July 15, 2025

Streamline Your Workflow with GitHub CLI (gh)

At Reliable Penguin, we often help developers and agencies optimize their development environments. One small but powerful tool we frequently recommend is the GitHub CLI—referred to as gh. It allows developers to manage GitHub tasks directly from the terminal, speeding up workflows and reducing context switching.

This post explains what GitHub and the gh utility are, and provides clear installation steps to help you get started.

What Is GitHub?

GitHub is a cloud-based platform for hosting Git repositories. It is widely used by individuals, open source communities, and enterprises to:

Collaborate on code in real time
Manage issues, feature requests, and documentation
Conduct code reviews and manage pull requests
Automate CI/CD processes with GitHub Actions

GitHub has become the standard for version control in modern software development.

Introducing the GitHub CLI (`gh`)

While GitHub’s web interface is powerful, there are many tasks developers can complete more efficiently from the command line. That’s where the GitHub CLI comes in.

The gh tool enables you to access GitHub functionality directly from your terminal. You can use it to:

Create, view, and merge pull requests
Clone repositories
Open and comment on issues
Trigger and monitor GitHub Actions workflows
Manage repository settings

For teams that prefer automation and terminal-based workflows, gh is a practical addition to your toolkit.

How to Install `gh`

Here are installation instructions for the most common operating systems.

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

type -p curl >/dev/null || sudo apt install curl -y
curl -fsSL https://cli.github.com/packages/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg | \
  sudo dd of=/usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg
sudo chmod go+r /usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg] \
  https://cli.github.com/packages stable main" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/github-cli.list > /dev/null

sudo apt update
sudo apt install gh -y

type -p curl >/dev/null || sudo apt install curl -y

curl -fsSL https://cli.github.com/packages/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg | \

sudo dd of=/usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg

sudo chmod go+r /usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg] \

https://cli.github.com/packages stable main" | \

sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/github-cli.list > /dev/null

sudo apt update

sudo apt install gh -y

macOS (Homebrew)

brew install gh

1 2	brew install gh

Windows (PowerShell using winget)

winget install --id GitHub.cli

1 2	winget install --id GitHub.cli

Confirm Installation

After installation, run:

gh --version

1 2	gh --version

You should see version information confirming that the CLI is ready to use.

Why We Recommend `gh`

Reliable Penguin works with development teams who depend on streamlined processes and robust tooling. We use gh internally to improve efficiency in reviewing code, managing repositories, and scripting routine GitHub operations. It allows our team to stay focused in the terminal and automate repetitive tasks.

For teams that value automation, reliability, and speed, the GitHub CLI is a simple upgrade that can make a significant impact.

Need help implementing GitHub tools or integrating them into your deployment pipeline? Contact Reliable Penguin to learn more about our development support and DevOps services.