Claude-skill-registry gh-search-commits

Use when searching commit history across GitHub repositories - provides syntax for filtering by author, committer, dates, hashes, and merge commits with proper exclusion handling

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/data/gh-search-commits" ~/.claude/skills/majiayu000-claude-skill-registry-gh-search-commits && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: skills/data/gh-search-commits/SKILL.md

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 [<query>] [flags]

Key Flags Reference

Author & Committer Filters

Flag	Purpose	Example
`--author <string>`	Filter by author username	`--author octocat`
`--author-name <string>`	Filter by author name	`--author-name "John Doe"`
`--author-email <string>`	Filter by author email	`--author-email john@example.com`
`--author-date <date>`	Filter by authored date	`--author-date ">2024-01-01"`
`--committer <string>`	Filter by committer username	`--committer octocat`
`--committer-name <string>`	Filter by committer name	`--committer-name "Jane Doe"`
`--committer-email <string>`	Filter by committer email	`--committer-email jane@example.com`
`--committer-date <date>`	Filter by committed date	`--committer-date "<2024-06-01"`

Commit Attributes

Flag	Purpose	Example
`--hash <string>`	Filter by commit hash	`--hash 8dd03144`
`--parent <string>`	Filter by parent hash	`--parent abc123`
`--tree <string>`	Filter by tree hash	`--tree def456`
`--merge`	Filter merge commits only	`--merge`

Repository Filters

Flag	Purpose	Example
`--owner <strings>`	Filter by repo owner	`--owner github`
`-R, --repo <strings>`	Search in specific repo	`--repo cli/cli`
`--visibility <strings>`	Filter by visibility	`--visibility public`

Output & Sorting

Flag	Purpose	Example
`-L, --limit <int>`	Max results (default: 30)	`--limit 100`
`--sort <string>`	Sort by author-date or committer-date	`--sort author-date`
`--order <string>`	Sort direction: asc or desc	`--order asc`
`--json <fields>`	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"

(exclude date range)

Why the

--

separator is required: The

--

tells the shell to stop parsing flags and treat everything after it as arguments. Without it,

-qualifier:value

inside quotes may be misinterpreted.

Critical Syntax Rules

When to Use Flag Syntax vs Query Syntax

Decision Tree:

Does your search include:
  - Any exclusions (NOT, minus, without, except)?  → Use Query Syntax with `--`
  - Complex boolean logic (OR, AND)?              → Use Query Syntax with `--`

Otherwise:
  - Simple positive filters only?                  → Use Flag Syntax

Flag Syntax (for positive filters):

gh search commits "bug fix" --author octocat --repo cli/cli

Query Syntax with

--

(required for exclusions):

gh search commits -- "deploy -author:dependabot -author:renovate"

⚠️ NEVER mix both syntaxes in a single command!

1. Exclusions and Negations

CRITICAL: When excluding results, you MUST use query syntax with the

--

separator.

Exclusion Syntax Rules:

Use the
```
--
```
separator before your query
Use
```
-qualifier:value
```
format (dash prefix for negation)
Quote the entire query string

Examples:

Single exclusion:

# Exclude specific author
gh search commits -- "deploy -author:dependabot"

# Exclude specific committer
gh search commits -- "merge -committer:bot"

# Exclude merge commits
gh search commits -- "fix -merge:true"

Multiple exclusions:

# Exclude multiple authors
gh search commits -- "deployment -author:dependabot -author:renovate"

# Exclude author and date range
gh search commits -- "refactor -author:bot -author-date:<2024-01-01"

# Exclude merge commits and specific authors
gh search commits -- "feature -merge:true -author:bot"

Combine with positive filters using flags:

# Wrong - mixing syntaxes:
gh search commits "fix" --author octocat -committer:bot  # ❌

# Correct - use query syntax for everything when excluding:
gh search commits -- "fix author:octocat -committer:bot"  # ✅

PowerShell exclusions:

# Use --% to prevent PowerShell parsing
gh --% search commits -- "fix -author:dependabot"

Common Exclusion Patterns:

User Request	Command
"Find commits but not by bots"	`gh search commits -- "deploy -author:dependabot -author:renovate"`
"Commits excluding merge commits"	`gh search commits -- "feature -merge:true"`
"Commits not by specific author"	`gh search commits -- "refactor -author:olduser"`
"Commits excluding specific date range"	`gh search commits -- "bug -author-date:<2024-01-01"`
"Commits not by multiple committers"	`gh search commits -- "fix -committer:bot -committer:ci"`
"Commits excluding specific email"	`gh search commits -- "update -author-email:bot@example.com"`
"Commits not in specific repo"	`gh search commits -- "security -repo:old/deprecated"`

2. Date Formats

Use ISO8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD) with comparison operators:

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

3. Quoting Rules

Multi-word search:

gh search commits "bug fix"

Date comparisons need quotes:

gh search commits "refactor" --author-date "<2024-06-01"

Common Use Cases

Find commits by author:

gh search commits --author octocat --repo cli/cli

Search commit messages:

gh search commits "security fix" --repo myorg/myrepo

Find commits in date range:

gh search commits "refactor" --author-date "2024-01-01..2024-12-31"

Find merge commits:

gh search commits --merge --repo owner/repo

Exclude bot commits:

gh search commits -- "deployment -author:dependabot"

Search by commit hash:

gh search commits --hash 8dd03144

Find commits by email:

gh search commits --author-email user@example.com

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Problem	Fix
`--author="NOT bot"` or `--committer=-user`	Flag syntax doesn't support negation	Use query: `-- "-author:bot"` or `-- "-committer:user"`
`gh search commits fix -author:bot`	`-author` interpreted as flag	Use `--` : `-- "fix -author:bot"`
`"deploy NOT author:bot"`	`NOT` keyword doesn't work	Use `-` : `-- "deploy -author:bot"`
Mixing syntaxes: `--author octocat "fix -committer:bot"`	Can't mix flags with query qualifiers	Use query for all: `-- "fix author:octocat -committer:bot"`
`--author-date 2024-01-01` without comparison	May not work as expected	Use: `--author-date ">2024-01-01"`
Not quoting date comparisons	Shell interprets operators	Quote: `"<2024-06-01"`
`--author @octocat`	Invalid `@` prefix	Drop `@` : `--author octocat`
PowerShell without `--%`	Breaks with exclusions	Add: `gh --%`

Installation Check

gh

command not found:

# Check if gh is installed
which gh

# Install: https://cli.github.com/manual/installation

If not authenticated:

# Authenticate with GitHub
gh auth login

Date Comparison Operators

```
>
```
- After date
```
>=
```
- On or after date
```
<
```
- Before date
```
<=
```
- On or before date
```
..
```
- Date range:
```
2024-01-01..2024-12-31
```

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

Claude-skill-registry gh-search-commits

GitHub CLI: Search Commits

Overview

When to Use This Skill

Syntax

Key Flags Reference

Author & Committer Filters

Commit Attributes

Repository Filters

Output & Sorting

JSON Output Fields

Exclusion Syntax (Critical!)

Critical Syntax Rules

When to Use Flag Syntax vs Query Syntax

1. Exclusions and Negations

Exclusion Syntax Rules:

Examples:

Common Exclusion Patterns:

2. Date Formats

3. Quoting Rules

Common Use Cases

Common Mistakes

Installation Check

Date Comparison Operators

Related