flag=-value ❌ Wrong: gh search commits "search-terms" --flag=!value ❌ Wrong: gh search commits --author-not=username

Examples:

• gh search commits -- "fix -author:dependabot" (exclude author)
• gh search commits -- "merge -committer:bot" (exclude committer)
• gh search commits -- "deploy -merge:true" (exclude merge commits)
• `gh search commits -- "refactor -author-date:2024-01-01"

gh search commits --committer-date "2024-01-01..2024-12-31"

### 3. Quoting Rules

**Multi-word search:**
```bash
gh search commits "bug fix"

Date comparisons need quotes:

gh search commits "refactor" --author-date "2024-01-01"` |
| Not quoting date comparisons | Shell interprets operators | Quote: `"` - After date
- `>=` - On or after date
- `<` - Before date
- `<=` - On or before date
- `..` - Date range: `2024-01-01..2024-12-31`

## Related

- GitHub search syntax: https://docs.github.com/search-github/searching-on-github/searching-commits
- For searching other resources: `gh-search-code`, `gh-search-issues`, `gh-search-prs`, `gh-search-repos`

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [aaddrick](https://github.com/aaddrick)
- **Source:** [aaddrick/gh-cli-search](https://github.com/aaddrick/gh-cli-search)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.